No Tolerance of Deviousness

Parshat בהעלותך shows some of the shortcomings of the Jewish people in the desert. The Jewish people complained about the מן and said that they missed having meat. Moshe’s response to this was uncharacteristic of his personality. He did not respond this way even by the sin of the spies and the Golden Calf.

In this instance, it’s as if he raised his hands in disgust, and said, “Where am I going to find meat to feed these people?” This is a strange statement since they did have plenty of cattle with them.

What was really bothering Moshe was the deviousness and deceitful manner in which they made their request.

It wasn’t the meat that bothered the people. They used this as a pretense for what was really troubling them.

It was the laws of Family Purity that they were complaining about. They were crying in their tents not about lack of meat, but were upset that they were expected to behave with modesty, and distance themselves from those women the Torah said were off limits.

Moshe could handle human error and even grievous sins. But he could not tolerate lies and deception. That was the reason for his response.

We are supposed to hate שקר, falsehoods. Hashem is אמת ותורתו אמת, truth, and His Torah is truth. Deviousness and deception is the very opposite of what the Torah stands for. Moshe could not tolerate it, nor should we.