Once again, as on so many occasions, the Israelites begin to grumble in the wilderness. They are tired of their monotonous menu: manna every day. They want meat, nothing less will satisfy them. Moses, exasperated, turns to God with two problems. The immediate challenge is to satisfy their demand for better food. But there is a deeper problem as well: Moses—in a passage that makes him sound almost clinically depressed—complains that he is simply unable to bear the burdens of leadership alone, particularly since this people is so contentious (Num. 11:13–15).
The views expressed in this D’var Torah do not necessarily reflect the position of Leo Baeck College.