Numbers Chapter 11, from this week's portion is all about complaining! The Israelites kvetch (whine) that they miss the delicacies of Egypt -- "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic" (Num. 11:5). Their complaining incenses Moses and God; it is a sign of shortsighted ingratitude.
My posting this week is a series of questions:
- How do our complaints get in the way of our gratitude?
- What do you most often kvetch about? How does it make you feel when you complain? How does it make others feel?
- If you could drop one complaint from your life, what would it be, and why? How are your complaints holding you back?
- When is a complaint useful?
Wishing you a kvetch-free Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
Jonathan
There's another question to ask about these kvetchers.
ReplyDeleteThe Manna had miraculously provided a taste (and bodily effect) upon intake of that which the heart desired, except for these very few that the kvetchers complained about. Rashi explains this: These foods proved to be unhealthy for the suckling child, so G-d denied people these specific tastes.
So another question to ask about kvetchers: Why do kvetchers look so hard for ways to kvetch, even when no good reason exists for it?