Parashat Behaalotecha - The Mixed Multitude

As it says, the people were seeking complaints that were evil in the ears of Hashem and Hashem heard. And his wrath flared, and a fire burned against them. And it consumed the edge of the camp. And the people cried out to Moshe, and Moshe prayed to Hashem. And the fire sank. They complained. They complained, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't like complaints. Why doesn't he like complaints? Who are we going to complain to if we're not going to complain to Hashem? We're going to learn that from the second time they complained, right after. It says the the rabble that was among them cultivated a click a craving, and the children of Israel also wept once more saying, "Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we would eat in Egypt, free of charge, and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the nations, and the onions, and the garlic." What is this? They're pretending as if what? They were in a restaurant in a five-star restaurant in Egypt? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? What restaurant WHAT FOOD? WHO ARE THESE RABBLE? The Sifri Zuta explains that this rabble is referring to the same as who was burned originally. Who was punished originally? When it says that the uh the fire burned people at the edge, this was referring to the Erev Rav. This was the converts that did not really convert for the sake of Hashem, but rather they converted because they wanted to benefit. They wanted to get money. They wanted to become rich. They wanted to marry some girl that's Jewish already. They wanted to convince other people to follow them. So, Hashem punished them giving everybody a warning, "Don't be like them." Instead of taking that as a warning, we fell for the trap. Where this rabble This rabble is Rashi explains also is the people that converted from all the different nations and came with Am Yisrael. Where all these nations come from? Egypt did not only have Jewish people as slaves. Egypt had many different types of people as slaves. Now, when all of these other nations saw the miracles that Hashem is making for the Jewish people, they said, "Listen, what are we going to stay behind here with the with these Egyptians? Let's go with the Jews. They now have all the money. They took it from the all the money they took from the Egyptians. Let's go befriend them, take some of their money, convince them to go follow one of our gods. Let's try to pretend like we're their friends, pretend like we like them. And uh we'll turn them on to uh into us. And then even if we don't, at least we'll benefit, we'll make some money out of it. Moshe Rabbeinu thought that they were authentic and they actually wanted to go and accept the Torah because they were going into a dangerous place, they're going into the desert. He didn't realize that for the sake of money these uh these uh idol worshipers were willing to do anything. And they came and they became known as the Erev Rav. The Erev Rav wasn't just Egyptians that wanted to become that pretended to want to be Jews. It was also other nations that were also slaves. That's why they're called Arab rab, but they're also called the rabble in English. Or the asafsuf. Asafsuf in in the sfat kodesh. Asafsuf meaning that they were they were a lasof means to gather. So asafsuf is like the ones that were gathered from multiple different types of nations. Now these rabble made a request. And then it says that Israel wept again. What does it mean they made a request? They started talking to the Jews people saying listen. What are we doing in the desert? Why are we here? For this mana? What do we need this mana for? Look, I have to go to the mana. I have to walk 2 miles just to go get some mana. In Egypt I only had to go two, three doors down to get some food. In Egypt, I was remember one time the Egyptians gave us a melon before they killed that other guy, but anyway, forget about the killing. You know, they gave us some melons. I remember they they gave us a fish one time. And remember all those things? Here look, I have to go wake up in the morning. Some of these rabbis they have their mana right next to them. I have to go travel 2 hours. NOW OF COURSE, the real reason why he has to travel 2 hours to go get his mana is because he's wicked. As the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos says, the mana wasn't just a spiritual wasn't just a food. It was literally a spiritual proof machine. Where it told every single person where they stand if they are wicked or they're righteous. If they're righteous, then the mana comes down right next door to the door, the entrance of the person's house his tent. If he's wicked, he has to go travel for it. The more wicked he is, the more he has to travel for it. Furthermore, the righteous people could just take the mana, it came to them ready. They just take it, they bite it, whatever flavor they want is that's how it tastes. First bite, they want a ice cream, that's how it tastes. Second bite, they want a milkshake, that's how it tastes. Third bite, they want a fruit sandwich, no problem. Fourth bite, they want some type of a cream cheese, okay, too. After that, they want steak, also. Literally, every single bite could be a different taste. The other guys, the wicked guys, they had to not only go travel over the hill to go find their mana, but once they got it, they had to cook it. They had to bake it, they had to fix it in order for it to taste like they want it to taste. And instead of doing chuva, they complain, "Look, I have to go travel." So, some of the other Jews said, "You know what? It's true. You know, I don't have to travel as much as you, but I still have to travel. I'm not like the rabbis, not like Moshe Rabbeinu and Aaron and all these other uh tzaddikim. I have to go down the street. It's not fair that I have to go down the street. It's not fair that I have to uh you know, heat it up a little bit. Because if I had a watermelon, I don't have to heat it up. If I had some fish, I don't have to do all that. Like they gave us in Egypt. So, they started convincing them that the old way is better. Back when we used to go, you know, hang out in the streets and go to nightclubs, it used to be better. Back in the day when we used to go and have a different girlfriend every day, it used to be better. Starts reminding them of all the different sins that they used to make. And one of the worst things that a person can do worst things is enjoy the sin after they've done the chuvah. Meaning many times people don't realize that the most critical part of doing chuvah is not just stopping the sin. Not just saying I'm sorry that you I've made the sin Hashem, but actually regretting it. Many times you have people start keeping mitzvot, they start keeping Shabbat, they start keeping kosher, they start keeping you know, some of the basics, they go to shul, but anytime they see some of their friends, any times they see some of their colleagues and they have some time to reminisce, they reminisce about the past when they used to make sins. They used to go to nightclubs, they used to go to concert, they used to have all these different types of girlfriends and boyfriends. AND THEY LAUGH ABOUT IT, THEY SAY, "OH YEAH, THE GOOD OLD TIMES." You don't realize what you just did. You just destroyed your chuvah. You just destroyed your chuvah to such an extent that you've put yourself in the same place that you were before you did chuvah.