Beha’alotecha: Who will give us meat?
Beha’alotecha: Who will give us meat?
Welcome to Shabbat Moment, a text study series with Yael Shy, from our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Every week we share Yael’s Torah text study, mindfulness practice tips, and discussion questions for you to reflect + share with others at your Shabbat table. Subscribe here to get the Shabbat Moment delivered straight to your inbox!
This week’s Torah portion is Beha’alotecha: Who will give us meat?
Does complaining have a spiritual purpose?
In this week’s Torah portion, the Israelites are deeply unhappy with their menu options; they complain to God that they are craving something else. But what came first: the lackluster menu, or the urge to complain?
According to the text, the Israelites had plenty of sustenance in the manna that was given to them, which they so quickly wave away as “nothing.” They needed a pretext for their craving, and food was the one they chose.
What brings on this overwhelming craving in the first place?
About the Author
Special thanks to Yael Shy and our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for joining us in creating weekly Shabbat moments for your Friday nights.
Yael Shy is the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US. Yael is a graduate of the IJS Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification.
