What’s better than complaining? #Beha’alotekha#devartorah#parashathashavua

 One summer when I was a Hebrew teacher at Camp Ramah, one of my classes arrived in a terrible mood. I heard a litany of complaints. They are certainly not in the mood to learn anything.

I decided I could use this as an opportunity to teach some Hebrew and allow them to vent. We divided into two teams and played kickball. I taught them the Hebrew phrase “ani mitlonan al… (אָנִי מִתלוֹנֵן עָל), I’m complaining about…” Before the pitcher could roll the ball, the batter had to complain about something in Hebrew. I heard complaints like, “ani mitlonan al haokhel-I am complaining about the food.” Although the food wasn’t just like mother used to make, sometimes that wasn’t an entirely baseless complaint. By the end of the game everybody was in a much better mood.

In this week’s Torah portion, Behal’alotekha, the children of Israel also complained. “The people took to complaining bitterly before YHVH- וַיְהִ֤י הָעָם֙ כְּמִתְאֹ֣נְנִ֔ים” (11:1) The Kli Yakar (Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 21 February 1619) served as the Rabbi of Prague from 1604 to 1619) writes that nowhere does the Torah ever disclose what the people were complaining about.

In fact, a close reading of the Hebrew reveals that they were just complaining for the sake of complaining. The letter “kaf” (כְּ) in the beginning of the word complaining (כְּמִתְאֹ֣נְנִ֔ים) literally translates as “like.” They were only like complainers as opposed to people who have real complaints. They were complaining for the sake of complaining. They had everything they really needed, manna for food, Miriam’s well for water, and God’s clouds of glory to protect them from the wilderness’ hot sun. Besides they, were also marching towards the Promised Land.

Too often we are like our ancestors and complain just for the sake of complaining. How often do we see the glass half empty instead of half-full? How often do we complain when we have so much to be grateful for? Instead of just complaining and being part of the problem, we should be part of the solution to rectify what is wrong. Fixing what is wrong is even better than venting.