Did Moshe really question whether God’s capabilities are unlimited, and whether just as He brought the people manna from the heavens each day, He could also provide meat?
Seforno offers an insightful approach to explain Moshe’s question and God’s response.
We read in Parashat Behaalotekha the story of Kivrot Ha-ta’ava, when shortly after Benei Yisrael’s departure from Sinai, the people began demanding meat. In response to the people’s complaints, God told Moshe that He would be providing meat, whereupon Moshe asked, “Can enough sheep and cattle be slaughtered to suffice for them? Would it suffice for them to draw all the fish in the sea?” (11:22). God then responded, “Is the Hand of the Lord limited? You will see whether or not My word will be fulfilled” (11:23).
The commentators – and already Chazal, as cited by Rashi – struggled with the question of how Moshe could have doubted God’s ability to provide meat for Benei Yisrael. Did Moshe really question whether God’s capabilities are unlimited, and whether just as He brought the people manna from the heavens each day, He could also provide meat?
Seforno offers an insightful approach to explain Moshe’s question and God’s response. He writes that Moshe was not questioning God’s capabilities, but rather noting that Benei Yisrael would not be satisfied with anything He gave them. Moshe’s point was that the people would complain about their food rations regardless of what they were given. God could provide an unlimited supply of meat, but even this would not suffice, because the people wanted to complain and protest. God then responded, “Is the Hand of the Lord limited?” He was telling Moshe that He was capable of not only providing an unlimited supply of meat, but also of causing Benei Yisrael to stop craving more food. Seforno explains that while it is true that “ha-kol bi-ydei Shamayim chutz mi-yir’at Shamayim” – we are responsible for our conduct and values, as we are given free will and our choices are not predetermined – nevertheless, God is capable of creating conditions that affect our likes and dislikes. In the case of Kivrot Ha-ta’ava, God told Moshe that He would provide the people with such a quantity of meat that “ve-haya lakhem le-zara” – they would feel sickened by it within a month (11:20). God’s response to the people’s complaints was to make them repulse meat, rather than crave it, which He accomplished by enabling them to eat to the point where they looked upon meat with disgust.
According to Seforno, then, this exchange between Moshe and God has to do with the boundaries of bechira chofshit – free will. Moshe initially doubted that God could step in to curb the people’s craving for food, as doing so would interfere with their free will. We all have certain vices and tendencies with which we need to struggle, and whether we defeat or succumb to those vices and tendencies is entirely up to us. God noted, however, that while He does not directly interfere with a human being’s free will, He can and does create conditions that affect the intensity of our moral struggles. While God does not change our “wiring” to make us less inclined to sin, He could modify the conditions and circumstances in which we live, which naturally affect the degree to which we are drawn toward improper behavior.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il