Monday, April 30, 2007

Hayom shemonah v'esrim yom, shehaym arbaa shavuot baomer

Once the Jews left Egypt and were being led by Moses through the desert, G-d had a chance to start over. He provided the Jewish people with manna, which tasted like coriander seed and is typically considered to have been vegetarian. The people complained that they lusted for flesh, and G-d conceded again. He gave them quail. And then what? In Numbers 11:33, we read: "The meat was still between their teeth, not yet chewed, when the anger of the Lord blazed forth against the people and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague." In the next verse, we're told that "the people who had the craving were buried there," at what was called "The Graves of Lust."

Are we noticing a theme here in the last few posts? G-d intended humans to be vegetarian, we failed Him, and he flooded the Earth. G-d intended humans to be vegetarian, we failed Him, and he gave us a "very severe plague."

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