This week’s reading describes the miracle of the Mahn (Manna), the miraculous bread which G-d gave to our ancestors to eat in the desert. The people said they were hungry, they complained, and they were given an open miracle in return — along with instructions. They were told to gather only what they needed for the day, except on the sixth day, when they were told to gather a double portion for the Sabbath.
So almost everybody did exactly what they were told to do. But the Torah tells us that “they didn’t listen to Moses, and men left it over until morning, and it became wormy” [Ex. 16:25]. Who didn’t listen? The Medrash tells us: Dasan and Aviram.
You just have to ask, who were these guys? In modern language, what was their problem?
We first meet Dasan and Aviram much earlier. Moses goes out and sees an Egyptian beating a Jew, and in order to protect his brother from death, he kills the Egyptian. The next day, he finds Dasan and Aviram fighting with each other, and he says to the attacker, why are you hitting your friend?
He answers back, “who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you saying you’re going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” The Medrash says that what Moses found so frightening about this exchange is that there were wicked people, informers among the Jews.
But they weren’t simply informers, they were troublemakers at every opportunity. They finally met their end during the rebellion of Korach, which they joined. Korach was jealous of Moses and Aharon for the honor they received. But if Korach had become the leader instead, Dasan and Aviram would still have been simply members of the tribe of Reuven. What did they stand to gain from getting involved in the argument?
They were obviously sincere to a certain degree, because they merited to be part of the Exodus. But they could not get over their desire to challenge authority, apparently simply for its own sake. Even on something so trivial as gathering extra Mahn, they couldn’t resist seeing if they could find a flaw in the orders Moses gave them. And that was the same trait that eventually led to their deaths in Korach’s rebellion.
But that’s not really relevant to us today, is it? I mean after all, we don’t find people today, apparently well-meaning in some way, but acting out, against authority, just “because,” do we? Or perhaps it is more common than ever.
God has been removed from the center of our lives, our marriages, homes, schools, government etc. There is no reverence towards God so how can there be any for any type of authority. Parents are acting like rebellious teenagers themselves. People in places of authority are committing all kinds of abominable sins, violating the bodies and souls of our children. Where abortion is acceptable as a form of birth control, there is major disregard for the souls that God created. That is a great indication that our society can “play” God at any time, while totally ignoring His instruction for governing our lives. I have been brought up Christian my 53 years of life and I am ashamed to be called a “Christian” because of many reasons. One especially is that western “Christians” believe we can act any way we want and carry a Bible and go to church and act like the world does and were all going to see Jesus one day. Western Christianity has left out half the Bible which includes God’s standard for living. I am not Jewish but I stand in prayer as God’s Word commands to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We stand with Israel regardless of what this American government believes and pray for this country on a regular basis. We need to get back to God’s instructions and quit ignoring who HE is. He is the God who has all authority and can wipe out an unrepentant nation in a heartbeat. God Bless You and keep you, Diane M. Price.
I think that challenging authority is simply to not be told what to do…My daughter has a language arts teacher who continuously would berate her and try to embarrass her in front of other students. She said my daughter had a ‘bad attitude’ even though my daughter never causes me any trouble nor does she have problems in any other class. Quite frankly, I believed she was targeted simply because she is Jewish.
The teacher sent me an e-mail and I answered her back. I told her that if she was having problems connecting with my daughter, she should try smiling at her and making light conversation. The teacher, the very next day, not only did not do any of my suggestions, but she immediately sent my daughter to in school suspension, simply because I sent the e-mail and ‘told her what to do’. Yes, some people are prone to haughtiness and fail to use reason to adhere to sound advice.