Lead Tidbit
Hard Lessons to Learn
There are two possible reactions we can have to the Torah's accounts of the people's complaining in the Midbar. We can shake our heads and think, "How could those people have said those terrible things to Moshe and to G-d, about taking us our of Egypt to kill us in the Midbar, or in complaint about food and water, etc. "And possibly to think that if we were there things would have been different. After all, look at all the miracles and wonders they witnessed. If G-d told them not to worry about the Sea, and as it turned out, they didn't have to worry, then why should they have worried about any of the other things? They knew what G-d is capable of. Why the terrible complaints, to the point that G-d counted ten times that the people vexed Him (so to speak) in the Midbar?

That's one way to react to the second half of B'ha-alo-t'cha, and much of the following sedras. Not a healthy or constructive way to look at things. Far better would be this kind of reaction:

Realize, first of all, that we are talking about a special generation of Jews. People who witnessed Y'tzi'at Mitzrayim, and the Splitting of the Sea and the events of Matan Torah at Sinai. They were not stupid and they were not unaware of the greatness they were experiencing.

But they were hungry. And thirsty. And scared. And they were subject to suggestion and corruption by individuals and by peer pressure.

And so are we. We would like to think that we would be the Nachsons and the Kalevs, Yehoshuas, Leviyim, etc. But the odds more favor that we would fail many of the tests, as they seem to have.

Rather, we must draw from these parts of the Torah, the strength to handle today's situations correctly. Our lives are filled with vexing issues. Parnasa, family, health, current events... Enough to keep us busy. Every situation is a challenge to maintain proper behavior and attitude. "Good" stories AND "bad" stories can both inspire us to the Good. Use hindsight to serve you well in all that happens now.