In Parashat Beha’alotcha, the Torah describes the complaint of the Israelites regarding the lack of meat in the wilderness. Hashem commands Moshe to provide meat for the people for an entire month, but Moshe responds:

“Six hundred thousand footmen are the people in whose midst I am, and You have said, ‘I will give them meat, and they shall eat for a whole month’” (Numbers 11:21).

Rabbeinu the Chatam Sofer raises a difficulty: Did Moshe Rabbeinu doubt Hashem’s ability to sustain His nation? After all, Hashem feeds and sustains the entire world - “from the eggs of lice to the horns of wild oxen.” Why, then, did Moshe question, “Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them and suffice for them?”

The answer, explains the Chatam Sofer, lies in the wording of the verse: “six hundred thousand footmen.” Why refer to them as “footmen” and not simply as “people”? When Hashem provided the manna, it is written: “Each person according to what he eats, an omer per head” (Exodus 16:16). The term “head” symbolizes one who possesses fear of Heaven and controls his desires. Such a person is on the level of the “head.” But one who succumbs to his desires descends to the level of the “foot,” representing base and uncontrolled cravings.

This is what Moshe was indicating: once they fall into the craving for meat, there is no end. “Whoever has one hundred desires two hundred” (Kohelet Rabbah 1:13). They will start with meat and immediately want more; when they acquire wealth, they will desire even greater riches. “They have descended from the head - from the level of the manna - to the feet of desire,” explains Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto. “Once a person enters the realm of desire, his appetite only continues to expand.”

Rabbi Pinto provides a modern example: “A man came to me and said: ‘Rabbi, I have everything - a private jet, a yacht, homes in New York, Miami, and Israel - but it’s still not enough. Now I want to travel to the moon.’ He paid $40 million and spent three years preparing himself for the trip. There is no limit to what a person desires.”

The same pattern exists in daily life. A man provides his wife and children with everything, yet instead of gratitude, an attitude of entitlement arises, demanding more. “The child no longer appreciates; he goes to school and tells the counselor that his parents mistreat him. The demands never end.”

In conclusion, Rabbi Pinto reminds us of the teaching of the Sages: “Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his portion” (Pirkei Avot 4:1). The ability to rejoice in what one has is the key to balanced and fulfilling living. When a person focuses on what he has, he ascends; but when his eyes are always set on what he lacks, there is no end to his downfall.

This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel