Why Did B’nai Yisrael Want Fish, Cucumbers, Watermelons, Leeks, Onions & Garlic?

Dedicated to the memory of
Louis Levine z”l, Baruch Aryeh ben Avraham HaLevi on his sixth
Yahrzeit, 19th Sivan

 

In Parshat Behaalotcha, we are told that B’nai Yisrael were
given manna to eat while they traveled in the desert.

 

A well known interpretation is that the manna tasted like
whatever food the person who was eating it wanted it to taste like. If this was
the case then why did B’nai Yisrael complain saying the following (Bamidbar 11:5):
“We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt; the cucumbers, watermelons,
leeks, onions and garlic?”

 

Rashi says that the manna was transformed into everything
except for the foods listed here.

 

The Sifri (Midrash written around the same time as the
Mishna) explains what the problem was:

 

Rabbi Shimon said: Why was the manna transformed into
everything but these foods? It is because these foods are harmful to nursing
mothers. We tell a woman: “Do not eat garlic or onions for the baby’s sake.”
This is compared to a king who placed his son under the tutelage of a pedagogue
who warned him against harmful food and drink. The son was angry with his
father, saying that this is not because my father loves me, but because he does
not want me to eat.

 

Throughout the centuries, different cultures had their own
lists of what was and wasn’t good for nursing mothers to eat. We learn from
here that in the Third Century CE nursing mothers were told to keep away from
the above foods as they were afraid that they would have an adverse effect on
the mother’s milk.

 

Is this still true today?

1. Fish-
   nursing moms are told to stay away from eating large amounts of fish due
   to the levels of mercury that it may contain.
2. Cucumbers-
   and some other vegetables are thought to make some babies irritable.
3. Watermelon-
   is a fruit that helps boost the mom’s fluid intake and it is now
   considered an “old wives tale” to tell nursing moms that it is harmful.
4. Leeks,
   Onions and Garlic- are still known to change the taste of the mother’s
   milk. Some babies may get fussy if the milk tastes different. According to
   La Leche League, in Italy
   nursing moms are told to stay away from garlic while in India the moms are told to eat
   garlic as it may actually help boost the mom’s milk supply.

 

Today, nursing moms are told to eat all healthy foods and to
only stop eating a specific food (often one or more on the foods on the list
above) if it bothers the baby.

 

Instead of appreciating all of the foods that the manna
could have tasted like, according to this Midrash, B’nai Yisrael craved the six
foods that they could not have and complained. We must learn the lesson here
that we can’t always have everything and we must be thankful and appreciative
for what we do have.

 

Eizeh hu ashir? Hasameach bichelko. Who is rich? The person
who is happy with what they have.

Click on the link below to
hear my interview on Life Lessons with Judy Simon on Israel National Radio!

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/Player.aspx#0#4006