The prophecy of these men concerning the quails turned out as they had
predicted, the quails being, as God had foretold to Moses, no blessing
for the people. For God said to Moses: "Tell the people to be prepared
for impending punishment, they shall eat flesh to satiety, but then
they shall loathe it more than they now lust for it. I know, however,
how they came to have such desires. Because My Shekinah is among them
they believe that they may presume anything. Had I removed My Shekinah
from their midst they would never have cherished so foolish a desire."
Moses, knowing that the granting of the people's wish would be
disastrous to them, said to God: "O Lord, why, pray, dost Thou first
give them flesh, and then, in punishment for their sin, slay them? Who
ever heard any one say to an ass, 'Here is a measure of wheat; eat it,
for we want to cut off they head?' Or to a man, 'Here is a loaf of
bread for thee; take it, and go to hell with it?'" God replied: "Well,
then, what wouldst thou do?" Moses: "I will go to them and reason with
them that they may desist from their lusting after flesh." God: "I can
tell thee beforehand that thy endeavors in this matter will be
fruitless." Moses betook himself to the people, saying to them: "Is the
Lord's hand waxed short? Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters
gushed out, and the streams overflowed; He can give bread also; can He
not provide flesh for His people?" The people, however, said: "Thou are
only trying to soothe us; God cannot grant our wish." [485] But they
erred vastly, for hardly had the pious among them retired to their
tents, when upon the godless, who had remained in the open, came down
quails in masses as thick as snowflakes, so that many more were kill by
the descent of the quails than later by the tasting of them. The quails
came in such masses that they completely filled the space between
heaven and earth, so that they even covered the sun's disk, and settled
down on the north side and the south side of the camp, as it were a
day's journey, lying, however, not directly upon the ground but two
cubits above it, that people might not have to stoop to gather them up.
Considering this abundance, it is not surprising that even the halt
that could not go far, and the lazy the would not, gathered each a
hundred kor. These vast quantities of flesh did not, however, benefit
them, for hardly had they tasted of it, when they gave up the ghost.
This was the punishment for the grave sinners, while the better ones
among them enjoyed the taste of the flesh for a month before they died,
whereas the pious without suffering harm caught the quails, slaughtered
them, and ate of them. This was the heaviest blow that had fallen upon
Israel since their exodus from Egypt, and in memory of the many men who
had died because of their forbidden lusting after flesh, they changed
the name of the place where this misfortune occurred to
Kibroth-hattaavah, "Graves of those who lusted." [486] The winds that
went forth to bring the quails was so powerful a storm that it could
have destroyed the world, so great was God's anger against the
ungrateful people, and it was only due to the merits of Moses and Aaron
that this wind finally left the world upon its hinges. [487]