'Brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey!?'

Could they seriously refer to Egypt as a land flowing with milk and honey?

Was this perhaps merely a cynical reaction to their disappointment in not yet having arrived in the 'land flowing with milk and honey', mockingly pining for their days as slaves when they at least had some provisions available?

It seems strange that this issue, the lack of 'milk and honey', be their opening salvo of complaint.

Rami bar Yechezkel happened to come to Bnei Berak. He saw those goats that were grazing beneath a fig tree, and there was honey oozing from the figs and milk dripping from the goats, and the two liquids were mixing together. He said: This is the meaning of the verse “A land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8).

The Torah makes multiple references to our land as one that flows with milk and honey. Is this the pinnacle of all its greatness, its abundant milk production and sweet fruits dripping with honey?

The Great Gaon, Posek, and prolific author, HaRav Dovid Cohen, in several places among his various works, takes us on a most fascinating journey.

The very first reference in Torah to a promise of a land that flows with milk and honey appears during Moshe's encounter at the Burning Bush.

I shall descend to rescue it from the hand of Egypt… to a land flowing with milk and honey. (שמות ג ח)

In truth though, this promise of a land flowing with milk and honey was first revealed to Aharon, eighty years prior to Moshe.

A prophet approached Eli, the Kohen Gadol in the days of Shmuel, telling him that G-d said, "Did I not appear to your father's [Aharon] house, when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh?"(שמואל א ב כז)

Rashi in Yechezkel informs that the prophecy that was revealed to Aharon was that which is referenced to by Yechezkel the prophet.

On that day I lifted up My hand to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt, to a land that I had sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey; it is the glory of all the lands. (יחזקאל כ ו רש"י פסוק ז)

The Ramban points out that nowhere do we find this promise of flowing milk and honey ever made to our patriarchs, the Avos. (דברים כו טו)

The Yalkut Shimoni stops on the word used for the burning 'bush' where Moshe received his mission — סנה, associated with the similar sounding root — שנא, hatred. This alludes to the seeds of hatred that developed between the brothers and Yosef, necessitating their descent unto Egypt and all the travail of slavery that evolved from that event. The Midrash adds, it was thus Yosef who was entrusted with handing down the secret password of redemption — פקוד פקדתי — I have surely remembered you, which was conveyed to the elders of Israel after the revelation at the bush, with a reiteration of the promise of bringing them up to a land 'flowing with milk and honey'. (שמות ג טז-יז)

Our world was initially wired to naturally flow with bountiful produce. With the sinful partaking of the Tree of Knowledge, division between man and G-d, man and woman, man and himself, began to split wide open. With the birth of the very first children, Kayin and Hevel, conflict further fragmented the natural and unfettered flow of the physical world.

It would only return when man would put together the pieces, promoting unity, respecting one another, that the world — or the very least, one segment of it, the holy land — would flow with milk and honey.

Rashi in Megillah describes the earlier portrait observed by Rami Bar Yechezkel in the following manner.

The goats consumed the figs dripping with honey, with their milk flowing from them like a river. (מגילה ו. ד"ה זבת)  

The perfect symbiosis of all elements was perfectly synced, flowing unimpeded by a world of potential barriers and weaknesses.

According to Kabbalistic tradition, Moshe and Aharon — who are the embodiment of the ideal glorified in Psalms (133 1), in King David's words, 'Behold, how good and how pleasant, is the dwelling of brothers, especially, in unity — are the rectification of the imperfect relationship between Kayin and Hevel, and the realignment of a healthy bond of brothers, correcting the flaws exhibited between Yosef and his brothers.

Moshe sought to defer leadership to his older brother, while Aharon did not flinch, and on the contrary, rejoicing genuinely when he heard of his kid brother's ascension to a leading role.

Dasan and Aviram, the skeptics that they were, sought to deflate their accomplishment by claiming they were power hungry, not idealistically motivated. They too alleged that they embodied devotion to their fellow brethren, as evidenced in their roles as heroic taskmasters, suffering the blows on behalf of their brothers, as indeed was true.

They mockingly utilized this imagery of the message of a perfect world flowing seamlessly with milk and honey, contending the bonds of brotherhood that they pledged to one another, was worthier than Moshe's and Aharon's.

They erred in one critical area. One cannot devote fully to another unless one is first happy with oneself. Their unwillingness to accept and fully appreciate their own roles in life, without feeling inferior to others, will hinder them from getting to the promised land.

In their initial response they mimic the word Moshe used when taking Korach to task. Moshe when hearing of Korach's aspiration for a higher position of authority, asks pointedly to Korach, המעט — "Is it not enough for you the G-d of Israel has segregated you from the assembly of Israel to draw you near Himself…?"

Dasan and Aviram provocatively ape Moshe's sincere query when they respond, המעט — "Is it not enough that you have brought us up from a landing flowing with milk and honey to cause us to die in the Wilderness…"

How ironic. In their attempt to taunt Moshe they evoked the exact sentiment that should have resonated loudly upon their consciousness. If only they would have realized their personal roles uniquely suited and designated by G-d — that no other could have accomplished as heroically as they — and appreciate their own inherent worth, could they have sensed being part of that 'flow of milk and honey' that is catalyzed by a perfect world of respect and admiration for others. 

May we always 'go with the flow' being grateful for our own contribution and those of others that will bring the original energy of creation to enlighten the world.

באהבה,

צבי יהודה טייכמאן