The Torah in Parashat Behaalotekha (11:1) briefly records the tragic incident of the “mit’onenim,” where the people complained about the conditions of travel, in response to which God sent a fire to consume “the edge of the camp.”  The Midrash Tanchuma interprets this verse as referring, surprisingly, to the zekeinim, the nation’s elders.  According to the Tanchuma, the elders were the instigators of the complaints, and it was thus they who perished by the divine fire sent in response to the protests.  (This passage is reminiscent of one view in the Midrash Rabba concerning the episode of Kivrot Ha-ta’ava, which we discussed earlier this week.)  The Tanchuma posits this theory to resolve the question of why, later in the parasha, God orders Moshe to appoint seventy zekeinim to lead the nation, when the nation already had zekeinim serving as leaders at the time of Matan Torah, as mentioned explicitly in Sefer Shemot (24:9,14).  The answer, the Tanchuma claims, is that they perished earlier, during the tragedy of the mit’onenim. 

            The Tanchuma further comments that these elders were deserving of this punishment already at the time of Matan Torah, because of their casual conduct at the time when they beheld the divine glory at Mount Sinai, as the Torah describes, “They gazed at God, and they ate and drank” (Shemot 24:11).  In order not to darken the festivities of Matan Torah, God withheld punishment at that time, and these zekeinim died instead on account of a later incident, when they complained about the conditions of travel.  (Interestingly, the Tanchuma writes that the elders were killed “when they desired that craving” – “hit’avu ota ta’ava” – seemingly linking the sin of the mit’onenim with that of Kivrot Ha-ta’ava.) 

            The Midrash here draws an association between the complaints of the mit’onenim and the elders’ improper indulgence at the time of the Revelation at Sinai.  It appears that from the Midrash’s perspective, complaints about material standards reveal misplaced priorities, an overemphasis on material comfort at the expense of loftier concerns.  And thus the Midrash associated the elders’ indulgent eating at Sinai with their whining in the incident of the mit’onenim.  At Sinai, they prioritized physical enjoyment over the delight of experiencing divine revelation, and in the wilderness, their preoccupation with food and comfort led them to complain about the conditions of travel.  The Midrash thus teaches that when we focus our attention on the areas that deserve its focus – on matters of spirituality and avodat Hashem – we are far less likely to be bothered and distraught over the numerous inconveniences and problems that we confront over the course of daily life.  The phenomenon of “mit’onenim,” of perennial discontent, can be avoided, or at least minimized, by keeping our priorities in check and making Torah and mitzvot our primary concern and point of attention.