Derasha 1 on Behaalosecha 11:10

Parashas Behaalosecha · Aliyah 5 · Passuk 10

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־הָעָ֗ם בֹּכֶה֙ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔יו אִ֖ישׁ לְפֶ֣תַח אׇהֳל֑וֹ וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֤ף יְהֹוָה֙ מְאֹ֔ד וּבְעֵינֵ֥י מֹשֶׁ֖ה רָֽע׃

Chabad.org — English translation + Rashi

Source Citation

Torah Temimah (Shabbos 130a): “בכה למשפחותיו” — they wept over the matters of their families (the newly forbidden arayos), as linked to the reading of “dagah” above.

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
בֹּכֶה֙ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔יו

English: “Weeping by their families” — over the affairs of their families: the forbidden relations that had been closed to them.

Type of Learning

Family weeping — the midrash ties the tears at the tent openings to the sexual prohibitions, not only to meat.

What Is Learned

The public cry is read as a protest against the new boundaries of kinship.