Word Prompt – KVETCH – Ariela Davis

I’ve often wondered if these “Word Prompts” are assigned because they stem from the parsha. If so, kvetch fits. Pretty much from the time that Bnei Yisrael become a nation, they kvetch; our identity as complainers far predates the Yiddish term. Bnei Yisrael kvetch throughout Sefer Shemot and into Sefer Bamidbar – and, tragically, they kvetch to Moshe, who basically gave up his personal life in order to devote his life to them. It sounds like ingratitude to Hashem, but also to Moshe.

As parents and teachers, kvetching is a theme that is as familiar to us from our everyday life as it is from the parshiyot. Moshe’s patience with Am Yisrael is something we wish we could emulate, and we relate more to the rare time he does lose his patience with them.

When we work hard to provide for our children or students, to hear them complain about the seemingly small things feels like ingratitude, even if it isn’t intended as such. Why notice the things that don’t go right and instead focus on the good, we wonder?

But kids undoubtedly learn from us adults. And with this, I will pose the question to myself and by extension to readers: how much do we kvetch ourselves? And if kvetching is hurtful or bothersome to us who are on the receiving end of it, maybe it’s a reminder to us that Hashem might not “appreciate” it much either.