meat

We continue today with the common food − ba•sar, meat. Numbers 11:13, Moses complains to God about the lack of this food during Israel’s journey in the Sinai desert: “From where should I have meat to give to all these people? For they weep to me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.'”

Later, we learn that God recommends eating meat in the evening and bread in the morning. This reference is to poultry (quails) meat and not beef:

I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God’

There is a Hebrew idiom with the word ‘ba•sar’ that has two meanings: ‘sir ha•ba•sar,’ ‘the meat pot.’ It originated in the Bible verse:

And the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger’

Sir ha•ba•sar means: revelling in great abundance; very materialistic; and someone who obtains a temporary advantage at the expense of the future.

Related to its biblical context, it reflects the words of the Israelites’ complaint while wandering in the desert about the distress of facing hunger and thirst. In Jewish tradition, this idiom/phrase was used in a different sense, as a description of a geographical location other than the Land of Israel. It is a description of the Jew of the wealthy Diaspora who does not want to give up its comfort and advantages. Unlike in English, ‘ba•sar’ also means flesh, and it is the general name for all living creatures.

And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh

Although ba•sar is recognized as a major biblical food, if you happen to be a vegetarian you may find this biblical recommendation encouraging for your dietary preference:

Be not among wine bibbers; among riotous eaters of meat