Numbers 8:1 – 12:16
The complainers bemoaned not eating meat wishing to indulge their desires and test Hashem. The response from The Almighty was providing this meat in such an over abundance of quail that they literally were steeped in them and the greedy so over satiated themselves that many became bloated sick and disgusted. Looking closely at the group of quail there is a fish amongst them as it is said that they tasted of meat and fish.
In the center left is Moses’ sister Miriam who had challenged him for not continuing to be intimate with his wife and, though Moses the humblest of beings did not defend himself, Miriam, for such defaming words “lashon hora,” suddenly broke out with “tzara’as” a mystical snow white skin disease indicating one has spoken improperly about another. Note that the Cloud of the Shekhinah separated from the Tabernacle in the displeasure of Hashem that suffering occurred between the “tzaddikim” – the righteous – Moses and Miriam.
To her right is the ceremony for the Levites who had no property and were responsible for taking care of the “mishkan” – the Tabernacle. As part of their initiation into service they were completely shaven and waved – literally picked up by Moses and Aaron and moved up and down and back and forth – suggesting raising one’s being from the physical to the spiritual.
