Musar sobre Números 21:7

We shall answer the questions in order: As to their saying "against Elokim and against Moses," they emulated in this, the primal serpent, who also spoke against the Holy One Blessed be He, who said that the reason the Holy One Blessed be He did not permit eating from the tree of knowledge was (Bereshith 3:5) "For Elokim knows that on the day you eat from it… you will be like elohim" [which Onkelos translates 'great ones'], wherefore He withheld this good [of eating] from you. Here, too, in giving you manna, He gave you "faulty bread," and He is destined to exact punishment of you through it [see Rashi], that your bowels will burst, when you are not meritorious; for He wishes to conduct himself with you according to the attribute of din. And, in truth, it was not so. For it was in His mercy and lovingkindness that He gave them bread from heaven, which contained no waste, the like of which he had not even given to our holy forefathers, as it is written (Devarim 8:3): "And He fed you the manna, which you did not know, and which your forefathers did not know, to make it known to you that not through bread alone shall a man live, but by all that issues from the mouth of the L-rd shall a man live." And he also wished to spare them exertion. For is it not known that the cloud of the L-rd dwelt among them, because of which it is written in the Torah (Devarim 23:13): "And a place shall there be for you outside the camp [outside the cloud of glory], and you shall go out there outside." Therefore, He gave them manna to eat, which produces no waste and which is absorbed into the organs, so that they would always be clean and pure, wherefore it is written thereafter (7): "because we spoke against Hashem" [connoting "mercy"], who gave us manna in His mercies.

We shall now come to explain "And let Him remove from us the snake." They reflected that by their words they had aroused against themselves "the great prosecutor," the great snake, and [they said to Moses:] "Pray to the L-rd that He remove it from us," so that the plague cease entirely and the protection return as it was. And Moses heeded their words and prayed for them. (Ibid. 8): "And the L-rd said to Moses: 'Make for yourself a fiery serpent, etc.' That is, as to your asking that it be removed entirely, (that they be protected as at first and the snakes not touch them), it is impossible to seal its mouth altogether, that they be guarded as at first. But your prayer will avail for this: that from now on, I will not incite the snakes against them. And though they are nevertheless dangerous, "make a fiery serpent for yourself and place it on a high pole," that they can always reflect that it was their speech that aroused the serpent on high to prosecute them before the throne of glory, [as we find in Tanna d' bei Eliyahu, that the lashon hara one speaks ascends until the throne of glory, as it is written (Psalms 73:9): "They have placed their mouths in the heavens, etc."], and through this they will be humbled before the L-rd and He will have mercy upon them. This resolves the fourth question.