Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
In the wilderness, God provided Benei Yisrael with מָן (mann), a miraculous food from Heaven. But the riffraff of Benei Yisrael are sick of it! Here’s how they remember life back in Egypt:
(ה) זָכַ֙רְנוּ֙ אֶת־הַדָּגָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַ֥ל בְּמִצְרַ֖יִם חִנָּ֑ם אֵ֣ת הַקִּשֻּׁאִ֗ים וְאֵת֙ הָֽאֲבַטִּחִ֔ים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִ֥יר וְאֶת־הַבְּצָלִ֖ים וְאֶת־הַשּׁוּמִֽים׃
We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.
Our parshanim wonder about the word חִנָּם (hinnam). It usually means “for free.” When Benei Yisrael were slaves, did they really eat fish for free? Was life in Egypt that good?
אִם תֹּאמַר שֶׁמִּצְרִיִּים נוֹתְנִים לָהֶם דָּגִים חִנָּם, וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר "וְתֶבֶן לֹא יִנָּתֵן לָכֶם" (שמות ה). אִם תֶּבֶן לֹא הָיוּ נוֹתְנִין לָהֶם חִנָּם, דָּגִים הָיוּ נוֹתְנִין לָהֶם חִנָּם?!
וּמַהוּ אוֹמֵר חִנָּם, חִנָּם מִן הַמִּצְוֹת.
Did the Egyptians give them fish for free? Doesn’t Pharaoh say, “[Go and work, and] you won’t even get any straw” (Shemot 5:18)? If they wouldn’t give Benei Yisrael straw for free, would they have given them fish for free?!
“Hinnam” must really mean free from any mitzvot.
לְפִי פְּשׁוּטוֹ כִּי הָיוּ הַדַּיָּגִים הַמִּצְרִיִּים מַעֲבִידִין אוֹתָן לִמְשֹׁךְ הַדָּגִים שֶׁנֶּאֱחָזִים בַּמְּצוּדָה וּבַמִּכְמוֹרוֹת. וְהָיוּ נוֹתְנִין לָהֶם מִן הַדָּגִים כְּמִנְהַג כָּל פּוֹרְשֵׂי מִכְמֹרֶת.
The basic meaning is that the Egyptians who worked catching fish used to have their Israelite slaves pull out the fish that were caught in their traps and nets. They would give them some of those fish [to eat], like all people who spread nets do.
- The word “hinnam” comes up a bunch in the Torah. Check out:
Lavan speaking to Yaakov (Bereishit 29:15)
Rules about a slave going free (Shemot 21:11)
Do these examples support one of our parshanim more than the other?
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