TI Torah Study: Parashat Beshelach; Manna and the Miraculous

February 8, 2025 / 10 Shevat 5785

Summary (From ReformJuaism.org)

Rashi says that the people saw "the guardian angel of Egypt marching after him," and they were seized by fear. The guardian angel represents the military power of Egypt. They were advancing quickly, and the Israelites were unarmed and unable to defend themselves. The terror of death generated their complaints.

Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im explains that as soon as the Israelites left Egypt, they began to experience the difficulties of thirst and hunger in the desert. They were uncomfortable, anxious, and irritable. As a result, they began to look back upon their slave experience with nostalgia. They forgot the beatings and humiliation; they remembered the abundance of food on their tables.

Ramban says they left Egypt bravely and were now in the desert. They had thought that Moses would lead them to a city or safe place where they would find food, drink, and shelter; they believed it would not be long before they entered the Promised Land of Israel. HOwever, after a month of wandering i teh desert, their provisions were nearly gone. They were thirsty and hungry. Their essential needs were not being met, and they feared for the safety of their children. Their complaints were not only understandable but both realistic and justified.

Nahum Sarna argues they were like spoiled children. Moses had led them out of slavery. God had freed them from bondage. Even after they had been given sweet water at Marah and Manna to eat, they still found reasons to murmur against Moses and God. "The extreme language of the complaints betrays profound lack of faith in God and base ingratitude."

Some say that mon means a portion of food.1 They did not know what it was, but they knew that it was a portion of ready-to-eat food, so they called it just that.

Others explain that mon is Egyptian for “what.”2 Over the 200-plus years that they had lived in Egypt, a fair amount of Egyptian had crept into their lexicon. Thus, when they said, “It is manna,” what they were actually saying was, “What is it?” Eventually, that became the name of the mystery food that they had found.

A third interpretation is that the root word of mon means status or importance.3 In other words, they saw the stuff fall from heaven, did not know what it was, but were absolutely sure that it was something special. Menachem Posner

Thematically, the manna constitutes the greatest of God's acts of intervention, "for this wonder continued unabated for forty years, in contrast to God's other miracles, most of which were temporary" (Avraham Ibn Ezra, 12th century Spain, commentary to 16:5).

Not only is the manna presented as completely unique in terms of its advent and appearance, but also in terms of its volumetric qualities, for no matter how much or how little a person attempts to gather, an omer per person is what is accumulated.

Try as they might to hoard the manna for another day, it cannot be done. It neither lends itself to being gathered all day, amassed in large amounts, or leftover at all for tomorrow. The manna, therefore, speaks of God's continuous sustaining intervention rather than of man's illusions of single-handedly ensuring his self-preservation and prosperity. The manna indicates that, at the core of the matter, a person's survival is not solely a function of his own efforts but of God's saving providence. There is no manna to be saved for another day, for each day's new provisions are a function of God's ceaseless grace. Most of the time, we labor mightily under the illusion that if only we gather more, acquire more, save more, and hoard more, we can be sure of our future and of our ability to survive. The manna forcefully indicates that this is not necessarily the case, for often, our painstakingly plotted plans go up in proverbial smoke, leaving behind the cinders of our dreams of invincibility. What sustains a man is not only the bread that he consumes, but the trust in God's pledge that is the fertile ground from which that bread grows.

As the Ramban (13th century, Spain) explains: "The manna constituted a great trial for the people, for they had no provisions and could secure no other means of survival in the inhospitable wilderness, except for the manna. They had never before encountered this food, neither they nor their ancestors, and it would fall only according to their daily needs how they hungered for it! In spite of all this, they willingly followed God into the uninhabited wilderness…Surely, God could have led them by way of a settled route. Instead, He guided them into the snake and scorpion-infested wasteland, denying them the possibility of securing anything but this heavenly bread, in order to try them and to bring them much goodness at the end, that they might trust in Him forever" (commentary to 16:4). In other words, the Ramban understands that the encounter of the manna goes hand in hand with the wilderness, for to experience both is to come to realize that only God can provide. To be led through the wilderness is to feel the tenuous truth of our temporary lives, and to understand that many of our grandest material desires are superfluous. To taste the manna is to comprehend that what matters most is not the striving after wealth that in the end may not save, but rather the quest for an abiding trust in the Source of life Who alone preserves and sustains.

God commanded Moses that a portion of manna be kept throughout the generations so that the Jews would see how G‑d sustained us in the desert. Aaron collected some manna and put it in a jar inside the Holy of Holies. (Exodus 16:32-34). The Midrash relates that it remained there for many years, and in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, when Jeremiah rebuked the Jews, saying, “Why do you not engage in the Torah?” they answered, “Should we leave our work and engage in the Torah? From what will we support ourselves?” He brought out the jar of manna and said to them, “You see the word of the L‑rd.” (Jeremiah 2:31). It does not say “hear” but “see.” In other words, Jeremiah was saying, “With this, your ancestors supported themselves. G‑d has many agents to prepare food for those who revere Him.” (Midrash Mechilta, quoted by Rashi on Exodus 16:32). Yehuda Shurpin

The rabbis imagine that manna changed to the dietary whims of the diner, replicating every food desired. Yet, God limited the menu to remove or restrict the experience of the five foods that connected them to Egypt. Manna provided this additional educational opportunity to retrain the Israelites, to teach them faith in God, to follow God’s laws, and to face toward Israel.

... Although it is natural when times are tough to look for comfort in what one already knows, even when it is a seat of servitude, the Israelites are inclined to look back on Egypt with false nostalgia. When discomforted, the Israelites must look to God, their present, and their future, and let go of Egypt.

That surrendering of the past is a continual process, starting with the first taste of manna. Rabbi Mary Zamore