In this week’s parashah Beshalah, the Torah describes the beginning of the journey of the children of Israel into the wilderness. In chapter 16 we read that the encampment of Eilim was comfortable. Their next destination, the wilderness of Tzin, which is between Eilim and Sinai, would challenge them with hunger. The entire congregation complained against Moses and against Aaron. The miraculous manna, which appears here, would nourish them for the rest of their journeys in the wilderness. In addition to this gift, the children of Israel would also receive the gift of the Sabbath.
In verse 16:4, we read: ‘The Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am raining [a miraculous form of] food for you from the heavens; and the people shall go out and gather each day’s portion on its day, so that I may test them, [to see] whether they will follow My instructions, [and gather only one portion each day], or not’ In a commentary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, we learn as follows[1]: ‘Even if we believe that everything is in His hand, we still tend to think that our own efforts also play a role in acquiring our physical sustenance. In contrast, manna was not acquired through human effort, and so left no room for such misconceptions. Even so, God did not allow the people to collect more than one day’s worth of manna at a time, for whenever the pantry would have been full, the people would not have felt dependent upon God. On the other hand, God did require the people to go out and gather the manna, rather than deliver it to their doorsteps. In this way, He prepared them for their eventual entry into the real world. If acquiring the manna had not required any human effort, the people would have dismissed it as an isolated miracle, irrelevant to real life. By being required to collect the manna, they learned that human effort and God’s blessings work together. The manna taught us that our sustenance comes from heaven. Even when it appears to be the fruit of our own labor, it is in fact a gift from God.’ In sum: The Jewish way of life is based on a living partnership between God and man. Human effort and the blessings of our Creator work together. But, we also are aware that all our sustenance comes from heaven, even when it appears to be the fruit of our own labor. As the Torah teaches us with the story of the manna, everything is in fact a gift from Heaven. [1] Likutei Sichot, vol. 16, pp. 177–178. Click on 'previous' to read more Blogs (Klik op 'vorige' voor meer Blogs).
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