Following the splitting of the sea, the Jewish people begin to complain. First they run out of water. After finding a water source that is undrinkable, they complain about Moshe. He cries out to Hashem who provides a solution. They then travel to Elima where there are twelve springs of water and seventy date palms. After departing, they begin to complain again about Moshe and Aharon.
שמות טז
(ג) וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֲלֵהֶ֜ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל מִֽי־יִתֵּ֨ן מוּתֵ֤נוּ בְיַד־יְהֹוָה֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּשִׁבְתֵּ֙נוּ֙ עַל־סִ֣יר הַבָּשָׂ֔ר בְּאׇכְלֵ֥נוּ לֶ֖חֶם לָשֹׂ֑בַע כִּֽי־הוֹצֵאתֶ֤ם אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה לְהָמִ֛ית אֶת־כׇּל־הַקָּהָ֥ל הַזֶּ֖ה בָּרָעָֽב׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתוֹרָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃
Shemot 16
(3) The children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to our fill! For you have brought us out into this desert, to starve this entire congregation to death.(4) So the Lord said to Moses, Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven, and the people shall go out and gather what is needed for the day, so that I can test them, whether or not they will follow My teaching.
God responds to the complaints of the people by introducing the manna. Sustenance will rain down from heaven and take care of their needs. But God also tells Moshe that He will test the people, to see if they will follow His teachings or not. What is the test and what is the teaching?
רשב"ם שמות טז:ד
למען אנסנו – מתוך שבכל יום ויום עיניהם תלויות למזונותיהם אלי, מתוך כך יאמינו בי וילכו בתורותי, כמו שמפורש בפרשת והיה עקב: ויענך וירעיבך {וגו'} (דברים ח’:ג').
Rashbam on Shemot 17
That I May Test Them: "Since every day their eyes are turned to Me for their sustenance, as a result they will believe in Me and follow My laws." This idea is explained explicitly in the Torah portion Vehayah `eqev, on the verse (Deut. 8:3) "He subjected you to the hardship of hunger ...."
The Rashbam explains that the experience of being dependent on God for their daily bread will change the people’s perspective. It will draw their attention toward God, the source of all reality, increasing the people’s trust in God and their commitment to following His teachings. The Rashbam also draws our attention to Moshe’s discussion of the manna in Parshat Eikev.
דברים ח
(ג) וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶ֒ךָ֒ וַיַּאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת־הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן הוֹדִֽיעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י עַל־כׇּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי־יְהֹוָ֖ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃ (טז) הַמַּֽאֲכִ֨לְךָ֥ מָן֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֗ וּלְמַ֙עַן֙ נַסֹּתֶ֔ךָ לְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֖ בְּאַחֲרִיתֶֽךָ
Devarim 8
(3) And He afflicted you and let you go hungry, and then fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your forefathers know, so that He would make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but rather, by whatever comes forth from the mouth of the Lord does man live. (16) Who fed you with manna in the desert, which your forefathers did not know, in order to afflict you and in order to test you, to benefit you in your end.
Here Moshe elaborates on the episode following the splitting of the sea and the function of the manna. The Jewish people experienced deprivation, and then were fed the manna. This illustrated to the people that man is totally dependent on God. We may grow our grain in the earth, manipulate it, and fashion a loaf of bread. But the raw materials come from the Creator of the universe. We make the blessing “who brings bread from the land”, knowing full well that bread does not grow on trees or in the field. This articulates our recognition that God is the ultimate source of our bread. What is the “test” that is being referred to in our verses in Shemot and Devarim?
תלמוד בבלי – יומא עד:
המאכילך מן במדבר למען ענותך רבי אמי ורבי אסי חד אמר אינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו פת בסלו וחד אמר אינו דומה מי שרואה ואוכל למי שאינו רואה ואוכל. אמר רב יוסף מכאן רמז לסומין שאוכלין ואין שבעין אמר אביי הלכך מאן דאית ליה סעודתא לא ליכלה אלא ביממא
Talmud Bavli - Yoma 74b
Apropos the verse: “And he afflicted you and caused you to hunger, and fed you with manna” (Deuteronomy 8:3), the Gemara expounds related verses. The Torah states: “Who feeds you manna in the desert which your fathers did not know, in order to afflict you” (Deuteronomy 8:16). What affliction was there in eating the manna? Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi disagreed on the matter. One said: There is no comparison between one who has bread in his basket and one who does not have bread in his basket. The affliction in eating the manna lay in there being no leftover food for the next day. Each day the people worried that they might not have any food to eat the next day. And one said: There is no comparison between one who sees the food and eats it and one who does not see the food and eats it. Though the manna could taste like anything, it always looked the same and did not look as it tasted. Being unable to see the food that they tasted was an affliction. Rav Yosef said: From here there is an allusion to the idea that blind people eat but are not fully satisfied when they eat because they cannot see their food. Seeing the food contributes to the enjoyment of eating. Abaye said: Therefore, from what we have just learned, one who has a meal should eat it only during daytime, when there is light to see the food that is being eaten.
רש"י יומא עד: – אין לו פת בסלו – אוכל היום ודואג על למחר. אינו רואה ואוכל – אכילת המן טועם טעם כל המינים ואינו רואה אלא מן.
Rashi Yoma 74b – One who doesn’t have bread in his basket – he eats today and worries about tomorrow. One who does not see and eat – eating the manna one could taste all the species, but one [still] only saw manna.
The Talmud records two opinions regarding the “affliction” and deprivation experienced by the Jewish people in the desert related to the manna. One opinion, based on the interpretation of Rashi, is that even though one has food today, the insecurity of not knowing about tomorrow disturbs one’s meal today. According to this opinion, the Jewish people had to transition their trust in man to their trust in God. As slaves they may not have been in full control of their sustenance. But instead of merely experiencing freedom and independence, the Jewish people experienced a dependance on God, revealing to them a truth that we are ultimately completely reliant on God for our needs .
The second opinion (also based on Rashi) is that while the manna could taste like anything, its visual form did not change. This is a different deprivation, a culinary encounter that lacks the visual experience. As Rav Yosef who was blind comments, the satisfaction of eating is incomplete without the visual. Perhaps this highlights that part of eating is an ego-centered experience. We don’t want to merely take care of our physical needs, we want to gratify our needs in a certain style. People do not post on social media about the canned protein shake they drank to provide essential nutrients nearly as often as they post pictures of a fancy looking entree. The Jewish people were transitioning from the materialism of Egypt. In order to counter this emphasis on the aesthetic, the manna focused on the basic and essential nourishment needed to sustain life. This reflects the Torah’s philosophy of how we relate to the physical.
It is interesting that Abaye comments in the Talmud that given the above, one should aim to eat during the daytime. He does not suggest a person should eat in the dark or blindfolded. Apparently Abaye recognized this need in man. One should acknowledge the idea encapsulated in the manna, but this was a divine test for a specific people in a specific time. Our goal should be to take this idea to heart, not get carried away in the ego-satisfaction of gratification, but aim to satisfy our psychological needs to the extent available to us.
References
Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/
Steinsaltz, A., In Weinreb, T. H., In Schreier, J., & Hotsaat Koren (Jerusalem),. (2017). Koren Talmud Bavli, the Noe edition: Talmud Bavli. Retrieved from: https://shas.alhatorah.org/
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