The sea had split.
The enemy was drowned. And now the problems began.
The newly liberated
nation was stranded in a scorching desert facing an unending landscape of
uncertainties. Taskmasters no longer responded to their cries — Hashem
did. He responded with protection and shelter on every level. But the
Jews were still not satisfied. They were hungry. “If only we had died..
in the land of Egypt. Why did you liberate us to die in the desert? ”
they cried to Moshe. (Exodus 16:3 )
Hashem responds
with a most miraculous and equally mysterious celestial gift. Food fell
from the heavens, but the people accepted it with piqued curiosity.
Indeed, the dew-covered matter satiated their hunger, but they were not
sure what exactly it was. “Each man said to his friend, manna ! For they did
not know what it was.” (Exodus 16:14) The commentaries explain that the
word manna is
a Hebrew-Egyptian form of the word “what.”
At first, the Torah
only discusses the physical attributes of the manna : “it was like a thin frost on
the earth.” The Torah continues to tell us that on Shabbos the manna did not fall.
A double portion fell on Friday — the extra portion was allotted for
Shabbos. In referring to the manna
of Shabbos the Torah tells us, “the children of Israel named
it manna ,
and it tasted like a cake fried in honey.” Later, however, the Torah
describes the manna ‘s
taste differently: “it tasted like dough kneaded with oil.” (Numbers
11:8) Why does the Torah wait to describe the manna ‘s taste until Shabbos? Also,
when did it taste sweet and when did it only taste like oily dough?
Another question is
before Shabbos people asked, “what is it?” On Shabbos they named the
miraculous food — “It is ‘what'” (manna
). Why did the Jews wait until Shabbos to describe concretely
the miraculous edible with an official title manna — the ‘what’ food?
In the town of
Lomza there was a group of woodcutters hired by the townsfolk to cut down
trees for firewood. The strong laborers swung their axes and hit the
trees all while shouting a great cry HAH with each blow. The timing had
to be flawless. If the cry HAH came a split second early or, a second
after the blade hit the tree, it would be a worthless shout that would
not aid the lumberjacks at all.
Each year, Zelig
the meshugener (crazy), a once-successful businessman who had lost his
mind together with the loss of a young daughter, accompanied the
woodcutters on their quest. He stood in the background and precisely as
the ax hit the tree he, too, shouted on the top of his lungs HAH!
When it was time
to get paid, the deranged Zelig also stood in line. “I deserve some
silver coins!” he exclaimed. “After all without the chopping would not be
as effective!”
The case was
brought before the Chief Rabbi of Lomza who looked at the five
lumberjacks and then at the meshugener. “Listen carefully, Zelig,” said
the Rabbi. He then took 10 silver pieces in his hand and jingled them
loudly. They made a loud clanging noise. Then he gave each woodsman two
silver pieces. He turned to Zelig and smiled. “The men who gave the labor
get the coins, and, Zelig, you who gave the sound, get the sound of the
coins!”
Hashem in His
infinite wisdom began our lessons in living through our daily fare. The
Talmud states that the taste of the manna
was integrally linked with the taster’s thoughts. If one
thought of steak the manna
tasted like steak: if one thought of borscht, the manna tasted like
borscht. In fact, the Chofetz Chaim was once asked, “what happens if you
think nothing?” He answered very profoundly: “If one thinks of nothing,
then one tastes nothing!”
During the week the
Jews had the manna but
did not realize its great potential. The Malbim explains that is why it
only tasted like oily dough. But on Shabbos, a day filled with sweet
relaxation, heavenly thoughts filled the minds of the nation. And those
sweet thoughts produced sweet tastes!
The Talmud also
says that to small children the manna
tasted like dough, but to scholars it tasted like honey. For
if one thinks of honey, he tastes honey. When one thinks blandly, he has
bland taste.
Perhaps on Shabbos
the Jewish People realized the important lesson of life. The questions we
face should not be addressed as eternally mysterious. We can not face the
unknown with the question, “what is it?” Rather, we can define our
destiny and challenge our uncertainties. “It is what!” What you
put into it is exactly what you take out! Life presents us many
opportunities. We can approach those moments with lofty thoughts and see,
smell, and taste its sweetness. Or we can see nothing and taste nothing.
We can chop hard and reap the benefits, or we can kvetch and enjoy only
the echoes of our emptiness.
Dedicated by Mr. and Mrs. Jules
Beck in memory of Mr. Beck’s father Ahron ben Yaakov Naftali
on his Yahrzeit — 10 Shevat
Text Copyright © 1996 by Rabbi M. Kamenetzky and Project Genesis,
Inc.
The author is the
Dean of the Yeshiva of South Shore.
Drasha is the e-mail edition of FaxHomily, a
weekly torah facsimile on the weekly portion
which is sponsored by The
Henry and Myrtle Hirsch Foundation
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