B"H
Tuesday, Shevat 13, 5781 / January 26, 2021
In this week’s Parsha, B’Shalach, the Torah relates how, after leaving Egypt, G-d provided the Jewish people with Manna – also called, “Lechem Min Hashamayim” – “Bread from heaven.”
The manna started coming down exactly one month after the Exodus. Until then they still had matzot which they took out with them from Egypt, which lasted for a month. Now they had nothing to eat and complained.
G-d told Moshe, "I will cause it to rain bread from heaven; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion each day, that I may test them to see whether they will follow my laws or not".
The manna came down each morning covered with a layer of dew. No matter how much manna a person collected, when brought home, it amounted to exactly one Omer (a specific measurement) per person.
Each day, they went out and gathered their daily portion of manna. Any manna left over to the next day became spoiled.
The manna did not come on Shabbat. Each Friday, they received a double portion of manna. To this day we commemorate this great miracle. The two Challot we place on our Shabbat table are a reminder of the double portion of manna which came down each Friday in honor of Shabbat.
G-d supplied the Manna during the entire 40 years in which the Jewish people traveled in the desert.
Q. The disciples of the Talmudic sage, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, asked him, "Why didn't G-d give Jews a year's supply of manna all at once? Why did they have to go out and collect the Manna each day?"
A. Rabbi Shimon replied with the following parable: A king had a son whom he loved very much and he provided him with all his sustenance. In the beginning of the year, the king would give his son all that he would need for the entire year. As a result, the son would visit his father only once a year.
The king wasn't happy with his son's lack of visitation and he decided to provide food for his son, one day at a time. From that day on, the son appeared before his father each day!
"The same was with Israel and the manna," explained Rabbi Shimon. "By having to depend upon G-d for their sustenance each day, the people of Israel were compelled to direct their hearts to their Father in Heaven on a daily basis!"
There is a wonderful lesson in this for us. If G-d doesn't give us all our needs all at once, it is actually a sign of His great love toward us. This way we have to pray to Him each day, thus, we appear before G-d each day. This reinforces our relationship with G-d and His with us, daily.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY