B"H
Thursday, Shevat 11, 5782 / January 13, 2022
In this week’s Parsha, B’Shalach, we find one of the most amazing miracles which G-d performed for the Jewish people, after liberating them from their Egyptian bondage. It was the miracle of the manna - the heavenly food, which descended from heaven each day, except on Shabbat.
The heavenly manna began exactly one month after the Exodus and was to be their daily food for a period of forty years. It stopped one month before they entered into the Promised Land.
Another wonderful miracle in this Parsha was the water from a well miraculously embedded in a rock. This rock traveled with them throughout their forty years journey in the desert.
Q. What did they eat during that first month – from the Exodus until the manna came?
A. They had the left-over matzah, which they ate the night before the Exodus. They also had the dough which they took out of Egypt, which was baked from the heat of the sun as matzot.
Q. Why was the “bread from heaven” called, “manna?”
A. The Torah says that when they first saw the heavenly bread, the people asked each other, “mann hu,” “what is it.” The name “manna” is from the words “mann hu” – what is it.
Q. Before eating bread we recite the blessing, “Hamotzi lechem min haaretz.” We thank G-d for bringing forth bread from the earth. What blessing did they make on bread which came from heaven?
A. “Hamotzi lechem min hashamayim” - “for bringing forth bread from heaven.”
Q. The Jewish people witnessed so many great miracles, How is it possible that they rebelled and complained time after time during their 40 years in the desert?
A. When one lives in an environment of constant miracles, after a while one starts taking the miracles for granted, seeing them as a natural phenomenon. Jews were so used to miracles that they took them for granted. Even the daily manna from heaven became natural to them and they stopped seeing the miracle in it.
There is a lesson in this for each of us. We all experience miracles one time or another. There are times when we are in dire need of a miracle and pray to G-d. At that time, we are ready to do anything for Him. Yet, too often, after the miracle occurs and we are helped, we tend to forget that it is G-d who came through, we take it for granted and forget that we owe Him. We must always remember that in truth we owe G-d much more than we are willing to admit. In fact, our sages remind us that we have to thank G-d for every breath we take!
If we stop and think about it, we realize that G-d does so much for us. We really do owe Him!
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY