The Message of Manna

Question

Dear Rabbi,

Would you teach me the meaning of the manna that was eaten in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt?

Thanks

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Part of Moshe’s will and testament includes a description of how God provided for the people’s needs for forty years in the desert. On the eve of the entry into the Land of Israel, Moshe explained how their experience of eating “manna from Heaven” would guide them in the future.

    Much was about to change. From the miraculous desert life, where the clouds of glory not only protected them from the elements, but also laundered and ironed their clothing; where an endless supply of water accompanied them through their travels, and where manna fell from the heavens to their doorsteps, they were to enter a land that would require plowing, planting, sowing, and reaping. Not only would they have to fight natural wars to conquer the land, but they would have to work the land to earn their daily bread. Moshe, their teacher, recounted the experience of the manna with its message to accompany them for the rest of Jewish history.

    The Torah says: “He (God) fed you with the manna… in order to teach you that not on bread alone can man live; rather, man can live on anything that comes from the mouth of God.”

    In the wilderness we were nourished with a bread that lacked the stamp of human achievement. God fed us with the manna, day after day, delivered to our humble dwellings, in a way that clearly demonstrated His personal care for every soul. This was preparatory training for life: Human existence does not depend on bread alone — on the natural and human resources represented by bread. Rather, man can, and does live on anything ordained by God.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team