Dear Friends;
I hope you’ll enjoy the following Parashat summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
Moshe continues to encourage the Children of Israel to trust in Hashem and in the wonderful rewards which He will provide them if they keep the Torah. Moshe assures them that they will successfully defeat the nations of Canaan, at which point they must remove every trace of idol worship remaining in the Holy Land.
Moshe reminds them about the miraculous manna and the other wonders which Hashem provided for them throughout the past forty years, and he warns them to beware of their own future prosperity and military success which might cause them to forget Hashem. He further reminds them of their transgressions in the desert, retelling the story of the golden calf at length, and describing Hashem’s abundant mercy with them.
Moshe teaches the people the second paragraph of the Shema which stresses the fundamental doctrine of reward and punishment based upon our performance of the mitzvot. The Parsha concludes with Hashem’s promise that He will provide the Jewish people with protection if they observe the laws of the Torah.
” Dvar Torah ”
In this week’s Parsha, Moshe once again, reviews the adventures of the Benei Israel in their forty years journey in the desert. He tells the people that all of their accomplishments throughout their lives are not because of their own intelligence and strength, but rather, they are all because of Hashem’s generosity and blessings that he has bestowed upon them. And to prove his point, Moshe reminds the people of the “Manna”, the heavenly bread that Hashem provided for them throughout their forty years journey in the desert. He tells them that “Hashem afflicted you and let you hunger, then He fed you manna……. in order to make you know that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of G-d’s mouth does man live.” Then a few pasuks later he says: ” He (Hashem), who fed you manna in the desert which your forefathers did not know, in order to afflict you and in order to TEST you, to do good for you in the end.”
Well, accordingly, the Chachamim ask the following question. What kind of a test is Moshe talking about? Up till now, we thought that the purpose of the manna was to supply the Benei Israel with nourishment, but now, Moshe is telling us otherwise that the purpose was to test the people?! So, what kind of a test was the test of manna?
Well, as usual, the commentators have different interpretations in regards to this question. Since the time and the space don’t allow us to discuss them all, so we shall discuss just a few of them.
Rashi explains that the “Test” was referring to the laws that govern the manna. One could not store away any manna for the next day. One had to collect a double portion on Friday, since there was no manna showered down on Shabbat. And so forth. Hashem wanted to see if we could follow a simple set of rules or not! But unfortunately, some people failed the test and kept some manna for the next day and it got rotten. And some people went out on Shabbat to collect manna, but they couldn’t find any!
Rambam on the other hand, explains that the “Test” was to see if the people who have received the heavenly bread on a daily basis for forty years, do they still see it as a miracle after a while, or does it become part of their normal lives and they see it as an act of nature? He says that unfortunately, after a while, for most of the people traveling in the desert, the manna became part of their routine lives and they didn’t see it as a miracle anymore. Only when they entered Eretz Israel, when the manna stopped, then they realized what a great blessing they’ve been having in the past!! Sometimes, unfortunately, we don’t realize what a great blessing we have until we don’t have it any more!!
Sforno, who is another great medieval commentator from Italy, explains that the test of Manna was a test of affluence. When Hashem provides your livelihood with an ease, it gives you a comfort of mind, and plenty of leisure time. You see, in the desert, the Benei Israel had it very easy. They didn’t need to worry about making money since everything was provided for them for free. They didn’t need to worry about food, they had Manna. They didn’t need to buy new clothes, because their clothes never wore out. They didn’t need to worry about their mortgage payments since they all lived in tents. They didn’t need to work in order to make a living. They had a lifestyle which gave them a lot of spare time on their hands. But the test was to see what would they do with their spare time? Would they spend the time thanking Hashem for all their blessing and try to study Torah in order to get closer to G-d, or did they spend the time complaining to Moshe and going after the forbidden sins? Unfortunately we see that the Benei Israel didn’t pass this test either. They didn’t appreciate the easy life that Hashem provided for them in the desert and they kept complaining to Moshe instead of appreciating G-d’s miracles!
Yes my friends, the test of manna is an ongoing test in every generation. When, G-d forbid, we are faced with troubles and sickness, life-threatening danger or even death, we all become religious. We all come to Kanissa. We all pray with enthusiasm. We all say Tehillim with tears streaming down our cheeks. We all give charity generously. But when things are going well, when they are going extremely well, do we give much thought to the Almighty? Do we still put on our tefillins everyday? Do we still go to Kanissa every Shabbat? Do we still give charity generously? And above all, do we still spend time on studying our precious Torah?
So remember my friends, showered with blessings without an effort is a dangerous thing! When we are blessed with prosperity, health and happiness with an ease, it gives us a great amount of leisure time and freedom of action. What would you do with you spare time? And this is the great test of “Manna” that challenges us in every generation! Let us hope that we are all challenged with this test and let’s hope that we’ll all pass it too.
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin