Will work for food?

 Manna from Heaven.  Every night for 40 years the Jewish people would go to bed in the desert without any way to obtain food for the next day.  In the morning, when the dew evaporated, there was a layer of fresh food for them to eat that day.  It was a white substance in the shape of coriander seeds which could be cooked or baked.   Its default taste was like honey glazed doughnuts (without the calories!), but it could taste like just about anything they wanted it to.

They were not allowed to leave any over for the next day, and if they did it would rot and become wormy.  The Talmud points out that this caused them to always feel hungry.  When Moshe was recounting the history of their journey in the desert before he died, he said (Devarim 8:16): “[Hashem] fed you Manna in the desert in order to afflict you (make you hungry).”  The Talmud comments on the seeming contradiction in the verse – fed you and made you hungry, and says that there is a difference between when a person has bread in their basket and when they don’t.  In other words, you may have eaten your fill, but if you don’t have food available for the next meal, you feel hungry.

I remember as a young boy in England hearing stories of children who had been rescued during the Holocaust and brought to England on the “kindertransport.”  Many of them would put bread in their pockets after dinner, even though there was plenty of food, since they had endured extreme hunger and always wanted to make sure to have something to eat.

Why did Hashem do this to the Jews in the desert?  Why not give them enough food for a few days at a time?  After all, the idea was to take care of them for the 40 years that they were in the desert, where they had gone with pure faith that Hashem would provide for all their needs?

The answer to this question is something I contemplate every day, usually when I get worried about financial or even other challenges, and I find strength in this message.  Hashem was teaching us, right from the very beginning, that He provides for the needs of all of creation.  He showed us that He will feed us regardless of how bleak the landscape may look. This lesson applies to all time.  In fact, Hashem told Moshe to tell Aaron to save a jug of Manna to show to future generations who would claim that they have no time to study Torah because of the need to make a living.  The prophet Jeremiah even showed the Manna to the people of his generation with that exact message.

When the nation arrived in our Land of Israel and began their mission to transform the physical and material world to be a home for Hashem, it became necessary for the people to work for a living. Our goal in life is not to run away from the physical and just pursue spirituality, and therefore we must be involved in the physical world of work.  But the work we do, the job or business we have, is a channel for Hashem’s blessings.  

This kind of faith is not easy, because we tend to see gain as an outcome of our work.  But if we look deeper and connect to this concept of the daily gift of Manna, we can see that actually our work is what facilitates the blessing from Hashem. 

This is a subject that requires further discussion (feel free to call or write to me to talk about it some more), but it is a wonderful way to live life.  Going to bed without any food was an attitude in the desert, because every day in the morning there was food.  Perhaps those who had unshakeable faith “saw” the Manna coming the next day and were not hungry. They understood that Hashem gives and will continue to give.  With this kind of faith we are never hungry because we know that if we do our part, Hashem will provide the Manna.