Emuna Daily

“Six days you will gather [the manna] and on the seventh day, which is Sabbath there won’t be any.  And it was on the seventh day, some of the people went out to collect and they did not find any.  And Hashem said to Moshe, how long will you refuse to observe my commandments and teachings?  See that Hashem has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days; let each man remain in his place – let no man leave his place on the seventh day.  So the nation rested on the seventh day.” ~ Exodus 16: 26-30

These verses teach a great lesson – on the Sabbath there is no such thing as making money.  Someone who claims that his busiest day of the week is Sabbath is greatly mistaken.  He will see neither pleasure nor benefit from those “profits.”  While it may seem at first that he is making money, this is not the case.  He will lose it through various seemingly “unnecessary” hardships.  On the contrary, a person who keeps the Sabbath will make much more during the week than he would have otherwise.  This is the way Hashem runs the world – plain and simple.   Hashem does not require the impossible – if He wants us to observe the Sabbath, then He has created a mechanism that enables us to do exactly that.  ~ The Garden of Riches

Moshe commanded the Children of Israel not to leave over any manna for the next day.  Anyone who defied this command found that the leftover manna was infested with worms for no apparent reason.  No matter how well they tried to preserve it, it somehow spoiled.  The purpose of Hashem orchestrating events in this manner was to teach the Children of Israel that they have absolutely no ability to prolong their wealth.  Today’s wealth differs from yesterdays and from tomorrows.  Whoever tried to hoard more than the daily portion saw no blessing from those superfluous efforts. ~ The Garden of Riches

“This is what God has commanded: each person should gather as much [manna] as he needs to eat (i.e,) an omer for each person.  You should take (one omer) for every person in your tent.  The children of Israel did so; there were those that gathered too much and those that gathered too little.  (When they came home and) and measured it with an omer-measure (they found that, miraculously), whoever had gathered too much did not have more (than an omer per person), and whoever gathered too little did not have less.  Each one had gathered exactly what he needed to eat.” ~ Exodus 16: 16-18

Thus, the amount of manna that each family received was a divinely-ordained amount that, regardless of any man’s efforts, could not be altered.  He who took more had his portion lessened.  He who took too little had his portion increased.  In other words, a person’s wealth is directly proportional with the amount that he needs to sustain himself and his family. ~ The Garden of Riches

The Zohar teaches that the Jews collected their daily manna with simple faith – no one had any doubt that the manna would be there.  They went outside every single day with absolute trust in Hashem that he would provide for their every single need.

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Today, the Tuesday of Parshas Beshalach, there is a well known segula for parnasah – say Parshas HaMon “shnayim mikra v’echad targum” (2 times the pasuk and 1 time the Targum Unkelos).   Here is a link to the text http://www.tefillos.com/parshas_hamon.asp

I would like to change things up a bit for just one week and focus on some of the powerful lessons we can learn from the manna that Hashem sent down from Heaven, sustaining the Jewish people in the desert for 40 years, as recorded in this week’s parsha, Beshalach.

“And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, behold I am going to rain down bread from the heavens, and the nation will go out and collect what is needed for that day so that I can test them – whether or not they follow my Laws” ~ Exodus, 16:4

The disciples of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai asked him: Why could the Manna not have fallen just once a year?

He replied: I will give you an example.  If a mortal king has a son, and gives him his needs once a year, the son then only see his father that one time.  But if he gives him his needs each day, then he sees his father every day.

The same is true of the Israelites.  He has four or five children, and worries “Maybe the Manna will not descend tomorrow, and they will all die of starvation.”  He therefore directs his heart to his Father in heaven each day. ~ Talmud, Yoma 76a