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G-d said to Moses, “Look! I am going to rain down for you from heaven. (Every day,) the people will go out and gather what is needed for that day, so I can test them whether or not they will follow my rules.”
For forty years, the Israelites were blessed with this phenomenal food that rained down from heaven, ready made to eat, and that tasted like anything they wanted it to taste like.
They just came out of Egypt and were experiencing all these tremendous outstanding miracles. This was a totally G-dly food that was not dependent on the effort and input of the human being. It was impossible not to recognize and acknowledge all the credit to G-d.
As opposed to this heavenly angelic food, is the one a person must earn through hard labor and toil. The person must sweat and work hard to plow the land and seed it. He must trim and prune the crop and harvest it, even while he firmly believes the success of his labor includes the blessings from above. The good weather, the success in the growth, the health that didn’t fail, is after all certainly ultimately in the hands of G-d.
As far as a person’s faith in G-d is concerned, when it comes to the returns a person has worked hard to accumulate, it is very easy to take the credit and believe for the most part the results are, self-made.
In the case of the Manna from heaven, before the Israelites entered their land, G-d was building the foundation of this newly formed nation and was implanting within them the deep and powerful virtue and quality of faith and trust. G-d was strengthening their awareness of His ability not only to provide, but his actual involvement in all that they have. By commanding them not to keep the Manna food from one day to the next, they were being trained and strengthened, to look heavenward for their food and to know, G-d provides, at the best times and in the best ways.
Had the Israelites kept some of the food from one day to the next that would exhibit worry and concern, for the food and income of the next day. A dependency in what’s in the bank rather than totally in G-d.
The Midrash explains. Whoever created the day in all its intricacies and beauty, creates and provides every day, the needs of each person. Rabbi Elozer from Modiin said,” whoever has what to eat today, and asks what will I eat tomorrow, he is from those who lack faith.”
This is one of the explanations why the Manna was presented by G-d to the Israelites in the wilderness with dew underneath it, and dew over it. Dew never stops. Our sages tell us, unlike rain, dew is not dependent on people’s merits.
It is written that the holy Baal Shem Tov could not fall asleep until every penny was spent every day. After paying his meager expenses he would distribute whatever was left to charity in absolute faith, G-d will provide the next day, whatever is needed.
There was however a small effort necessary in regards to the Manna. They had to go out to the fields to gather what was needed for that day.
Had there been no effort needed at all, some may have wrongly concluded that there are miracles and then there is when a person must put in his own effort. The two are completely separate paths.
The eternal lesson and strength from the account of the manna from heaven is that even when an effort is put in to bringing the food, one must always recognize that it is completely the good grace of G-d that a person is enjoying.
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