What Can We Learn From The Manna Bread?

0:06Anybody here ever read the parashat HaMan? The parashat talks about manna. Is anybody here awake? Manna bread, you guys know the bread that came from heaven? Have you read it? Are you with me? I'm the only one? I learned this already, so this is for you. Okay, so the manna, the manna was food from heaven, literally, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu decided to give to Am Yisrael for 40 years. Decided to give to Am Yisrael for 40 years. Food came from heaven. Based on your righteousness, that's where the food landed. If you were righteous, it landed right at your doorstep. If you were wicked, it was over the hill, you had to go walk for it. Which was embarrassing because everybody would know, oh, you're a Rasha. Why, you don't have manna, do you? I don't see any manna on your doorstep. I don't see any newspapers on your doorstep. I see a newspaper on your doorstep, but not manna on your doorstep. Maybe if you remove the newspaper, you'll have manna instead. Stop reading all the garbage in the newspapers and read some Torah. Maybe you'll have some manna instead. So, it's embarrassing too. But what's so special about this manna? Aside from the fact that physically speaking, Am Yisrael didn't have to go to the bathroom for 40 years. No one had to go to the bathroom. Why? Every time you eat, you and I eat,

1:31We eat. Part of the food turns into blood. The rest, it doesn't turn into blood. Guess what? It leaves your body as waste. Now, the mann was pure holiness to such an extent that the entire mann turned into blood. No one had to go to the bathroom for 40 years. They didn't have to find any toilets anywhere in the desert. Why? There was no need. For 40 years, Am Yisrael had brand new clothes on, but they never had a second replacement. For 40 years, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them that one simlah, and what they wore remained brand new. They didn't have to go shopping; they didn't have to go to Macy's and see all the immodest women there. They didn't have to go into the mall. They didn't have to go anywhere. Why? Their clothes were renewed every day. Renewed. It says that in the Torah, in Sefer Devarim, for 40 years you didn't have to replace your smalot.

2:32What's smhalo? Shemilos are the gowns or dresses, but for men, not just for women. Now, for 40 years we didn't have to go to the bathroom, and for 40 years we didn't have to change our clothes. Now, this manna, you would think, well, if I eat the same thing for 40 years, maybe I'll get bored. But, the beauty of this manna is that it says the manna ... In Sefer Bamidbar, Numbers, chapter 11, verse number seven, it states: "The manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like the color of the bedolach. The people would stroll and gather it, grind it in a mill, pound it in a mortar, cook it in a pot, and make it into cakes. And the taste was like the taste of dough kneaded with oil." This passage discusses the miraculous provision of manna to the Israelites in the wilderness and its unique properties, both in appearance and taste.

3:32When the dew descended upon the camp at night, the manna would descend upon it. So, on one hand, the sages say that this manna tasted like anything you want. thought about ice cream, it tastes like ice cream; you thought about steak, it tasted like steak; you thought about ice cream with steak on top of it, that's what it tasted like. Whatever you thought in your mind, you didn't need to say it, you didn't need to write a letter to Hashem; it was instantaneous. Tomorrow, please send me manna with a taste of eggs with cheese and a little bit of turkey bacon, kosher, from the rabbi over here. No, there's no order. What you thought is what it tasted like. Live meaning, first bite you thought about ice cream, it tastes like ice cream. Second bite, you want steak, it tastes like steak. Third bite, you want some eggs, it tastes like eggs. Fourth bite, you want eggs and cheese too, it tastes like eggs and cheese. Whatever you wanted, that's how it tasted. So then there's a question: if it tasted like whatever you wanted naturally, why does the pasuk say that they gathered it, they ground it, they cooked it, and they fried it?

4:40For what? Why are you grinding it? Why are you cooking if it already tastes like anything you want? What do you want? It tastes like chicken cutlets? Think, chicken cutlets, schnitzel from Rabbanit Levana, tastes delicious. Rabbi Yaron, not so much. Rabbanit Levana, delicious. What do you want? You want chicken cutlets? Have chicken cutlets. You want borekas like we have over here? You can talk about it from Mount Sinai. It tastes like borekas. Whatever you wanted, that's what it tastes like. What are you cooking? What are you frying? For what? Who can give me an answer? No? But it tastes like anything you want. How would it taste better than what HaKadosh Baruch Hu made? Tell me, why would they feel better? Put in the effort. So, wait, if I told you, okay, I can give you a million dollars for doing nothing, and I could give you a million dollars for working really hard, would you rather go work hard? So why are you different from them? No difference? Okay, next. It's a good question and a good answer, but we have to test ourselves. No, does somebody else have an answer? I know somebody in the back has a secret answer. I think you guys have learned some Kabbalah back there. No, who has an answer, huh?

6:10Physical pleasure. You like cooking? What, they like cooking? What, they're different than you? No, in the back, in the back. They don't want to forget how to cook? Why do I need to know how to cook if the food is cooking for me? Hmm? Hmm? So instead of cooking every day, cook once a month. They say it cooks every day. Behind you, yes. Chazak u'baruch. Chazak u'baruch. You deserve a million dollars for that answer. I'll give you payments. Chazak u'baruch. Rabotai yekarim, rabotai yekarim. My dear friend just gave us an answer from the Zohar HaKadosh. The Zohar HaKadosh says something extraordinary, Rabotai. The Zohar HaKadosh, Baruch Shekivanta, you gave us an answer worth a million dollars.

7:24So HaKadosh, Baruch Hu, says Am Yisrael, they had a gift from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They got a gift from Shamayim. Hashem said, I'm going to give you food, whatever you like. You want candy, it tastes like candy. You want borekas, it tastes like borekas. You want candy with borekas in it, no problem. Whatever you want, you have. But it says that the Am, the Am, who's the Am? The Am is the part of the people that did not have Emunah in Hashem. Did not have Bitachon in HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So they just simply didn't believe. Didn't believe that it could taste like anything. No, come on, it's going to taste like ice cream also. No, to taste like ice cream, you have to put some ice in it. No, come on, it's going to taste like schnitzel. Ah, come on, for it to taste like schnitzel, it requires oil. No, come on, it's going to taste like barbecue without putting it on the fire, on the grill. How is it going to taste like barbecue? They rationalized HaKadosh Baruch Hu's blessing, and they cooked it, fried it, did this and did that. And so HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, these people were fools. Why were they fools? They took the blessing that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them, and they ruined it.

8:38They ruined it because after all of their toil, after all of their cooking, after all of their effort, what did they end up getting? They got something that was less than the original. They got cakes, which was the least level of taste and deliciousness of the man. This level of deliciousness, this level of greatness of this man. The highest level was how it came if you believe that HaKadosh Baruch Hu could do anything. If you believe that you can do anything, you can think about anything, that's what the manna tasted like. The texture, the taste, whatever you wanted, that's what it would be. But if you didn't believe, and you cooked and you fried and you did this, you ruined the blessings. What do you get? Yes, it's still food from Heaven. Yes, it's still delicious, but it's the least level. It's like a cake you buy from the gas station after you're really hungry after a fast. That's what it is. It's still good. It's a banana flavor. But it's not. Manna from heaven. It's not the same. You ruin the blessing because of your lack of bitachon. So the Ba'alei Mussar say on the Zohar HaKadosh, Zohar HaKadosh on Parashat Beshalach, the Ba'alei Mussar say, what is this like? This is like the fools that we see around us that work too much, thinking that HaKadosh Baruch Hu needs their help. That HaKadosh Baruch Hu needs their help. People forget.

10:06Yes, you're supposed to have hishtadlut, effort. Yes. But the only reason why you have to have hishtadlut, effort, is because of the curse of Adam HaRishon. Of Adam HaRishon. "By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread." You'll have bread. Meaning that you'll have to sweat for your bread. Meaning that to work hard, manual labor, is a curse. It's not a blessing. It's not a blessing to work 18 hours a day on Wall Street, in some bank, at UPS, or wherever. It's not a blessing; it's a curse. Yeah, but Rabbi, I need to make a living. Who says you need to work 18 hours? So how do we know how much hishtadlut is too much hishtadlut? How do I know how much effort is too much effort? There's a line.

11:07What's that line? The norm. Normal amount of effort. A normal job is 9 to 5. That's the norm. 8 hours. That's as much as you're supposed to allow the curse to infiltrate into your life. A minute more, a minute more and now you are becoming a machmir on curses. Instead of becoming a machmir, becoming more stringent on blessings, You're becoming more stringent on curses, bringing more curses on yourself. Yeah, but what about if I need more money and the nine-to-five is not enough? Who says that the money has to come from your job? Somebody came to the Chafetz Chaim. He said, "My store is not making enough money." Now, if you saw the Chafetz Chaim's store, there are pictures next to his store. It's like a little hole in the wall. But he knew how to make enough money. To survive. He didn't live a lavish life. He didn't even allow his wife, the Rebbetzin, to put towels on the floor. Why? It has to stay dusty. It has to stay sandy. Why? He said, if you put towels on the floor, maybe you won't want guests to come to the house because they'll ruin your floor. So just leave it as dust. Leave it as it is. But the Chafetz Chaim said, someone came to him one time asking him, "I have a store. It's not enough. It's not bringing enough parnasa for my family."

12:36So I'm thinking of opening a second store. So the Chafetz Chaim starts laughing. He says, no, no, Kvod HaRav, really, seriously, I need more money. It's really serious business. It's parnasa, Kvod HaRav. He goes, no, no, I was laughing because you reminded me of a story from my childhood. He goes, wow, what happened in your childhood? He goes, when I was a kid, we had this shoteh, this drunk in our neighborhood that not only was a drunk, but he was the type of drunk that liked to give people advice. You know, some people are drunk, they're quiet, they're in a corner. But some people, they're drunk, but they like to talk to everybody. You know, they want to hug you, they want to kiss you, they want to, you know, those types of people. There was one of those people in our neighborhood. He's not only drunk, but he likes to give people advice with his drunkenness. And every time, his advice was funnier than the next. So one time, there was a guy that was selling wine by the barrel. So he goes up to the wine guy, he says, you're not doing good. Poor guy is all day waiting for somebody to buy wine from him. He knows he's not doing great, but he's making a living however he can. Now, the drunk guy tells him, "You don't know how to do business." The vendor asks, "Okay, why don't I know how to do business?" The drunk guy says, "You're not selling enough. I think you should add another faucet to it, another thing out of it. That way, you can have double the profits."

14:01The guy tells him, the guy that's selling the wine, "Listen, I may not be a genius or an entrepreneur or anything or some finance major, but I know that it doesn't matter how many holes I have in the barrel. It's still the same source. It doesn't matter how many holes. It's still going to be the same amount of profit because it's the same source." So the drunk guy says, "No, no, no. You don't know what you're talking about. Let me explain again. You have one hole now in the barrel." On the right, if you make one, double the profit. See? I should get a half. I should get that half. He goes, no, no. They go back and forth, back and forth. And little Chafetz Chaim, little Chafetz Chaim is watching. He's laughing, thinking it's crazy. He's trying to explain business to this guy. The other guy is trying to get him out of the place, as he's bothering him. And the guy is convinced this is business advice. At the end, the drunk says to him, "That's why you're poor. That's why you're poor. You don't know what you're doing." And he leaves. But the Chofetz Chaim says to the guy that came to him, he says, you remind me of that story. You think that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to give you more money if you open a second store. The reality is, the source is still the same. No matter what you do, you open one store, two stores, five stores, or ten stores. The Parnassah was already written in Shamayim.

15:23The parnassah was already written in Shamayim. The Gemara says in Masechet Beitzah and Masechet Rosh Hashanah that HaKadosh Baruch Hu already decides how much parnassah, how much money you're going to make on Rosh Hashanah. The source stays the same no matter how many storefronts you have. So what makes you think it's going to change? So, of course, everybody is going to say, wait a minute. What about effort? What about hishtadlut? Everybody likes to do hishtadlut. Remember that hishtadlut is part of the curse. It's not part of the blessing. Your hishtadlut has to be up to the extent of the norm, not above the norm. Don't be stringent on yourself in regards to the curse. Be stringent on yourself as far as the blessing. Make sure you spend time and effort on the blessing part. If I told you, why don't you become more stringent on kashrut? Only eat chalav Yisrael. You say, no, that's too much. Okay, why don't you be more stringent on taharat mishpacha? Make sure that you don't even hand the baby to your wife when she's niddah. Oh no, that's too much. Okay, why don't you be more stringent on your limud Torah, on your learning? Make sure that when you learn, you're not talking.

16:29Two hours straight of learning without talking? No, that's too much. Okay, so all the Kedusha, all the good things, you don't want to be stringent on. But the curse you want to be stringent on. This is like Am Yisrael, that even though they just heard HaKadosh Baruch Hu speak at Mount Sinai, many of them did not have the required amount of B'itachon in Hashem that, when push came to shove, When the man came, they simply could not accept the blessing for what it was. They had to ruin it. They had to interfere with it. So even when HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted to give them a blessing, even when HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted to give them good, They were so used to being a part of everything, doing hishtadlut and everything, working hard on everything, toiling on everything, trying with everything, having their hand in everything that when Hashem simply gave them a handout, they couldn't accept it.