Parshat Beshalach: Manna - Nes or Nisayon (Miracle or Test) by Rabbi Yossi Goldin

good morning everybody um for those of you who are wondering what I did with Rabbi golden uh my name is yasi golden uh I'm Rabbi Golden's son so Rabbi golden um I think he might have mentioned last week um that he's that he's traveled to the states to visit um uh he has a few children that are still living there so um I'm privileged to be able to uh to take over for his class for the next few weeks I think actually if it's okay I might even so I've been privileged at the OU Center uh many times to take over from my father's class I see number of familiar faces so nice to see everybody again um and um and uh I think this is such a wonderful program that they're having that combining forces with the Nan and and really a wonderful idea so I'm privileged to be here for the next couple of weeks and to and to learn with you um I know that my father this year had started to um not do par Sha but had been doing more learning uh I think it was safer B sheet kind of starting from the beginning and and going along with you uh through safer B sheet I didn't want to break that up I because I'm I'm a little my style is a little bit I learned a lot from my father as I'm sure you will see um but I don't want to break up whatever contu my father had been having in his class so um my father and I decided that I would do I would go back doinga just for the for the for these few weeks so for these few weeks I hope it's okay we're going to be taking a little bit of a break from the weekly bra sheet and and really learning an idea from from I also apologize um I have a little bit of I'm I had a cold I'm better but I do have a little bit of a cough so I'm I'm using a uh uh a throat Leng and I might have a a coughing attack in the middle but I'm okay just uh just the remnant of a of a bit of a cold um just to introduced myself Yi golden I've been living in in Israel for about 17 years I currently live in um in shalvin with my family um and I I work for Yeshiva University here in Israel REITs here in Israel and uh as well as uh as world mrai so um at theer not too far away um that's what I do during the week and uh as I said I'm honored to be here today to to learn some Torah with you what I wanted to do today as I mentioned is is learn is is is is really pick an idea uh an event from this week's paraa that I think many of us are familiar with and many of us are familiar with the basic story and have a certain picture of it and I want to take a look at it again and kind of try to see if there are new messages that we can gain from from the story one of the those of you who have learned with my father before may know that one of his pet peeves is the is is is the concept of of how we learn very often we learn the stories of the Torah when we're younger and then those images of the vision that we have from when we were in first grade second grade third grade fourth grade kind of stay with us for many many years we don't often take the time to revisit those stories revisit those events as we're older um and and and gain new understanding and I think one of the classic examples of that is the story of the man in the midbar The Man in the midbar most of us know was a was a or what what what's what's generally understood to be was a special gift from God the Jews were in the desert God took them into the desert gave them the Torah they were there ended up being there for 40 years and as we know and and it begins in this week's paraa God gives the man in response to a request of the people and I think most of us would associate the man with being a gift I mean what could be bad food falling from the from the sky as we know many of us know the medish that says that the M tasted whatever whatever whatever whatever you wanted it to taste like it tasted like anything could come it came automatically you didn't have to prepare it there was no cooking there was no cleaning there was no washing the dish afterwards what could be bad man seems to be and it literally was a a gift from heaven and that's the picture that many of us grow up with and I think on some level it is true but if you look closely at theim when gives the man sends the m to the Jewish people a bit of a different picture emerges and a more complex picture emerges that on the one hand the M was a tremendous gift but it was also much more and I'd like to start um by looking in the in the sources in this uh Source number one on your sour sheet we'll read through as as I gener like to do is to read through a number of suim together I'll translate them I didn't bring them in English for you but I'll translate them as we go through them just to kind of set the tone for what we're going to be discussing today this is just to kind of all understand where we're at this is right after right after the main miracle in this week's para so have just been saved and the Torah tells us in in Source number one excuse me is complained to M and in the desert they say something astounding they say to is says to Moshe andon if only we had died in Egypt at least in Egypt we had some good food we had as much meat as we wanted we ate we had we had the bread that was able to fill us up and here you just took us to the desert to ju to to have us die out of uh starvation and again it's amazing to see right after Kat yamu not too far along from the the slavery that that am Isel experienced how their image and their vision of what that slavery look like seems to have shifted a little bit it's it's it's it's a fascinating it's a a separate discussion which is how much of mentality how much of that slave mentality really stayed with this generation throughout the desert despite all the Miracles okay but let's put that aside for now complains to and so God responds to Moshe and says I going to bring down bread from the heavens and then the nation should go and gather it every single day in order to test them whether or not they're going to whether or not they're going to follow the Torah so there are two interesting thing that emerges from this P that I think are very very important anyone have any ideas what what's interesting about about the way that describes the man that's about to fall yes test good excellent okay good at the end of the P God calls it a test what's the purpose he doesn't God doesn't say I'm going to send down this gift or this miracle God says I'm going to send them this food to test them okay this is actually the question of the barbanel the barbanel raises this question he says I don't understand was the man a test or was it a gift that as you see the the name we gave for the sh the man or says what kind of what test is God is God referring to and we're going to get to that that's going to be the focal point of our sh today we'll get to that in one second there's another interesting thing I underlined it for you what does God call it it doesn't call it man by the man came later on when the Jewish people said man who what is it what do God refer to that's bread from the sky why does God call it bread did it fall as bread what did it look like why does and I think this is an interesting question that we have to think about why does a specifically refer to the man as not as something not as bassar right they complained about we're going to see they're going to get bassar later but why specifically I think that's an important question to think about everyone have a suggestion well in the uh previous p it said that was what was so you're saying so in response to them there were that God was basically you asked for bread I'll give you some bread okay even though we don't know if it looked like the bread that they had in in in mitan but okay but it's going to flow from that good okay I I think there might be more to it yes um maybe every time Hashem gives us food we're supposed to attribute it to Hashem excellent and that's so you're giving them food and they could either just say thank heavens we have food or they could say you know attributed to okay and what's the imery of bread the word comes from maybe they talked about giving them bread because they were Waring with Hashem and complaining interesting okay interesting good so so I think I think I think you're hitting on something there which is maybe there's a certain Association that wanted us to make between what's falling and the bread that we have ourselves yes sorry I get everyone in a second I'm just thinking we complained and then Hashem told us about would he have given us the man if we had also an excellent question also also an excellent question I want us to put that in the back of our minds as well also an excellent question was this only in response and if not what was God's plan how was they going to eat what were they supposed to be eating okay yes bread is associated most fundamental food excellent expression life good okay so so that was just the staple the staple the simple simplest way of and I think also the fact that they asked for it I think there is also something here that was trying to get get us to associate with which we which we'll get to but I think I think it's a very good point yes did you want to add something same thing it's the staple it's what you need excellent okay so so God calls it bread he calls it a test and we also have to ask the question as well which is what is what exactly was the plan was this the initial plan or was this just in response to the people's question to the people's request yes way he saying two things one is I'm going give you breath to same way or as with me okay so you so you're saying it could be both it could be it was a response in which cas maybe God wasn't planning it or it could be but once he was giving it he wanted the test but here's the question and this is what we have to ask ourselves what exactly was the test I me what's now there are number of it's really amazing to see that have a range of ideas as to what exactly was this test meaning it wasn't just a gift clearly from the Torah we're seeing God calls it a test I want to just continue um not here but I want to go to Source number two for a second where the Torah this is now we're going to see where um in saer in saer where mosha once again recounts the giving of the man and he retells us the story again and see how he describes it he describes it in very very similar terms focusing on a certain Affliction a certain test that the man was meant to see we look at source number two that this is again mosu iner before are going to enter the land recounting all the things that did for so says says in Source number two you should remember the whole path that God took you in the midbar for 40 years in order means to afflict you and to test you God brought you to the midbar why did God bring you to the midbar in order to afflict you and to test you now he isn't yet talking about the man he's talking about the entire experience in the desert but then the Torah continues or mosha continues and he Afflicted you what does mean from the word he starved you he starved you God starved you then and then he gave you the man so again is the man part of the Affliction or maybe it was just a response to the Affliction unclear MOS is basically saying God took you to the midbar he sent you in the midbar he starved you he Afflicted you and then he gave you the man look how mosha describes it this was something that you you didn't you never knew about you never experienced your father never experienced it in order to let you know in order to teach you and this is going to be key this p is going to be key soon in order to teach you that a person doesn't live by the bread itself but rather by by God okay so there was a lesson here there was a message here that Moshe that says M that wanted to give you as you were in the midbar receiving the man continues M look at how he describes this your clothing did not wear out the whole time that you were in the desert imagine that imagine that no laundry imagine no laundry 40 Years of no no cooking no cleaning no washing dishes and no laundry right okay no shopping no shopping and you didn't and you didn't get we your your your feet didn't didn't get wear out for 40 years then says says says MOS you should remember with your heart just like a father a parent sometimes has to afflict or cause a little bit of pain in order to punish thank you to educate a child that's what hasem was doing for you in the midbar you should follow the and you should listen to you'll see why we're going through all of this because this is important says and this is going to be important for us at the end of today says Moshe your experience in the midbar is going to be drastically different than your experience when you enter the land cuz hasem now is going to take you to a land of full of water full of for beautiful Springs valleys and mountains a land that is full of this very appropriate now as we're about to celebrate tuat okay so says says m God Afflicted you and gave you the and you're going to enter this land where you're going to have to work the land and grow everything yourself this is a land where you're going to be able to work you're going to have to work to build to give to to create that you're going to eat it you'll become satisfied and you'll give a and you and you'll give a then says what could happen when you enter the [Applause] land be very careful because once you enter the land and you begin to build and create and plant yourself and grow yourself there's a danger what's that danger going to be you're going to forget Hashem and you're going to start to become proud you might these beautiful food build beautiful houses you'll have a lot of food you have a lot of animals you'll be very successful well I'm afraid what might happen you're going to become too proud as we call it as you're going to see it soon you're going to think that I'm the one who did this I created this land I built everything I'm the one who did it and you're going to end up forgetting who Hashem who took you out of but he didn't just take you out of continues M and these are the important this is the god who took you out of who took you to the desert into a desert full of scorpions and snakes and you were thirsty there was Hunger there was thirst there was no water and he was able to take water and bring you water from from anywhere this is the same God says M who gave you the man in the why why did God give you the give you this excuse me this man in order to afflict you and in order to test you again the man the was a gift how is the man afflicting me and again how is the man testing me but then he says but the ultimate purpose was for your own good god did test you and God did afflict you but ultimately it was for your own good and that's what we have to try to understand is how was the man a test how was it some kind of Affliction and how was it for their own good because the danger is says MOS then he ends off saying when you get to you might forget all of that and then what might happen you're gonna say I'm the one who did this you should always remember because is the one who gives you the gift so what what mosu has done here and and and you'll forgive me for spending a little bit of time just going through theim but I think it's important to set the tone what mosha has described for is is and it's very interesting the contrast he makes m is contrasting the experience in the midbar with the experience in is why does mosha do that and we have to think about that as we're going to be discussing now the experience of the man what was the test of the manth I want us to also eventually get back to why is the contrast that Moshe makes with Amy Israel's experience or future experience in AR Israel so important why does Moses specifically remind them of the desert right before they enter the land of Israel I think these are lessons for us to think about today so let's start and try to understand what was the test what was the test there is a whole range of MIM a whole range of MIM the first one that many of us are familiar with is rashi rashi says right here on the on the spot in par Source number three what was the test the test was very simple says Rashi says excuse meimo the test was the man was given with all sorts of conditions you had to go only a certain time only once a day you weren't allowed to collect more than you were supposed to there was one day a week you shouldn't go out what was the one day week that you weren't supposed to go out on shabis there were all these laws surrounding the the so says Rashi that was the test the test was the test was are they going to leave it over are they going to try to save for the next day I'm sorry forgive me or are they going to go out on chabas when they shouldn't and by the way did they did they were they did they were they successful in the test no some were and some weren't right some were and some weren't we know that there definitely were people who went out and again and against well according to but they they clearly struggled with with this test so this is rashi's understanding but what's the problem with rashi's understanding or what's the not the problem what's the challenge with rashi's understanding of the test Rashi says the test was very simple the test was this was thank you so much this was a commandment it was with laws it had special conditions and the test was are they going to follow those conditions andone and does it bother anybody what what what's missing from rashi's understanding no so they were told they were told what to do they were told what to do we didn't we didn't we we didn't read that but it says don't go out don't leave it over they were told the problem I think the I think the problem is and the ran raises this sorry dependence uncertainty what about dependence uncertainty that well that's well that's another suggestion as what the test is going to be what the problem the problem with Rashi or the challenge I should say speak respectfully obviously it's Rashi the challenge I think is and this is actually the ramban has this asked this on Rashi the there's nothing according to Rashi the test is nothing inherent about the man itself the experience of the man wasn't a test it was more that I gave you something and I wanted to see if you were going to follow my conditions but it wasn't that the falling of the man the experience of living right according to Rashi the test was just secondary to the experience itself and this is the question the ran asks he says well according to this like it could have been anything he could have given them who knows what and just wanted to see if they were going to listen and that's that if if you look at the way the Torah describes it it seems to be much more that the man itself was meant to be a test the falling of the M was meant to be a test yes well it's their only sustenance okay so conditions on whether they're going to have food to eat or not e good okay it's pretty visceral okay so that but that that might be the test and that's what some of far are going to say we're going to see are going to say that that's the test but that's not what Rashi what she said was maybe it had to do with and I think some of you were mentioning this or hinting at it before was the fact that this was their only food this was their only sustenance it fell once a day so correct we're going to get to that we're going to get to that but at least according to Rashi the test the test part doesn't seem to be fundamental to the idea but there are other proportion let's look before we get to what you were suggesting which is really the ramban the in Source number four has a very very interesting perspective and He suggests that the test of the man was a test of wealth what do you do when everything is taken care of for you what do you do when you don't have to clean you don't have to cook you don't have to shop you don't have to to do laundry all of those things that we were talking about before what do you do get so the right so that's the question there's two things that there's there's really a double question here look at the way the says it Source number four with this they didn't have to do anything they didn't have to do anything to get it ready they were then going to have a ton of time that's the T that so this is according to this is one of the tests according the test of the man was what do you do when you have all this time on your hands how do you spend that time are you going to be learning Torah are you going to be using it in order to grow in your relationship with Excuse me that's the question now lest we think and I'm sure many of us can relate to this but L we think that this is only a test back then in the midbar today's world the world we live in is as we would say a world of leisure the things that we have the technology that we have that enables us to do the things we do means that the test of again when I call the test of wealth the test of time the test of leisure is certainly something that is relevant to us as well and in fact I brought for you here a a very very powerful um Dr a seron that was delivered by Rabbi Dr Norman lamb many years ago the Jewish I'm sorry yes you wanted to no no no I just to said that I think in there's less of more time than in true true I think you're right I think you so the comment was that uh oh and excuse me you just remed me I have to correct correct I have to have to actually apologize I was meant to say this in the beginning of the year and I totally totally forgot um so just forgive me for interrupting for one second but the today today shear and the entire series of sheer by my father is sponsored by Dr and Mrs Manaka Marcus in memory of their beloved ants rahas and Hilda Meer um sh have neia and we thank them for for the sponsorship I apologize for that uh you going to break the comment I'm sorry yes I think what you her comment was the comment the comment so the comment was that that in Israel that leisure time is less than it is in in init which could be I think it depends on the person it depends on your circumstances I personally have a lot more free time correct depends on your circumstances but but I but I would also yeah I think that's a person that's a personal question son do you want to mention something it's not so much that hasem are then in danger okay so so son is making an interesting point which you're raising which is a fundamental question which we're going to actually see today which is well who is the test for was the test for God or was the test for them we'll get to that I want to I want to hold that thought I want to hold that thought but let's just let's just stay with this for one second Rabbi Dr Lemon again I want to I want to stress this this sermon that that I that I brought for you was was was delivered in 1964 okay so that's almost 60 years ago and imagine the difference between what he's going to talk about what he talks about in the Ser is very precious to what we have today in terms of the leisure time that we have I want I want to read it because I think it's a very very powerful um message for us and and and again seeing the lessons of the Torah being and being so timely sayar by Dr Lamb he was the rabbi in the Jewish Center in Manhattan for many many years um and this is this is a sermon he gave in June right before the summer most people regard vacation as a time for relaxation fun and good times but hardly as a matter for profound thought yet the fact remains that as an important aspect of leisure vacation presents a most pressing problem a growing literature both in scholarly periodicals and heavily annotated poems testifies to the increasing concern with vacation and Leisure the new scientific industrial and economic conditions of our day have made more time available for more people than was ever dreamed by our parents and grandparents even more is expected in the coming years predicted for the near future in since as a 4day 20-hour week that never really happened but although many people work from home think about it now postco how much time do we have more time do we have in 2024 that was even there in 1964 in addition early retirement alongside increasing longevity means the addition of many non-work years to the ordinary lifetime how here we come then to the major problem what do we do with all this new time that is available to us how do we spend it one need not describe in all its gory details especially not from the p on Shabbat what goes on in our Resorts those places sacred to American Leisure of course of course says says L the sports and relaxation are legitimate right no one's saying we shouldn't have some Leisure and we shouldn't have a break but what happens beyond that can this kind of activity be said to be the the purpose of man's life or is it the very negation and antithesis sorry of p purposefulness in life one writer on the Leisure problem has correctly stated that modern technology has mastered the art of saving time but has failed to tell us how to spend our time very important key right again Master the art of saving us time but it doesn't teach us how to spend our time that is a matter of values and values are Beyond technology part of the answer can be derived from the fact that Hebrew has no special term for leisure meaning old Hebrew there is in current Hebrew right Ed the hebraic Mind cannot comprehend the idea the whole problem of leisure is irrelevant to the Jewish way of thinking what does spare time mean how can there be a problem of what to do with time when there is Torah to study the study of Torah is the most rewarding activity of man if man were given 10 lifetimes to live and he worked at the Torah of study incessant he would never exhaust it for us the answer is the same the most important activity of man awaits his attention the study of Torah each on his own level I cannot believe that we of this generation who have Universal free education and an Ever growing number of University graduates people who read more and take more courses than ever before that we should not be able to study the Torah with some kind of intensity and then he and then the final paragraph As Leisure increases as least many more years free from work are added to the end of a man's or woman's life we must reorient our whole philosophy of education as well there once was a time when a father's major responsibility and obligation was to train his son in a formal rewarding occupation now however we must recognize the Next Generation and all those following will have more time to spend in Leisure than in work it is therefore becomes a major responsibility for us to at least spend at least as much energy and effort in training children in the use of their Leisure as we do in educating them towards succeeding in their work living is at least as important as making a living right living is at least as important as he says making a living and as we as have we we have pointed out according to the whole Jewish worldview there basically is no problem if we will teach our children Torah and far more important teach them by personal example that the study of Tor is a lifelong activity and not reserved only the beginning or the end of one's career then we will have succeeded in giving our children the fullest education possible and in discharging our obligations as parents to the fullest satisfaction of our consciences before the almighty God a very very preent and and really powerful um I he says it much better than I did which is why I wanted to just read it to you uh in terms of the value and the importance and this was this according to was the test of and that test Still Remains for us today in a different form but yet very very similar to what they had back then how do we spend our time I mean every everybody here has been is spending their morning learning Torah studying Torah he speaks to the priorities speak to the priorities that all of you have but this is a question that we should be constantly asking ourselves because that technology has given us much more time than we ever had before and question becomes how do we spend that you don't agree I don't think so more information ah okay meaning no I think I think I think that that right meaning it's given us more time but the question is have we succeeded in educating ourselves on how to take advantage of that time and what I think you're saying is we've then filled that void by by by by by creating higher meaning certain values that but that's more of a value system meaning if there are people who because they have a car can get quicker somewhere and they could use that time for something productive then great what what I think you're pointing out is technology has not only created more time but has tried to use that as a way to make more money and therefore convinced us that we need to fill that time with all sorts of things that we don't really need like you were saying before in terms of a from a consumer perspective I don't think it's just the invation is you have constantly much more knowledge of all kinds of things going on in the world much more so I think you're Mak I think I think it's a good point and it's a good question I think but I think that question then becomes a matter of of re-educating ourselves is it that they need every what she said was what happens is is that it used to be having a newspaper that was enough for you and you felt good enough just reading whatever newspaper came to your door now the expectation is we're going to be Ed in so many different ways and fill and and have some knowledge coming from so many different sources and the question would become I don't I mean it's I think this is a longer discussion world I think it's a longer discussion but I think the question becomes is that is that really the expectation or is that the expectation that we create or that or that we socially create for meaning there are people who are able to get be content just just like for example I'll give just one quick example and I'm not here to suggest how people should decide but we all know that that when the war broke out um and and and I and I meant to mention this morning morning as well this an opportunity to also mention that all the learning we're doing should be aishat um all those who unfortunately all the soldiers but certainly those who have perished in in in the most recent tragedy and as a Rua for all those who are who are injured um but the second war broke out and since then there's always the question of how much how much information should we be consuming and that's really a question and and and and and the truth is that no one can really Define that for us it's really a self-definition we we we we have expectations are created from the outside that others create for us or that we create for ourselves but at the same time part of what the Torah here maybe the message in 2024 is different than it was back then which is every single time you you open up your phone to read that other article do you really need to know that or would you be better served being I know that there are WhatsApp groups that are created specifically for people who only want to get an update once a day with all the major information that you need and people I know people who are in those groups and who basically say that's enough for me and that's enough for me to function and the fact that's healthier for me because then I can take advantage of my time and there are other people who can't do that and I'm not it's isn't a question of what's right and what's wrong but I think that's exactly the question when you have that time and you have all these new challenges and new ways of how to spend that time are always going to pop up and come up and the question in 2024 it's going to look different than it did in 1965 or than it did in the times of the midbar but the fundamental question of how you divide that and manage your time I think is still there and that's okay we'll take these two questions and then then we'll move on yes or comments I I just it was more of a comment that when my great uncle went re he said what are you up to and he said I retired so the re said to him V haste retired so he started to explain to him the word retired and the re said you think I don't know what the word retired means you better do this this and this like you know you there's much more to do there's always more to do youir beautiful yes I just wanted to com that you keep reading all these things and you are being told what to think that's another Point correct that's another Point as well which is which is the impact of it and again everyone can decide how that's done meaning meaning the impact of the the additional news that we have and whether that's good for us or not good for us and and there's I think there's I think there's there there's there there can be suggestions made on both sides and it's a personal decision but I think the challenge is there and I think the challenge is the or the call it a test is still there just like it was so many so many years ago that's that's the understanding of the let's let's move something similar yes I was just thinking that now for now you're talk I think what you're referring to is is a moment of transition there's a moment of transition and I want and we're going to get to that a little bit later towards the end of the class which is a guess what's going to happen or what's the message mosha is going to give first there's the message they give in the beginning before they as they receive the man and then the message that's going to be at the end before they transition from going in from being in the midbar to entering erel where things are going to change and and and and and we'll get to that but let's let's yeah so you know going back to your original question question so we've been talking about what is the what is the test of the mon okay so another idea that I had was you see when the Jewish people go to a Israel what do they do they become filled with GAA they think they're the ones that did everything they become very self-satisfied now on some level you want to feel selfsat you want the satisfaction of doing something but here you you that's been taken away from you completely so corre that's very demoralizing good I want I want that's a good point and I want to hold that thought talk I want to highlight that a little bit more when we get to the transition meaning which is if once we're talking about what the test is but if the test was good and did something good then why did God change it why why don't we have M fing and let's let's hold that and I think your point is a very very good point but there is an aspect of the man which is dependence which is you're not doing anything and you're waiting and we're we're get to that as well but before we get to that so we had suggested it's basically it's a gift of time what do you do at the test of time what do you do when you have so much time the sorno says something similar but I think it's a little bit different there for in Source number six what's life going to be when you have everything you need with no pain you don't have to work for it you don't like we said you don't have to go shopping no laundry no dishes in the sink none of that what's life going to be so one aspect was it could be saying the same thing as or what do you do with all that time or it could be and this is what I would suggest is he's saying something a little bit different it's not about time it's about attitude what's your attitude going to be when everything is handed to you on the silver platter what's your attitude going to be are you going to appreciate it or are you not going to appreciate it so it's it's it's also a test of wealth but it's a different type of test of wealth it's not the wealth of what do you do with all that time that you now have it's more a mindset what's your mindset going to be when you're P Bel right if you talk about that there are some people who who you know their their parents and grandparents work extremely hard and then all of a sudden the grandchild is given all this wealth and he didn't work for it and that's a test it's a it's it's a challenging test it's that might not be one could argue is that harder or easier than a test of being of of of being poor but it certainly is a test and it's something that I think that I think the Faro was hinting to which is what's your attitude going are you going to appreciate it are you going to bite the hand that feeds you and by the way the jury's out right amyr through out the midb bar on the one hand receive this gift of the man and yet they constantly complain about it so did they pass that test but that that's Theo and and and the and the orim the ramban in Source number seven and Source number eight we won't read it fully inside but we'll explain a little bit outside the ran has a totally different View and it's very similar to what some of you were hinting at before he says the test wasn't one it wasn't an issue of wealth it wasn't an issue of what do you do at the time or what happens when everything is easy rather the test was are you going to follow God when you don't know where your next food is going to come from it's the the challenge of basically trust in what's going to happen when you're in the desert we're in the desert imagine not a refrigerator you don't no and and your kids said Mom where's what are we going to eat tomorrow eat tomorrow who's thinking about tomorrow well what do you mean how what what what what if there's no food so every single day for 40 years they were walking in the desert and they had no idea is that food going to come tomorrow that says the ran was the test we'll read a little bit inside here Source number seven they didn't have food with them now again we had a little bit of food we know that they brought some of the food we know they brought the matah they brought some but that eventually that ran out and what happens when they get to a point where there's no longer any food they had nothing else in the desert all there was was the man they weren't they weren't familiar with it they'd never seen this man before it wasn't think about it it was almost like they had no frame of reference like they say to mosha where's the food going to come oh the man's going to fall the man what's man what do you mean it's going to fall from the sky they had never seen it before they had they had no idea what it was that that it was a totally New Concept so would they still trust in God they had never heard about it from their father it would fall down every single day we talked about how God said God said he excuse me he starved them what does that mean he starve them he didn't starve them but the nature of the way that the man was was that every single morning you woke up hungry and you didn't yet and the m and and you hoped that the M had fallen that day so there was a start Starving in the sense that you didn't you didn't have like in your back pocket some snacks to pull out in case you were in case you were hungry says the ran with all of that still followed God into the desert and follow them and was was confident to be able to be there and and Trust he would give them that he would give them the food and the ran Bally by the way says this was deliberate he points out that there could have been other ways that God could have taken them into Israel he could have taken them into into cities what what what what would be the what would what what would there be in cities food food to buy food to work for water this God specifically took them in the midbar in order to challenge them with this test of are they going to follow and and and the imagery that ran uses I think is very much the imagery that many of us are familiar with if you look at source number n for a minute ver number n is the famous that describes in in the context is totally different the Nai is talking about how he's going to be bringing upon Amel certain horrible punishments for things they did but because of certain actions they had taken many many years ago the punishments won't be as bad as they're supposed to be says says to me I want you to tell the following words the people of so says I remember your kindness from when you were young what kindness from when they were young when they were a Young Nation what was the kindness that that God gave to that gave to that gave to God right the famous line that we follow God into the desert into a land that was not sown and then continues the and the radak here notes that basically what the Nai is basically saying is even though I'm about to bring a punishment to you because you deserve a punishment the punishment is going to be mitigated because of the of what you did by following God into the midar look at the radak here this second part of sour number nine even though I'm going to bring you a punishment for things that you did wrong I'm not going to destroy you I'm also going to punish those who did bad why because I remember the things that you had done for me by following me in the midbar so the so here we have the test was are they going to follow am are they going to follow God into the midbar and at least on some level in that way they certainly passed that test yes we lost some C from where is all the cattle that Amel had it's a great question they took admin I mean that was part of the negotiation that's an excellent question that's an excellent question um I'm not sure I mean I'm assuming that first of all we have remember we're talking about 600,000 men which means we're probably talking about 2,000 2 million people so there a lot of people I don't know how much it could be that that only lasted a certain amount uh but I don't know they also brought it into ER so that I don't that that I don't remember I mean I know that they brought certain Corb not they had Corb had certain Coro that they had brought um with negotiate they wanted to um on the oh you're right that's a good point correct when B got a B Ru they said we have a lot of cattle um that's a good point it's an excellent question raising a very good question which is what about all what about all that cattle I mean obviously in retrospect they didn't need to use it because God brought them on but the question we could ask is why were they complaining if they had if they if they had all this cattle with them it's a very good question I'm not sure I'm not sure okay what I want to just highlight so we had according to the according to the ran what happened here was the test was a test of faith of but the ran says something more this and this and this highlights something that Sonia mentioned earlier which is wait a second when AES whatever test when God tested am Isel here was it because God didn't know what they were going to do and this is a question that ran asks in the very very beginning of see apprciate what's the purpose of a test what's the when God tests somebody says the Raman it's never for God because God knows what we're going to do right this is RA a separate question which is if God knows what we're going to do do we have free will and and that's a separate totally separate question but under the assumption which we believe that God knows what we're going to do the test isn't for God who's the test for us because we might not recognize our potential we might not recognize it and even if we do the phrase raan uses there might be certain potential that we have within us and we don't even know we're capable of and only when we're put under that test are we able to then bring that to fruition so here too says the Raman what happened here was two things when am Israel followed God into the midbar number one it enabled God to reward them later on right for following him in the midbar but it also made them aware of the in latent potential that they had it made them aware of their ability of the amuna that they had to follow God and to follow him and believe in him even though they didn't know where that where that food was going to come from or they didn't know necessarily that every single day that food that food was going to come so we've seen so far two main approaches to what this test was approach number one was it was a test of wealth either a test of wealth from time yeah having time on your hands or or an attitude what do you do when everything is easy and good for you number two according to the Raman it was a test of faith it was are they going to follow God in the desert and stick with him even though they've never seen this man before and they have no idea where that man is going to come from the third approach is the approach of the rashbam and the rashbam builds off of the ramban he agrees that the main issue we're talking about here was one of faith and trust in God but says the rashbam it wasn't as much a test as much as it was a training what do we mean okay the word n usually is understood to mean let's take the moderate understanding can mean a test I'm testing somebody in modern Hebrew can also mean experience says the rashan the man falling in the midbar When God says it was it wasn't necessarily as we originally interpreted it to test you it was to train you in what way was this training am is look at source number 11 says the rash in Source number 11 because every day Isel needed to turn to God and think about God and remember that it came from him they'll then remember me believe in me and follow my ways as it says back then what does it mean by why was God doing this in an afflictive way it wasn't to afflict us it was to train us sometimes when you train it could be hard right anyone does any physical training it's hard it's not the easiest thing in the world but it but but it builds something up the purpose of the man was to build within a resilience and an understanding where my sustenance comes from 40 years the nation needed to learn and see and recognize that the food comes from God in order to build that within them so that as we're going to see soon when they enter ER Israel hopefully they'll be able to maintain that even when the month stops and that's the rash bom's approach and in fact by the way we see this highlighted in a very well a relatively well-known gamar a very very important gamorra the gamorra in Source number 12 excuse me the students asked him the following question why did the man have to fall every single day let it fall once a year but have a little storage area will they'll keep their pile of M well once a week once a month why did it have to be every single day so he gave them the following I'll bring the following Parable what's this similar to you have a king and he has only one son I'm sure parents you you'll probably relate to this those of you who have may remember your experiences with your children okay your kid comes in Mom Dad I want some money okay let's say let's say your son is meant to have an allowance okay for you know every week you give him you give him $5 okay or you can give him once a month $20 what's the difference he's going to spend the 20 well well how often he'll spend it but in terms of your relationship with your child when are you going to see your child more if you give him if you give him five four right once a week you you'll see him more often same thing happened here if the king gave his son his food on an annual basis once a year how often did he see his son once a year okay and he really got smart says the says says he made a new rule you know what from now on you need to come every morning my kingdom and I'll give you your food and what happened all of a sudden the father sees his son every single day the relationship is entirely different the same thing with if someone had four if you were not just for yourself you were you had a family you had four children five children every single night you went to sleep saying I really hope that there's going to be food for my family tomorrow which means that every single night you went to sleep daving to a you had a relationship with him on a daily basis and so what the man did according to the rash and according to this is it created a sense of dependence and created an automatic relationship on a daily basis with and that says the rasham was the it wasn't a test as much as it was a training ground for am Israel as they entered as to enter as they as they went through the midbar and and I and I brought for you here in Source number 13 we're not going to see it inside now just because of time of her rers explains how beautifully this is exactly what it was he refers to the he refers to the midbar as the I think he has the phrase he uses is this a school it was like a school it was a school for 40 years where am were trained to remember everything comes from they were trained to remind themselves that everything we have comes from Hashem and he is the source of everything of everything that we have exactly what the rasham says it or her has a very unique way of saying it but now let's get back once we've understood this so what we've understood is we've seen this just to summarize we seen three different reasons we asked the question why is it that that that that that or what way was the was the manest we saw three main approaches approach number one was it was a test of wealth test of wealth either with time or attitude number two it was a a test of trusting are you going to trust in God are you going to remain steadfast in your in your belief in God in in in the desert where you're not going to have food every single day and the third approach was it wasn't as much of a test as much as it was a training process it was a growth process meant to grow in their relationship with hasem on a daily basis as they prepared to enter is so now let's go back to M was standing in front of am Israel right before they enter the land of Israel and mosha is saying now things are about to change things are going to change God gave you everything to test you and afflict you in thebar he gave you everything you wanted and now you're going to enter the land what's going to happen when they enter the land what does mosha say what's going to happen with that connection with on a daily basis ends they're going to start to say they're going to start to say wait a second I built this house I planted this yard I made this bread you're going to start to forget see here's my question and this gets to what what some of you have talked about before so then why did why change it if the purpose of the man was to remind us that everything comes from AOS why does God not just give it to us give us the man right now and that way we'll all we always have that relationship with why doesn't manf right now why in Isel do they not have to work for it because the purpose of creation is to make it and to elevate the physical and if you continue living in is in the midbar you're not fulfilling the excellent so the simple understanding which I think many of you are probably going to say which is that that's not life right that's fairy tale world real life is when you build and create real life is when we work with God we partner with God in creating the land and building that's exactly what erel is meant to be that's why when a person Works in agriculture you'll building that itself is a Mitzvah because the our what God wants from us is not to just sit there and accept handouts but to partner with him in the establishment of the creation of everything that we have however and even then you okay good however I would argue that in a very ingenious way tried to find that balance now let's get back for a second what is the to why we ask why is it called so many of you pointed out that's just the basic substance I I think what it was trying to do was was to connect the man with what we're going to create when we're here to remind us you think that man was just something special that was food and there's different ways to get food sometimes you get and sometimes you get and ultimately where are both of them from Hashem lest we think ah that was just in the midbar that was just midbar this miracle life that we had what we got was just Supernatural it tasted like anything we wanted know says the Torah it's everything you have even what you have to partner with in creating is ultimately from but to take it even a step further when mosha describes the land that hashm is going to bring us to he says something fascinating he says by the way I'm going to bring you to a land but that land is not like MIT in MIT in Egypt where do they get their irrigation from the N which means it's automatic it's there all the time where did God bring us to where did MOS bring us to is what's unique about the land of Israel what do we need G right we're right now experiencing it right now so I'm going to bring you into the land you're going to need to work for it but I'm going to bring you into a land where even though you're going to have to work for it you're still going to need me me and you're still going to need to be reminded of me me those of us who are I'm happened to be somebody that I I personally I'm always I'm somewhat affected by the weather and I love I love Sunny so when I was in America I was always upset when it rained and now I moved to I'm not allowed to be upset when it rains because you know it's raining right and from and from my kindergarten my 2-year-olds know that when it rains it's Kish and we thank Hashem for it it's something that's just a part of our I happen to live in kibutz and there's a guy in the kibuts because they still live agriculture they measure the amount of rain in the season they still count it they they they count the amount of rain it's something that we still is real here so that connection with even though we we're making it ourselves said I'm going to bring you to a land where you still need to feel that partnership and our job is to make sure to remember that and remind ourselves of that um every single day yes exactly 100% 100% I want to just end I'd like to just end with one other source that to to close this thought because because what we've really been highlighting today was this question of how do we deal with the issue of what we would call and how do you find that balance between belie in knowing that everything comes from but also knowing that we now live in a land where we need to put in our effort we're not living in the midbar in the miracle of midbar so there's a g or it's actually a mish I'm sorry in Source number 14 that describes three different approaches that rabbis had to how they would find this proper balance the says by the it used to come every single day says the the lesson of the man is a person should never save for tomorrow you should only be working every single day what you need today that's the lesson of the month say anyone who has food for today and is thinking about tomorrow he's what's called he's lacking in his obviously a very very high level that's says says you're allowed to plan from one day to the next one day in advance you're allowed to do why if a person learns a little bit in the morning a little bit at night and the rest of the day he's working because he's planning for tomorrow then that's considered to be a good thing r sorry did I skip something here uh oh no sorry sorry I'm sorry I apologize so if you don't say where is it going to come from but you say may where am I going to get my food from where am I going to get my clothes from the Torah was only given to the um so according to this we have three basic approaches from this mid what is the proper approach toar says only worry about today Rua says from ER shabis to shabus you can plan a little bit if you work a little bit and you and and you and you and you you work and you learn a bit that's okay rabish Shimon says the Torah is only given to the people who sit and learn and don't think about anything else those are the third approach I'm sorry there were three approaches that there's a little bit of a problem with the wording there that we have to just fix it but biman basically that basically he's saying so these are three different approaches to how we're supposed to approach are we supposed to work are we supposed to say it's all going to come from because after all that is the message of the man all the message of the man is everything's from Hashem at the same time we know we're supposed to work how do you find that balance and as we as we know in today's society in today's world there's different has about this there are people who say no I'm supposed to I need to build my and I'm not going to put too much focus on my the other other the other side would be and many of us I think are more on that side is no we're supposed to be responsible we're supposed to do whatever we can but also remember that it comes from and and how a person finds that proper balance between their you know is a personal thing but what's clear is we need both it's clear that in today's world we need to work we need to do what we need to do to take care of ourselves but we also need to remember that ultimately and that's the message of the of the man uh we also need to that it all came from a uh thank you all um wish you all a wonderful wonderful week and we'll see you next week thank you thank you