Shabbat Greetings
In this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotcha (Numbers 8:1-12:16), the Torah teaches us about “manna”, the miracle food that fell daily from heaven and sustained Israel during our 40-year travels in the desert. Three different verses in the Torah reference the manna itself. In 11:9 we learn: “And when the dew fell upon the camp during the night, the manna fell upon it.” Upon the camp? This means the manna descended in the camp, near everyone’s homes.
However, back in Exodus 16:4 the Torah says: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain portion every day.” Go out and gather? This seems to indicate people had to go walk to get it. Once again in our portion (11:8) regarding manna we learn: “And the people went wandering, and gathered it.” Wandering? In other words, the people had to go quite a distance to collect their daily manna allotment.
How can we reconcile these three verses? Did the manna fall near our front doors, by the curb, or outside the neighborhood?! The Talmud explains the verses speaks of three different categories of Jews.
The righteous had the manna appear at the entrance to their tents. Intermediates would go a short distance and collect it. Wicked people would have to go a greater distance to gather their portion. How embarrassing this must have been for people who weren’t righteous. Everyone would see that they weren’t worthy of ‘Heavenly Door Dash’ or ‘God’s Grubhub’. Curbside delivery wouldn’t be too bad, but having to walk all the way to the community distribution point would be a blatant declaration of a person’s lack of holiness or spirituality.
I saw a beautiful explanation offered by the Rebbe of Gerer. When the evil prophet Bilam came to curse Israel, he blessed us instead when he saw how we pitched our desert homes: “Mah Tovu Ohelecha Yakov” – how goodly are your tents O’ Jacob. We erected our tents so all entrances faced the same direction. This way when looking out your front doors we only would see the back of our neighbors’ tent. No one would have view into another’s home. Everyone was afforded privacy.
When we gathered our manna, no one would see where you got it from. Were you a righteous person? An average person? Were you a nasty person? We didn’t want to know. That was between you and God.
People lament how aspects of society have changed – and not for the better. “Karen Videos” (and they are not gender specific) documenting people’s nastiness are all too abundant. From the halls of Congress to School Boards and fast-food restaurants, the lack of kindness is all too pervasive. In 1992 Rodney King was horribly beaten by four white police officers. When they were found innocent of criminal charges, the famous Los Angeles riots ensued. After six days of rioting 63 people were killed, 2,300 injured, 12,000 arrested and there was over $1 billion in property damage. Rodney, the victim, became even more famous for his reaction to the mayhem. King tearfully appealed to the public to stop the rioting: “People, I just want to say, can’t we all get along? Can’t we all get along?”
No one is perfect. Even the greatest heroes of our Bible – Moses, Aaron, David, all were flawed. So why was the manna distributed in different locations base on our virtue? The Gerer Rebbe explains it was to instruct us we were missing the mark, failing to reach our holy potential. Keep improving until the manna is delivered to your front door! And most importantly, don’t scrutinize others, just focus on our own shortcomings and becoming a better mensch for that will assuredly help make the world a better place for us, Israel and all humanity.
SHABBAT SHALOM