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Writer's pictureRav Moshe Weiss

Nahar U'Pashtei Parshas Aikov

Money From the Sky

In the beginning of Parshas Eikev, Moshe Rabbeinu tells of the seemingly impossible journey through the Wilderness. Hashem carefully guided and nurtured His children to mold them into the people fit to enter the Promised Land. The pasuk tells us, He afflicted you and let you be hungry, then He fed you the mon that you did not know, nor did your forefathers know, in order to make known to you that not on bread alone does man live, but rather by all that emanates from the mouth of Hashem does man live. The mon was given to us to teach us a lesson integral to our growth as servants of Hashem. The common understanding of the verse is that Hashem sought to teach Klal Yisroel that food is not what keeps us alive, but His will alone. But, if this was the concept we were meant to learn here, Hashem could have arranged it so that we would survive with no food at all in the Wilderness! This would seemingly have been the ultimate proof that a person does not really need food to live! It would seem from Hashem’s choice of giving Klal Yisroel the mon that people do require food, except that Hashem made it miraculously appear for us each day. So, why did Hashem choose to provide for His children in this most unique way? The answer lies in a careful look at the words of the pasuk. The verse does not say that man should learn that he does not need bread; rather, is says that he should realize that he does not specifically need bread. We do need some sort of food to live, because that is the way Hashem arranged the natural order of the world. But we must learn that this sustenance does not need to be bread, or for that matter, anything that we recognize. We can live just as well through any means that Hashem decides to sustain us with, even something that we could never dream of! When we needed food in the Wilderness, Hashem could have provided an oasis with food that we recognized. Instead, Hashem gave us something wondrous and unbelievable. He gave us food that fell from Heaven, to cultivate within us this point; man does not need to know or recognize his sustenance, but rather only to trust and follow in the ways of Hashem! We must tap into this great lesson of the mon today as well. Many times, a person can fall into despair; he may feel that his situation is impossible, and he cannot think of any way out. His mortgage is a mess, his tuition payments are overdue, etc. etc., and there just seems to be no hope. But there is always hope! Because Hashem wants a person to believe, to trust. Hashem wants a person to live with the realization that it is not only bread that sustains us, but whatever Hashem has in mind. And Hashem has a million avenues to send you what you need! Never despair! Parnassah can come from places that you would never imagine! It is the very limitation that we place on Hashem’s powers in our own minds which prevent Him from bettering our “impossible” situation! Trust in Hashem, and he will send you mon.  A Gut Shabbos! A Project of the YSI Alumni Association Written by R’ Moshe Weiss


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