A Thought On Parshas Beshalach
"...va'yomer HaShem Hineni mamtir la'hem lechem min ha'shomayim...""...and HaShem said, "Behold, I am showering them with bread from Heaven..."
(16:4)
The manna which nourished us in the desert was "bread from Heaven." The Talmud (Yoma 75b) cites the verse (Tehillim 78:25) "lechem abirim achal ish" - humans ate the bread of angels - which further depicts that notion of Heavenly bread. It was Heavenly in the sense that it was actually "the food of angels." Now, what does that mean?Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael debate this. Rabbi Akiva contends that the manna was the food eaten by the malachei ha'shares - the angels who carry out Divine will. Rabbi Yishmael argues that angels don't eat, just as Moshe did not eat when he ascended above Mount Sinai. Rather, he contends, the manna had a supernatural property of being absorbed within the body with no residual waste, unlike regular food.
The Recanati explains: Rabbi Akiva also knew that angels do not eat. He meant that angels are sustained by the emanations of primeval light (we have discussed this in earlier parshios) which are the supernal aura of the Divine Presence. The manna was simply a tangible reformulation of that light. In the desert, we humans were sustained by the Divine light, by apprehending a sense of the Divine Presence. The manna was created as a physical form or manifestation of the Light. Thus, people were sustained by the same Source as are the angels. This is why it is called bread from Heaven or angel's "bread."
Rabbi Yishmael argued that angels are not tangible or physical creatures and are not really "sustained" in the physical sense in which people need sustenance. Angels are vehicles for the Divine Will and exist because the Highest Light wills their existence. So when we ate manna in the desert, which is called "bread from Heaven" and "angel food," this referred only to the property of the manna which was that it left no physical trace after being ingested. After we ate it, there was no residue, representing that angelic-like feature that we ate only for the purpose of serving HaShem, each person ingesting only and exactly what he or she needed in order to function. It was real food, or bread, but with an angelic motif.
With this better understanding of the nature and function of the manna, the Recanati adds that we can now better grasp one other property of that angel food. Chazal also tell us that the manna tasted like whatever a person wanted it to taste. That is a very supernatural property but nonetheless one which needs to be explained. Why was it necessary or why did it happen that the manna had infinite taste possibilities, each according to the whim of the one eating it?
The Recanati offers that this is precisely because manna was angel food, as explained above. It was not regular food, according to either opinion. It was an emanation of the Divine light of creation, the force which empowers the administering angels as they carry out the Divine will. That spiritual quality of the manna, not a physical quality, nourished the soul more than it fed the body. The soul is the highest level of human functioning, a spark of the sacred contained within each individual. Whatever was going on in the mind of each person shaped that person's experience of ingesting the manna. Angels are not emotional. They are not mortal. They have no body sensations. They operate on Will Power, I guess. That is a highly developed and transcendent plane of functioning. When people ate manna, it stoked that higher plane of functioning within each one. It did not make them "full," no one had indigestion, no one had hunger either. Rather, their consciousness connected with that higher sense within which was invigorated by that internalization of emanations of higher light, which is what empowers angels. That boost of higher consciousness meant that whatever was taking place within the mind of each person became intensely present within the self. Hence, whatever taste, or fragrance, or sensation was on a person's mind became powerfully present within that moment of encounter. (This might be compared to monosodium glutamate, MSG, which does not flavor food specifically but which broadens the sensitivity of the tongue's tastebuds so that whatever is being tasted suddenly tastes much more intensely so. The manna had that type of effect on the soul and the mind, rather that on the physical body.)
When we eat challah this Shabbos, commemorating the manna, think of this angelic aspect of the bread. We can eat and savor it at a gustatory level, but we can also envision our Shabbos meals as encounters with a trace of the Divine light with which we seek to empower our selves in making His Will our own will. Good Shabbos. D
(16:4)
The manna which nourished us in the desert was "bread from Heaven." The Talmud (Yoma 75b) cites the verse (Tehillim 78:25) "lechem abirim achal ish" - humans ate the bread of angels - which further depicts that notion of Heavenly bread. It was Heavenly in the sense that it was actually "the food of angels." Now, what does that mean?Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael debate this. Rabbi Akiva contends that the manna was the food eaten by the malachei ha'shares - the angels who carry out Divine will. Rabbi Yishmael argues that angels don't eat, just as Moshe did not eat when he ascended above Mount Sinai. Rather, he contends, the manna had a supernatural property of being absorbed within the body with no residual waste, unlike regular food.
The Recanati explains: Rabbi Akiva also knew that angels do not eat. He meant that angels are sustained by the emanations of primeval light (we have discussed this in earlier parshios) which are the supernal aura of the Divine Presence. The manna was simply a tangible reformulation of that light. In the desert, we humans were sustained by the Divine light, by apprehending a sense of the Divine Presence. The manna was created as a physical form or manifestation of the Light. Thus, people were sustained by the same Source as are the angels. This is why it is called bread from Heaven or angel's "bread."
Rabbi Yishmael argued that angels are not tangible or physical creatures and are not really "sustained" in the physical sense in which people need sustenance. Angels are vehicles for the Divine Will and exist because the Highest Light wills their existence. So when we ate manna in the desert, which is called "bread from Heaven" and "angel food," this referred only to the property of the manna which was that it left no physical trace after being ingested. After we ate it, there was no residue, representing that angelic-like feature that we ate only for the purpose of serving HaShem, each person ingesting only and exactly what he or she needed in order to function. It was real food, or bread, but with an angelic motif.
With this better understanding of the nature and function of the manna, the Recanati adds that we can now better grasp one other property of that angel food. Chazal also tell us that the manna tasted like whatever a person wanted it to taste. That is a very supernatural property but nonetheless one which needs to be explained. Why was it necessary or why did it happen that the manna had infinite taste possibilities, each according to the whim of the one eating it?
The Recanati offers that this is precisely because manna was angel food, as explained above. It was not regular food, according to either opinion. It was an emanation of the Divine light of creation, the force which empowers the administering angels as they carry out the Divine will. That spiritual quality of the manna, not a physical quality, nourished the soul more than it fed the body. The soul is the highest level of human functioning, a spark of the sacred contained within each individual. Whatever was going on in the mind of each person shaped that person's experience of ingesting the manna. Angels are not emotional. They are not mortal. They have no body sensations. They operate on Will Power, I guess. That is a highly developed and transcendent plane of functioning. When people ate manna, it stoked that higher plane of functioning within each one. It did not make them "full," no one had indigestion, no one had hunger either. Rather, their consciousness connected with that higher sense within which was invigorated by that internalization of emanations of higher light, which is what empowers angels. That boost of higher consciousness meant that whatever was taking place within the mind of each person became intensely present within the self. Hence, whatever taste, or fragrance, or sensation was on a person's mind became powerfully present within that moment of encounter. (This might be compared to monosodium glutamate, MSG, which does not flavor food specifically but which broadens the sensitivity of the tongue's tastebuds so that whatever is being tasted suddenly tastes much more intensely so. The manna had that type of effect on the soul and the mind, rather that on the physical body.)
When we eat challah this Shabbos, commemorating the manna, think of this angelic aspect of the bread. We can eat and savor it at a gustatory level, but we can also envision our Shabbos meals as encounters with a trace of the Divine light with which we seek to empower our selves in making His Will our own will. Good Shabbos. D
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:05 PM
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