המאכלך מן במדבר אשר לא ידעון אבתיך למען ענתך ולמען נסתך להיטבך באחריתך וגו' (ח-טז)
Everyone knows that life is a test. We struggle to make a living, to raise our children and to build our communities and schools. Nothing comes easy. Our test is to deal with the hardship and frustrations in the very best way possible. But, what if our livelihood was served up to us on a silver platter like the mann was? How wonderful would that be? No more worries about tuition and parnassa! Would that be a test? Absolutely not! We would consider it a beracha! And yet the Torah seems to say otherwise: Hashem gave us the mann, "למען נסתך" - in order to test us! Not to “bless us” but to “test us.”
In Parshas Beshalach (שמות טז-ג), on the posuk, "הנני ממטיר לכם לחם מן השמים", Rashi explains that the “test” of the mann was that it could not be stored and used at a later date. Each day it fell and each day it needed to be consumed. On Friday, a double portion fell for Shabbos. This was the test; not to be able to save food. The Seforno here explains that the test was to see if the Jewish people would follow the Torah even when they didn’t have to worry about their livelihood and other means of support. In truth, it is really a test to have bread and parnassa raining down on you. When affluence comes without our own effort, it gives us a great amount of leisure time and freedom. What do we do with all that leisure time? Do we waste it or do we spend it wisely learning Torah and doing chessed? We are all aware of the test of poverty. However, says the Seforno, affluence puts a tremendous responsibility on a person and and is a difficult test for many Yidden in these affluent times.
The contrast is striking. Some people have so much food that they don’t know what to do with it. Others have bare cupboards and wish they could store away provisions for their children. Unfortunately, today we don’t have the holy mann and therefore we must bring ruchnius into our meals by speaking Torah, especially on Shabbos and Yom Tov. We must sing zemiros, say Divrei Torah and recite Birchas Hamazon in order to elevate our food, as well as our families, to great spiritual levels.
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