The righteous shall bloom like a תמר, a date tree, biblical symbol of uprightness (think of the central column of a lulav, from a date palm frond!) Why do you think the root פרח, "to flower," (translated here first as "bloom" and then as "flourish,") is repeated twice in these two verses?
(א) אַרְבָּעָה רָאשֵׁי שָׁנִים הֵם. בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַמְּלָכִים וְלָרְגָלִים. בְּאֶחָד בֶּאֱלוּל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לְמַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמְרִים, בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי. בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַשָּׁנִים וְלַשְּׁמִטִּין וְלַיּוֹבְלוֹת, לַנְּטִיעָה וְלַיְרָקוֹת. בְּאֶחָד בִּשְׁבָט, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לָאִילָן, כְּדִבְרֵי בֵית שַׁמַּאי. בֵּית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ:
(1) They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose: On the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings; it is from this date that the years of a king’s rule are counted. And the first of Nisan is also the New Year for the order of the Festivals, as it determines which is considered the first Festival of the year and which the last. On the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithes; all the animals born prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and are tithed as a single unit, whereas those born after that date belong to the next tithe year. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: The New Year for animal tithes is on the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tishrei is the New Year for counting years, as will be explained in the Gemara; for calculating Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years, i.e., from the first of Tishrei there is a biblical prohibition to work the land during these years; for planting, for determining the years of orla, the three-year period from when a tree has been planted during which time its fruit is forbidden; and for tithing vegetables, as vegetables picked prior to that date cannot be tithed together with vegetables picked after that date. On the first of Shevat is the New Year for the tree; the fruit of a tree that was formed prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and cannot be tithed together with fruit that was formed after that date; this ruling is in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai. But Beit Hillel say: The New Year for trees is on the fifteenth of Shevat.
Question: All the other new years occur on the first of the month, when there would be no moon or very little moon visible in the night sky (new moon.) Yet according to Beit Hillel, Tu B'Shvat should be on the 15th, which is a full moon, like Purim and Pesach. Beit Shammai holds differently, i.e. that the new year for trees should be on the first of shvat ("aleph b'shvat,") Why do you think Beit Hillel suggests that Tu B'Shvat be held during a full moon?
A note: in Hebrew numbers are counted via hebrew letters. Saying "tu b'shvat" (pronounced "too b-shvat,") is like saying "the fourth of July"- tu b'Shvat, or "tet vuv b'Shvat," or טו בשבט, means "the fifteenth day in the month of Shvat," because tet (ט) is equivalent to 9 and vuv (ו) is equivalent to 6, adding up to 15. That's a weird way to make 15 though. Why not write 15 as י (yod), which has a value of 10, and ה (hay), which has a value of 5? Welllll, that would be writing "yod hay b'Shvat," and yod hay spells Yah, one of the Hebrew names of God. There is an ancient tradition of never writing divine names casually, hence tu, i.e. 9+6, b'Shvat. Every word, every letter, literally counts!)
(24) And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (25) So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test. (26) He said, “If you will heed the LORD your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the LORD am your healer.” (27) And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there beside the water.
Using a tree to make water sweet? This may seems strange to residents of Turtle Island, i.e. the contemporary U.S. Why not something sweet, like skittles, or sugar? Well, think a bit further... what could "tree" symbolize for the ancient Israelites who interacted with this text? Note what tree is referenced just two verses later... Also, note the play between "mar," bitter, and "miryam," i.e. Miriam or literally "bitter sea," and Miryam's near-constant appearance near water. Can you think of any potential connections between between trees, water, Miryam, and sweetness?
Here, and in the passage from the Mishnah, "natural" and/or divinely-prescribed rhythms shape human life. What does this say about the meaning of our Jewish calendar cycles, and about the meaning of shabbat, the sabbath, i.e. that seventh day which comes after the sixth day's double portion? (Shabbat for humans is alluded to here for the first time in the Torah, and is directly mentioned a few verses later in 16:23.)
(12) “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I the LORD am your God.” (13) In the evening quail appeared and covered the camp; in the morning there was a fall of dew about the camp. (14) When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
Note that "honey" here would mean date honey, not bee honey. And "wafers," "tsappichith," only occurs once in the entire bible. Its meaning is uncertain. A related word, meaning, "jar," "tsappachath," occurs far more (seven times.) Interesting...