בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah.
Blessed are you, Eternal One, our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of torah.
Manna is introduced in Exodus, the second book of Torah. Newly liberated from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites are wandering the desert of Sinai, and they're hungry. They cry out to God, and when dawn breaks, they see that God has delivered.
וַתַּ֖עַל שִׁכְבַ֣ת הַטָּ֑ל וְהִנֵּ֞ה עַל־פְּנֵ֤י הַמִּדְבָּר֙ דַּ֣ק מְחֻסְפָּ֔ס דַּ֥ק כַּכְּפֹ֖ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
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.
וַיִּרְא֣וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ אִ֤ישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו֙ מָ֣ן ה֔וּא כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ מַה־ה֑וּא וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם ה֣וּא הַלֶּ֔חֶם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן יי לָכֶ֖ם לְאׇכְלָֽה׃
When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” — for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which the Eternal One has given you to eat (i.e. manna)."
The Talmud Bavli is the central text of rabbinic Judaism, compiled in the academies of Babylon (modern-day Iraq), between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. Built around an older rabbinic collection known as the Mishnah, the Talmud contains many layers of commentary and debate around key issues of Jewish tradition. Together, the Mishnah and the Talmud make up the Oral Law, whereas the Torah is the Written Law.
Divided into 6 orders and 63 tractates, it is an expansive collection that covers all aspects of Jewish life, religious law, ethics, history, culture, folklore, and more. Tractate Yoma is found within Seder Moed, the Order of Festivals.
The text of the Talmud is famously terse. In the English, translation below, the text in bold is a direct translation of the original Aramaic and Hebrew. The non-bolded text is added in for context and clarification.
״וְהָיָה טַעְמוֹ כְּטַעַם לְשַׁד הַשָּׁמֶן״. אָמַר רַבִּי אֲבָהוּ: מָה שַׁד זֶה תִּינוֹק טוֹעֵם בָּהּ כַּמָּה טְעָמִים, אַף הַמָּן, כׇּל זְמַן שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל אוֹכְלִין אוֹתוֹ מוֹצְאִין בּוֹ כַּמָּה טְעָמִים. אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי: לְשֵׁד מַמָּשׁ. מָה שֵׁד זֶה מִתְהַפֵּךְ לְכַמָּה גְּווֹנִין — אַף הַמָּן מִתְהַפֵּךְ לְכַמָּה טְעָמִים.
It was also said with regard to the manna: “And its taste was as the taste of a cake [shad] baked with oil [hashamen]” (Numbers 11:8). Rabbi Abbahu said: Shad means breast. Just as a baby tastes different flavors from the breast, since the taste of the milk changes somewhat depending on what foods his mother eats, so too with the manna, every time that the Jewish people ate the manna, they found in it many different flavors, based on their preferences. There are those who say that the word is written as shed and means literally a demon. How so? Just as a demon changes into different forms and colors, so too, the manna changed into different flavors.
The Torah is just as often infuriating as it is illuminating. The theology can be challenging, and the text can be repetitive and outright contradictory. For as long as there has been a Torah, there has been a tradition of commentary. Abraham Ibn Ezra, a 12th-century rabbi and philosopher from the Iberian peninsula, remains one of the most celebrated commentators to this day.
ויאמר. הטעם שלא יותירו ממנו לאכלו מחר. רק יבטח בשם כי מחר ירד. כי אינו מצוה עליו לאכלו כלו. רק אם נשאר לו שלא יכול לאכלו. ישליכנו מחוץ לאהלו:
AND MOSES SAID UNTO THEM: LET NO MAN LEAVE OF IT TILL THE MORNING. Its meaning is, do not leave some of the manna over to eat on the next morning. Rather, trust in the Name (a common euphemism for God) that it will descend on the following day. There was no command to eat the entire omer (a unit of weight). However, that which a person did not consume was to be thrown outside of his tent.
The way we live as Jews today is rooted in our past. Halakha, or Jewish law, covers every aspect of Jewish living, from how to properly sacrifice a goat in the Temple to which shoe to put on first in the morning.
The Shulchan Aruch is the most famous and widely used legal code, and it tells us that we are supposed to perform the blessing over bread on Shabbat over two loaves of challah. Why? It all goes back to manna! Trace the halakha back through the Talmud to the Torah.
(א) דיני בציעת הפת בשבת:
בוצע על שתי ככרות [שלימות] שאוחז שתיהן בידו ובוצע התחתונה: הגה ודוקא בליל שבת.
(1) The Laws Pertaining to Breaking Bread on Shabbos, 1. Every person is obligated to break bread on two [whole] loaves. One holds them both in his hands and breaks the bottom one. An Addition: Specifically on the night of Shabbat.
אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא: בְּשַׁבָּת חַיָּיב אָדָם לִבְצוֹעַ עַל שְׁתֵּי כִכָּרוֹת, דִּכְתִיב: ״לֶחֶם מִשְׁנֶה״
Rabbi Abba said: On Shabbat a person is obligated to break bread in his meal over two loaves of bread, as it is written: “And it happened on the sixth day, they collected double the bread, two omer for each one” (Exodus 16:22).
(כב) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁ֗י לָֽקְט֥וּ לֶ֙חֶם֙ מִשְׁנֶ֔ה שְׁנֵ֥י הָעֹ֖מֶר לָאֶחָ֑ד וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ כׇּל־נְשִׂיאֵ֣י הָֽעֵדָ֔ה וַיַּגִּ֖ידוּ לְמֹשֶֽׁה׃
(22) On the sixth day they gathered double the amount of food (manna), two omers (unit of weight) for each; and when all the chieftains of the community came and told Moses,
(23) he said to them, “This is what the Eternal One meant: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy sabbath of the Eternal One. Bake what you would bake and boil what you would boil; and all that is left put aside to be kept until morning.”
(כד) וַיַּנִּ֤יחוּ אֹתוֹ֙ עַד־הַבֹּ֔קֶר כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֑ה וְלֹ֣א הִבְאִ֔ישׁ וְרִמָּ֖ה לֹא־הָ֥יְתָה בּֽוֹ׃
(24) So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered; and it did not turn foul, and there were no maggots in it.
Think manna is myth? Think again! The New York Times ran a whole article on chefs who cook with manna back in 2010.
Read the full article on the New York Times
