Parsha of the Week

As mentioned above, there were some Israelites who were reluctant to leave Egypt and brave the unknown desert, thinking that the Egyptians would treat them better now that they had suffered so much from the plagues. Pharaoh had to drive these people out of Egypt forcibly. Since they did not leave wholeheartedly, but Pharaoh had to send these people out, God did not lead them from Sukot via Philistia, because it was nearby, and it would have been easy for the people to return to Egypt. For God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see the inhabitants of the Land of Israel go to war against them, and return to Egypt.”

So instead, God led the people via the desert road toward the other side of the Sea of Reeds, i.e., northward from Sukot, along the west bank of the sea, and then southward, along the east bank of the sea, to Eitam, which is at the edge of the desert. The Israelites were armed when they went up from Egypt.

Moses took the bones of Joseph and his brothers with him, for Joseph had bound the sons of Israel (i.e., Jacob) by an oath that they should in turn bind their descendants by an oath, saying, “God will surely remember you and your descendants, and when He does, you must have your descendants take up my bones from here together with yours.”

Thus, on 16 Nisan, they moved on from Sukot and encamped at Eitam, at the edge of the desert.

Beginning at Sukot, GOD went before them by day in the guise of an angel in a pillar of cloud so that it guide them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire so that it give them light, so that they could travel day and night.

God did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Neither pillar disappeared until the other had first appeared to take its place.

The next day, 17 Nisan, GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Although the Egyptians have suffered greatly because of the plagues, only their firstborn actually died. The rest of them still have not received the punishment they deserve for having enslaved the Israelites. Furthermore, as long as the Egyptian army survives, the Israelites will never feel entirely freed from their threat. Therefore, speak to the Israelites and tell them to turn back to Sukot – traveling first northward along the eastern shore of the Sea of Reeds and then southward along its western shore – and encamp in the valley before the two peaks of a rock formation that will henceforth be known as Pi HaChirot [‘the Mouth of Freedom’] since it is here that I will wipe out the rest of the Egyptian army and thus free the Israelites completely. Have the people camp between Migdol and the sea, stopping before the monument to Ba’al Tzefon, the one Egyptian idol I left intact in order to mislead the Egyptians into thinking that they still have some hope of overcoming you. You must encamp opposite it, facing the sea.

When he hears that they are retreating, Pharaoh will say about the Israelites, ‘They are trapped in the land; the desert has closed in on them and they have no idea how to escape from it.’

I will make Pharaoh stubborn and he will pursue them. I will then be glorified in the world’s eyes through the end that Pharaoh and his entire army will suffer, and the Egyptians – both those who will die here and those who remained in Egypt – will finally recognize that I am GOD. Since Pharaoh began your enslavement, he will be the first to meet his end.” Now, although it seemed that by backtracking, they would be walking straight into the face of danger, the Israelites did this, saying, “We trust Moses implicitly.” They arrived at Sukot on the same day and waited.

The next day, 18 Nisan, the officers Pharaoh had sent with the people saw that although the people were moving toward Egypt, they had not returned to Goshen. They therefore went and informed Pharaoh of this. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his courtiers had a change of heart toward the people. When they thought about all their possessions they had “lent” them, they said, “What is this that we have done, sending Israel away from our service?”

On 19 Nisan, Pharaoh harnessed his chariot himself and convinced his people to go with him. He reminded them of how greatly they had suffered on account of the Israelites and how the Israelites had deviously made off with their possessions. Furthermore, he promised to lead them himself into battle and to divide the spoils with them equally.

He took 600 choice chariots, as well as the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in command of them all.

Before setting out, Pharaoh wavered momentarily, but GOD made Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn, and he pursued the Israelites. It took him two days – 19 and 20 Nisan – to reach them. When they heard that they were being pursued, the Israelites were leaving Egypt triumphantly, confident in God’s well-established ability to overcome the Egyptians.

The Egyptians – all Pharaoh’s chariot horses, his horsemen, and his army – were not fazed by the Israelites’ continued high morale. They continued to pursue them, overtaking them toward dusk on 20 Nisan, while they were encamped at the Sea of Reeds, next to Pi HaChirot, before Ba’al Tzefon.

Pharaoh drew himself nearer, to the frontlines, as he had promised. The Israelites looked up and caught sight of the Egyptians advancing at their rear in exemplary military discipline, showing they all shared the same vehement hatred of the Israelites. They also looked up and caught sight of the guardian angel of Egypt coming to the Egyptians’ aid. Objectively, they knew they had nothing to fear, since God had promised to bring them safely into the Land of Israel. But when they saw both of these, they became disoriented and very frightened. The Israelites thereupon did what their forefathers had done at all times, especially in times of need: they cried out to GOD.

But the heat of the danger soon brought them to speak insolently, despite their trust in God. They said to Moses, “Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us by taking us out of Egypt?

Is this not the very thing we spoke to you about in Egypt, when Dathan and Aviram said, ‘Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” From another perspective, the people voiced these complaints when they saw that the Egyptians continued to approach even after they had prayed; or, only some of them still believed in God’s promise while others began to have doubts. In any case, this was the first time the people challenged God’s ability to come to their aid.

But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear. Stand firm and witness the deliverance that GOD will perform for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today you will never see again.

GOD will do battle for you; you are to remain silent.”

Moses then began to pray to God at length, too. But GOD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? The Egyptians are almost upon you. Now is not the time for prolonged prayer. And in any case, the outcome of this situation is not dependent upon you, but on Me. As to what to do: speak to the Israelites and let them journey forth! In the combined merit of their forebears and the faith they themselves showed in Me when they left Egypt, the Sea of Reeds will split before them!

As for you, take up your staff and raise your arm over the Sea of Reeds and split it, and the Israelites will go into the midst of the sea on dry land.

And as for Me, I am going to make the Egyptians stubborn, so that they will go in after them. I will thus be glorified in the eyes of the world through what will then happen to Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots, and his horsemen, when I drown the Egyptians in the sea.

The Egyptians, both here and back in Egypt, will then finally know that I am GOD, when I am thus glorified through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

At nightfall, as the Egyptians approached, the angel of God within the pillar of cloud, which had been advancing in front of the Israelite camp, went behind it in order to keep the Egyptians from penetrating the Israelite camp and in order to absorb whatever arrows the Egyptians would shoot at the Israelites and rocks they would hurl at them. Thus, the pillar of cloud, instead of disappearing at night as it usually did, moved from in front of the Israelites and stood at their rear. From the point when the danger to the Israelites became palpable and throughout the ensuing night, the heavenly court deliberated over whether the Israelites should be allowed to escape or drown in the sea along with the Egyptians.

The pillar of cloud came and positioned itself between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. Thus, there was cloud and darkness for the Egyptians, for the pillar of cloud hid the light radiated by the pillar of fire. It was so dark for the Egyptians that they could not see the Israelite camp at all. Since they could no longer attack the Israelites, the angel of God was no longer needed and departed. But the Egyptians continued to shoot arrows and hurl projectiles nonetheless, so the pillar of cloud now absorbed these. But, although it was dark for the Egyptians, the pillar of fire illuminated the night for the Israelites. Because the pillar of cloud blocked the Egyptians’ vision, neither camp came near the other all through the first two thirds of the night.

Moses raised his arm over the sea. GOD drove back the sea throughout the night with a powerful east wind – which He uses to punish the wicked – and turned the sea into dry land, and in addition, the water all over the world split, so the whole world would know of this miracle. The souls of the patriarchs “came” to the sea and God showed them how He was rescuing their offspring.

The Israelites went into the midst of the sea on dry land, and the water formed a wall for each tribe on its right and on its left.

As the pillar of cloud followed the Israelites into the sea, the Egyptians’ ability to see was restored. The Egyptians – all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen – came in pursuit after the Israelites into the midst of the sea.

Despite the Egyptians’ numbers, however, God thwarted them easily, as follows: The night is divided into three parts, during each of which a different “watch” of angels takes its turn singing God’s praises. During the third watch of the night, which is already the beginning of the morning, GOD looked down upon the camp of the Egyptians and confounded them with the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud: the pillar of cloud turned the seabed under the Egyptians into mud and the pillar of fire made the mud boiling hot, so the horses’ hooves fell off. God then made all the ensigns on the chariots fall off and made it thunder. All this threw the camp of the Egyptians into confusion.

The hot mud burned the wheels of the chariots and they fell off. God thus removed the wheels of their chariots, so the horses dragged them on the seabed. He thus treated the Egyptians heavily, shaking up the riders and dislocating their joints. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for GOD is fighting for them against Egypt!” As God struck the Egyptians at the Sea of Reeds, He simultaneously struck those who were in Egypt. When the sea split, the heavens also split open, and as the Israelites emerged from the sea even the lowliest of them beheld a prophetic vision superior to any that the Biblical prophets after Moses would ever experience.

GOD said to Moses, “Raise your arm over the sea so that the water that has been standing erect, allowing the Israelites and Egyptians to traverse the sea, will collapse and revert to its normal state, covering the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen before they leave the sea.”

Moses raised his arm over the sea, and toward morning of 21 Nisan, the sea reverted to its normal state while the Egyptians were fleeing toward it. For the Egyptians were so confused at this point that they fled into the sea, toward the surging water. And then GOD churned the Egyptians in the midst of the sea: they rose and fell, together with their chariots, until they were dismembered, but God kept them alive until the end so they could experience the pain. They sunk into the mud, in retribution for having made the Israelites make bricks out of mud, and were dashed against the water that had solidified in the depth of the sea.

The water came back and covered over the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after the Israelites; not one of them survived.

But the Israelites had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Thus, on that day, GOD rescued Israel from Egypt. The pathways through the sea were semicircular, so the people emerged from the water on the same side of the sea as they had entered, further north along the shore. The people did not see the Egyptians drown, so they feared that they, too, had left the sea somewhere else along the shore. They thus doubted God’s ability to rescue them a second time. In order to allay this fear, God made the sea wash up the corpses of all the dead Egyptians, and thus Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. After the Israelites saw them, the earth swallowed up the dead Egyptians. In the merit of Pharaoh having previously submitted to God, God granted them a proper burial.

When Israel saw the mighty arm that GOD had exercised against the Egyptians, the people stood in awe of GOD; they believed in GOD and in His servant Moses.

Then, when they saw how God had miraculously saved them from the Egyptians once and for all, Moses and the Israelites sang this song to GOD. Being in the midst of a sublime prophetic experience, Moses was able to quote Pharaoh’s words (which he had not heard) and predict future events. They said as follows: “I will sing to GOD for He is exalted beyond any other exalted being; only He is absolutely supreme. He is supra-human, for a human can only throw a rider off a horse, but He cast both horse and rider into the sea. Furthermore, I will sing to GOD even though He is exalted beyond my capacity to articulate; as opposed to human rulers, whom people praise beyond their true merit. He cast horse and rider together into the sea, miraculously keeping the riders astride while the water tossed them up and down from the depths to the surface and back again repeatedly.

God’s might and retribution were my salvation. When the sea split, the heavens opened and I saw a vision of God. I pointed to it, and said: This is my God! I will build Him an Abode, the Temple. I will proclaim His glory to all the nations of the earth. I am not the first to do this: He is my father’s God – i.e., the same God he worshiped – and I will exalt Him.

GOD is the Master of war; GOD fights His wars not with weapons, as does a mortal king, but with His Name. And even when GOD is engaged in war, GOD simultaneously manifests His mercy-Name [Havayah] by sustaining all His creatures.

He hurled Pharaoh’s chariots and army into the sea; the elite of his officers were sunk into the mud that the bed of the Sea of Reeds had become.

Once they sunk, the deep water could cover them; they sank into the depths like a rock.

Your right hand, GOD, which is adorned with power; Your same right hand, GOD, demonstrates its power when it shatters the enemy. In addition, Your right hand, GOD, is adorned with the power to do good and Your left hand to mete out punishment. Yet, when Your people obey Your will, they avert punishment and make Your left hand act like Your right hand, GOD, so that it shatters the enemy instead of punishing Your people. Furthermore, You crush the enemy’s spirit with only Your right hand, GOD, which is adorned with power;

when You raise this hand in Your great majesty, You always destroy those who rise up against You, which include all those who rise up against the Jewish people. You always send forth Your fury against them; it consumes them as it consumed the most wicked of the Egyptians by hurling them into the water – not like quick-sinking rocks, but like straw, which tosses easily to and fro in the depths.

At the blast of Your flaming nostrils, so to speak, the water dried up, became solid, and piled up; the flowing streams stood erect like a wall; the deep water solidified in the heart of the sea so the Egyptians would crash against it violently.

Pharaoh, the enemy, had said to his people, to convince them to join him: ‘I will give chase; I will overtake them; I will divide the spoils with you equally; my desire will be sated with them; I will unsheathe my sword; my hand will despoil them.’

But You blew with Your wind; the sea enveloped them; although the best of them sank in the mighty water like lead – i.e., more quickly than rocks so they suffered for less time – they still drowned.

Who is like You among the mighty, GOD! Who is like You, resplendent in holiness, feared by those who offer You praises since they know they cannot possibly praise You sufficiently, performer of wonders!

Everything is held in Your hand, so to speak, so when You tilted Your right hand, Your enemies fell: the earth swallowed them up.

When we arrive in the Land of Israel, we will see how, in Your loving-kindness, You led the people whom You redeemed; how, in Your strength, You guided them out of Egypt to Your holy abode, the Land of Israel.

Soon, nations will have heard that the sea split and become angered over this, since they cannot bear to see our glory. Terror will have gripped those who dwell in Philistia, because they will fear our retribution for their having slain those members of the tribe of Ephraim who left Egypt before the appointed time.

At that time, all the nations will have become angered over our glory, but in particular, the chieftains of Edom will have become disoriented; trembling will have seized the mighty men of Moab. In contrast to Edom and Moab, all the inhabitants of Canaan – whose land has been promised us – will have melted away, i.e., will have become totally demoralized from fear.

When they hear about the splitting of the sea, dread and terror will fall upon them. This fear and terror will be so strong that they will remain still as stone in fear of the greatness of Your arm until the Israelites, Your nation, passes over first the Arnon River, GOD, and further, until the Israelites, this nation whom You acquired through great deeds and therefore hold dear, passes over the Jordan River.

You will bring them” – by saying “them” and not “us,” Moses here unwittingly prophesied that he would not enter the Land of Israel along with them – “and plant them in their land, centered around the mountain of Your inheritance, Mount Moriah, the site of the permanent Temple that will supersede the Tabernacle. This mountain is Your inheritance because, figuratively, it is situated precisely ‘beneath’ the place that You, GOD, have prepared for Your abode, the heavenly Sanctuary,” meaning that the Land of Israel in general and the site of the Temple in particular are the locales most receptive to the spiritual consciousness of the higher worlds. “May the messianic era commence shortly after we construct this Temple, and thus may Your hands, God, establish this Sanctuary as the final, everlasting Temple that will function when

all humanity will recognize You as their king, and You, GOD, will reign forever and ever.” In fact, however, the advent of the messianic era was delayed, and only in the messianic future will the Temple achieve this universal focus. The messianic Temple is spoken of as being built with God’s hands, in the plural, to indicate that God loves it more than He loves the world itself, which is referred to as having been created with only one of God’s hands.

Moses led the men in singing this song responsively: He sang each verse and they repeated it after him. In addition, after the women saw how the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, went into the sea, and how GOD turned the water of the sea back on them while the Israelites had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, they were also inspired to sing.

Miriam had shown herself to be a prophetess before Moses was born, when she was only Aaron’s sister. She is referred to here as “Aaron’s sister” also because later on, Aaron would risk his life for her. On her own prophetic authority – i.e., without having to secure Moses’ permission – she took her timbrel in hand, and all the women followed her with timbrels and dancing.

Miriam led them in responsive song, beginning “Sing to GOD for He is most exalted; horse and rider He cast into the sea,” and continuing for the rest of the song as the men had sung it. In the future, when they will be resurrected, Moses and the Israelites who left Egypt will once again sing this song to God.

The Israelites then collected the gold and silver ornaments and precious jewels with which the Egyptians had adorned their horses. There was so much that the wealth they acquired here exceeded that which they took with them from Egypt. On the following day, 22 Nisan, they were still busy collecting this wealth, so Moses had to forcibly make the Israelites set out from the Sea of Reeds. They returned to Eitam and went out into the Shur Desert. They walked for three days in the desert without finding any water.

On 25 Nisan, they came to the Marah stream, but they could not drink water from the Marah stream, for the water was bitter; that was why it was named Marah [“bitter”].

But rather than respectfully asking Moses to pray on their behalf for water, the people complained impertinently against Moses, saying, “What should we drink?”

Moses cried out in prayer to GOD, and GOD showed him a tree; he threw a branch of it into the water and the water became sweet. It was there, by the Marah stream, that God gave the people some parts of the Torah to study: a rule – a commandment whose rationale is beyond human understanding – and an ordinance – a commandment that does appear to be rational. There, by the Marah stream, He also tested them by bringing them to a place where the water was bitter and seeing how they would react. As stated, they failed this test. This was the third time the people challenged God’s ability to come to their aid.

God then said, referring to Himself in the third person, “If you diligently heed the voice of GOD, your God, by agreeing to do what He says, and you not only commit yourselves but in fact do what is upright in His eyes – carefully listening to the details of all His commandments and fulfilling them precisely and observing even all His rules, i.e., the commandments whose rationale is beyond human understanding – then,” God continued in the first person, “I, God, will bring none of the illnesses that I brought upon Egypt during the plagues upon you. And even if for some other reason I do bring any of these illnesses upon you, it will not matter, for I am GOD who heals you; I can be relied upon to heal you of them. But in general, if you accept My authority and follow My commands, that itself will heal you a priori of all disease.” The people camped at the Marah stream for six days.

Then, on 1 Iyar, they journeyed and came to Eilim, where there were 12 springs of water, corresponding to the 12 tribes, and 70 date palms, corresponding to the 70 elders. They camped there, by the water, for 10 days.

On 11 Iyar, they moved on from Eilim and camped on the east shore of the Sea of Reeds. On 12 Iyar, they journeyed from this stop and camped somewhere in the Sin Desert. On 13 of Iyar, they journeyed from this stop and camped at Dofkah, another location in the Sin Desert. They stayed there for two days. The entire community of the Israelites came to Alush, another location in the Sin Desert, which is between Eilim and Mount Sinai, on the Sabbath, the 15th day of Iyar, the second month after they had left Egypt.

That morning, they finished the bread they had taken with them from Egypt. Having eaten two meals a day, this was the 61st meal they ate from these provisions. Although they were not yet hungry and there was still ample time for God to provide them with food, the entire community of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron because they were in the desert with no provisions left.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died at the hand of GOD in Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have taken us out to this desert, to starve this entire assembly to death!” This was the fourth time the people challenged God’s ability to come to their aid.

GOD said to Moses, “The people asked for meat and bread. Today, in the late afternoon, I will send them quails to eat, and tomorrow, I am going to rain down bread for you from the sky. The people will go out and gather each day’s portion on that day. They must not save any from one day for the next. This way, I will test them as to whether or not they will follow My teaching regarding the bread, i.e., that they neither leave any of it over nor gather it on the Sabbath, as I will soon instruct them.

On the sixth day of the week they must prepare what they bring in, and, even though they will have gathered the same amount as on previous days, it will miraculously be twice as much as they gather each day. Thus, they will not have to gather it on the Sabbath.”

As for how to respond to the people, God first addressed the impertinent tone of their complaint. He had both Moses and Aaron deal with this, since both of them were responsible for teaching the people how to believe and trust in God. Thus, both Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites in God’s name, “You said that we took you out of Egypt, and since we cannot provide for you in the desert, you assume that you will perish. Your faith in God needs to be strengthened. Furthermore, asking for meat was unnecessary and impudent – you can survive quite well without it, and anyway, you have plenty of cattle. Therefore, in the late afternoon, you will recognize that it is GOD, not us, who took you out of Egypt, for you will see Him provide you miraculously with the meat you crave. But He will express His displeasure with your impertinence by giving you meat in the late afternoon, when there is insufficient time to prepare it for the night meal.

On the other hand, implicit in your complaint against our inability to provide for you is your awareness that God can provide for you, and this is praiseworthy. Furthermore, this very belief in God is what prompted you to ask for bread – which is justified, since you cannot subsist without bread. So tomorrow, in the morning, you will see the glory of GOD, i.e., His goodwill and love, as He provides you with bread. He will express His approval of your faith in Him by giving you bread in the morning, when there is ample time to gather and prepare it, and by presenting it to you protected by layers of dew above and below. (This is why He will provide you with bread only tomorrow morning, and not immediately.) He will thus provide for you, having heard your complaints, which, although you voiced them against us, are not really against us, but against GOD. For what are we that by your example you should incite your families and the mixed multitude to complain against us? We have no power of our own.”

God then addressed the substance of the people’s complaint. Since only Moses, not Aaron, was responsible for providing for the people, God spoke through Moses alone: Moses said, “You will realize that you asked for meat impudently and bread properly when you see how GOD gives you meat to eat in the late afternoon and bread to satiety in the morning. (Although He will provide you with an abundance of both bread and meat, you should only eat bread to satiety, because it is gluttonous to eat meat to satiety.) He will give you bread compassionately because GOD hears your complaints. But He will give you meat reproachfully because, although you direct your complaints at us, you are inciting others, by your example, to complain against Him, not against us. For what are we? Your complaints are not against us, but against GOD!”

Pointing to a location outside the camp, Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the entire community of the Israelites, ‘Draw near that place and stand there before GOD, for He has heard your complaints.’”

And when Aaron spoke to the entire community of the Israelites and they turned toward that place in the desert, they beheld the glory of GOD in a cloud.

GOD then spoke to Moses from the cloud, saying,

“I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Speak to them and say, ‘In the late afternoon you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread to satiety, and then you will recognize that I am GOD, your God.’” Everyone then dispersed.

In the late afternoon of the Sabbath, 15 Iyar, quails came up and covered the camp. In the morning of the following day, Sunday, 16 Iyar, the people saw that there was a layer of dew around the camp.

When the sun rose and the layer of dew evaporated, behold, over the surface of the desert, a thin substance that had been packed within this layer of dew above it and another layer of dew beneath it was exposed, as if the upper layer of dew had been peeled back. This substance had thus been protected from dirt and insects by dew both above and below. Although dew usually condenses from the atmosphere, here it had unusually risen in the ground moisture. The substance had a thin crust on top and was as fine as the frost on the ground.

The Israelites saw the exposed substance and said to each other, “It is a provision of food [man],” for they did not know what it was exactly, to call it by name. Moses said to them, “That is the bread that GOD has given you to eat.

This is what GOD has commanded: ‘Gather it according to what each man needs to eat: you must take an omer [about 2.5 liters or 2.6 quarts] per head, according to the number of people each man has in his tent.’” However, he did not tell them that Friday’s portion would be double so they would not have to gather it on the Sabbath.

The Israelites did what Moses told them. They gathered it, but some took more than they should have and some less.

But when they measured it by the omer, they found that, miraculously, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little was lacking nothing; each man had gathered as much as he needed to eat.

Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it over until morning.”

But they did not listen to Moses, and some people – Dathan and Aviram – left some of it over until morning, and it became maggoty, after having first become putrid. Moses became angry with them, for by saving some for the next day, they were challenging God’s ability to come to their aid, now for the fifth time.

The people gathered it each morning, each man according to what he needed to eat, and when the sun grew hot after everyone had gathered his portion, whatever remained in the field would melt and run into streams. Deer would drink this liquid; when other nations hunted and ate these deer, they would taste the taste of the manna and realize still further how God favored the Jews.

On the sixth day of the week they gathered the usual amount, but when they took it home and measured it, they found that it was a double portion of bread, two omers for each person, and that its taste and aroma were even better than usual. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses. They had studied the laws of the Sabbath in the abstract, but since they knew that these laws would not become binding until the Torah was given, they did not understand why this was happening now.

He said to them, “That is what GOD spoke about but I haven’t yet told you: tomorrow, some of the laws of the Sabbath – specifically, the prohibition of cooking – will take effect. It will be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath dedicated to focusing on GOD and not on earning your livelihood. Whatever you wish to bake, bake today for both today and tomorrow, and whatever you wish to cook, cook today for both today and tomorrow. Set aside for yourselves whatever is left over from what you eat today in safekeeping until morning.”

They set it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not become putrid, nor was it infested with maggots.

Still, they asked Moses if they should go gathering today as they had on the previous days. After all, the prohibition of carrying in the public domain on the Sabbath had not yet taken effect. Moses said, “No, eat the remainder of what you prepared yesterday today.” In the afternoon they asked again about gathering it. Moses said, “No, for today is a Sabbath unto GOD.” He saw they were worried that the manna had stopped falling, so he said, “Although today you will not find it in the field, tomorrow it will resume falling and you will once again find it awaiting you.

Six days you must gather it, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. And not only on the Sabbath, but on other days of rest that God will command you not to work on, there will be none, either. A double portion will descend on the day before all such days of rest.”

Nonetheless, on the seventh day some of the people did go out to gather manna, but they found nothing. This was the sixth time the people challenged God’s ability to come to their aid.

GOD told Moses, “Some of the people did not believe that the manna would not fall on the Sabbath, and even you neglected to tell them about the Sabbath until they came to ask you about the double portion of manna. True, you were not technically required to convey My message before it became relevant, but you should have acted with more alacrity. How long will all of you refuse to observe My commandments and My teachings, that is, to believe in Me? True, only some of you displayed a lack of faith, but the community does bear some degree of collective responsibility for not using its social tools to bolster the faith of all its members.

Look: a miraculous double-portion of manna fell on Friday! Clearly, it is GOD who has given you the Sabbath, and that is why on the sixth day He gives you food for two days. Therefore, every man must remain where he is: no man may leave his place on the seventh day to gather manna.”

So the people rested on the seventh day.

Once the manna had fallen for seven days, and they had seen how, through it, God was taking the trouble to make their life easier and more delightful, including making it possible for them to rest from the pursuit of their livelihood altogether on the Sabbath, they were ready to name it. The House of Israel called the food manna. They did not give it a descriptive name; they kept the name they first used to describe it: “a portion of food.” It was not appropriate to give it a descriptive name because it was round like coriander seed, but was white, and it tasted naturally like pastry fried in honey kneaded with oil, but if they wanted it to taste like anything else (other than vegetables harmful to nursing infants), it did. Therefore, simply calling it “manna” indicated the rest, repose, and delight it brought them.

Moses said, “This is what GOD has commanded: ‘An omer-ful of it is to be preserved for safekeeping throughout your generations, so that when it is necessary, they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt. I may deem it necessary at some future point for the people to devote themselves completely to studying the Torah and temporarily neglect earning a livelihood altogether. They will then ask Me how they will survive, and I will be able to have My prophet show them the manna and remind them that when necessary, I can indeed provide for them miraculously, just as I did for this generation.’”

Ten and a half months later, when the Tabernacle was erected, Moses said to Aaron, “Take an earthenware urn and put in it an omer-ful of manna, and place it before GOD for safekeeping throughout your generations.”

As GOD had commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the Ark of Testimony for safekeeping.

The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years: The bread the people had taken with them when they left Egypt (on 15 Nisan 2448) already tasted like manna, so it was as if they had started eating manna then. The manna stopped falling when Moses died, on 7 Adar 2488, but the supply they gathered that day lasted until 15 Nisan 2488, when they crossed the Jordan River, came to an inhabited land, and began to eat the produce of the land. They ate the manna on the same day it fell only until they came to the plains of Moab, at the edge of Canaan, where Moses died. Similarly, the quails also continued to descend every afternoon until the people entered the Land of Israel.

An omer is a tenth of an ephah [about 2.5 liters or 2.25 quarts].

On 23 Iyar, the entire community of the Israelites moved on from Alush, in the Sin Desert, on their journeys, according to the word of GOD. They encamped that day at Refidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

The people – except for the tribe of Levi – again contended with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” Moses answered them, “Why are you contending with me? Why are you impertinently testing GOD, to see if He can supply you with water in the desert?” This was the seventh time the people challenged God’s ability to come to their aid.

The people thirsted there for water and the people complained against Moses, saying, “Why did you bring us up from Egypt, to make us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?”

Moses cried out to GOD, saying, “What should I do for this people? Before long they will stone me!”

GOD then said to Moses, “You exaggerate. Pass in front of the people and see if they stone you. Don’t slander My children. As for water, take with you some of the elders of Israel – so they can testify that I am producing water for you miraculously and not from an established, natural well – and take in your hand your staff, with which you struck the Nile River and initiated other plagues, and which the people therefore think is only meant for punishment, and go to Mount Horeb.

I will be standing before you there at the rock at Mount Horeb. You must strike the rock, splitting it with your sapphire staff, and water will flow out of it and the people will drink. I could just as easily provide you with water from a rock at Refidim, where the people are located now, but I wish to demonstrate My affection for them by giving them water from a special, holy place, where they will soon receive the Torah.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel who had accompanied him.

He gave Refidim, the place where the people had complained, the additional name Masah and Merivah [“testing and contention”], because of the people’s contentiousness and because they had tested GOD by saying, “Is GOD present among us or not?”

Amalek came and fought against Israel in Refidim.

Moses said to Joshua, his chief disciple and attendant, “Choose brave and pious men, whose merit will protect them and who know how to counteract witchcraft, for the Amalekites are practiced in this art. Choose these men for us – for you and me, who are responsible for the people – and go out tomorrow, outside the clouds, and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow the people will fast and I will station myself at the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

Joshua did as Moses had told him, to fight against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and their nephew Hur went up to the top of the hill and stood in prayer, for at least three people must lead the prayers at a public fast.

Whenever Moses raised his arm and the people were inspired to submit themselves to God, God came to their aid and Israel prevailed. But whenever he lowered his arm, and they were not inspired this way, Amalek prevailed.

But since he had been remiss in appointing Joshua to fulfill his responsibility to protect the people, Moses’ hands became heavy more quickly than they otherwise would have. In this way, God showed him that his choice to only pray for the people was ill-made. Even though he was over the age of conscription, he should have overlooked this and done his utmost to defend the people. A short prayer on the battlefield would have sufficed. So Aaron and Hur took a stone and placed it under him and he sat on it. Moses refused to sit on anything more comfortable than a stone because doing so would be inappropriate while the people were suffering. Aaron and Hur then supported his hands, one on each side, and Moses remained with his hands upraised in steady and confident prayer. Using astrology, the Amalekites had calculated when they would win, but Moses delayed the sun from setting, confusing them until the Israelites won; he then let the sun set.

God instructed Moses to only kill the stronger Amalekites, and thus Joshua only weakened Amalek and his people by the sword, rendering them incapable of attack, but did not wipe them out completely.

GOD said to Moses, “Write this down – namely, the fact that Amalek attacked you before any other nation and thereby led the way for others to attack you – as a remembrance in the Book of the Torah. Explain clearly to Joshua and inspire him to instruct the people, when they enter the Land of Israel, to wipe out Amalek. He should not do this merely out of obedience, but with vigor and motivation.” (Here God hinted to Moses that he would not accompany the people into the Land of Israel.) “For I wish to utterly erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Even though you have won this battle, and it would therefore seem that the damage done by Amalek’s attack has been repaired and the nations of the world again fear you, as long as Amalek still lingers, your invincibility can still be doubted.”

Moses recorded the incident with Amalek, as God had instructed. He then built an altar and gave it a name that made people proclaim, “God performed a miracle for us here,” and then, in recognition of this, say, “GOD is my Miracle.”

In order to fulfill God’s instruction to inspire Joshua to perpetuate the struggle against Amalek, he further said, “The hand of God is raised in oath on God’s throne to swear by it: GOD will remain at war with Amalek and harbor continuous enmity toward him, from generation to generation. Neither His Name nor His throne will be complete until Amalek is annihilated.”