Collection of the Mahn
Yuma 75a
It is written in one verse (Bemidbar 11,9), “And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the Mahn fell upon it.” This verse indicated that the Mahn fell in the camp itself. It is written elsewhere (Shmos 16,4), “And the people shall go out and gather.” Indicated that it fell right outside the camp but close by. A third verse (Bemidbar 11,8), “The people would stroll and gather it.” Indicated that the Mahn was a considerable distance from the camp).
How can this be explained? The explanation is that each verse is referring to a particular group of people. For the righteous, it fell at the entrance of their homes; for the average people it fell just outside the camp, so they went out and gathered, whereas for the wicked ones, it fell far away, they needed to go far to gather it.
MODERN MEDRASH
(A story about a story from the Chumash)
I woke up early since this was the first day that the Mahn was to come down and I had to gather the portion for my family to eat. I went out of the front door of my tent and looked around. To my right, the Mahn package was in the front of Avrohom’s family tent, together with their copy of the daily Desert Times. To my left, the Mahn package was in front of Ephraim’s family tent. However, nothing was in front of my tent.
I heard some people say that we needed to go look for my family’s portion just outside the encampment of our tribe. So I went with the others. I scrambled through the 15,000 bundles, looking for the giftwrapping with my family name. However, I found nothing and I was getting hungry.
Another group of people announced that we had to go out further in order to find the final set of parcels, which were probably spread all around the entire encampment. I decided to turn right and start looking. Hours later I had gone all around the entire encampment, even outside the Clouds of Glory and I was extremely tired, hot and hungry. Finally, I found my family's pack, just to the left of where I started.
I dragged myself back to our family tent, just as night was beginning. My family ate our portion of the Mahn parcel and went to sleep. We woke later in the night looking for a snack, but the Mahn had already dissolved and we were hungry again.
So I woke up early the next morning, hoping I earned something better today. I looked one way and saw the Mahn packet in front of the Avrohom’s tent. I looked the other way and saw the Mahn package in front of Ephraim’s tent. I looked down in front of my tent and saw nothing, not even a credit card offer.
I thought maybe I might have moved up. So I went outside the tribe encampment and looked through the approximate 15,000 packets again, but did not find our family packet. So I went further out and decided today I would turn left. I went all the way around the entire encampment until, once again, I ended up almost at the starting point and found my packet just to the right of my starting point.
Again, hot tired and hungry and nearing nightfall, I dragged myself along with my packet, back to our family tent.
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT
How did most people find their Mahn packets if they were not worthy to have the Mahn fall in front of their tent? Were the packets gift-wrapped with names, or was it first-come first serve? The last group had to search far and wide and how did they identify the right packet? Further, the next day was the packet in the same place, or did it move various places every day?
How was each family unit organized? If 3 generations shared a tent, did they have two fathers collecting? For 40 years the widows greatly increased as the men 20-60 died, to what unit did they belong or to their own unit? What about the Yeshivah bachurim, did they collect from their family or from Mahn delivered to the dorm?
