Rashi (16:17) writes, "Some collected a lot of mon, and some collected little, and when they got home, they measured what they collected and discovered that the person who collected a lot didn't have more than an omer for each member of his tent, and the one who collected a little didn't have less than an omer per person. This was a great miracle that occurred with the man."
Rebbe Shmuel of Lubavitch zt'l asked someone, "You’re a Yid, and you know about Shabbos. Why do you work on this day?"
He replied, שטיקל פעטע א איז שבת ,רבי, "Rebbe! Shabbos is a fat piece." He earned a large salary on Shabbos. He didn't want to give that up.
The Rebbe replied, "The halachah of כלב מחיר (Devarim 23:19) means that if you exchange a dog for a sheep, you may not sacrifice the sheep as a korban. However, if one receives a sheep in exchange for a donkey (or any other animal), he may sacrifice the sheep. This is because a dog is disgusting. When a dog sees a fat piece of meat, he forgets his loyalty to his master and is interested only in the meat. The dog's disloyalty is so disgusting that even its exchange cannot be sacrificed as a korban. Think about whom you resemble when you are disloyal to Hashem and run after fat pieces."
Lessons from the Mon
The Mishnah Berurah (1:13) writes, "It isn't sufficient to just say the words of Parashas hamon. One must think about what he is saying and recognize Hashem's wonders. It states there (16:18), לא והממעיט העדיף לא המרבה החסיר, 'Whoever took more had nothing extra and whoever took less was not lacking.' We learn from the mon that doing a lot of hishtadlus doesn't help.
The mon that fell is called rain, as it states (16:4) השמים מן לחם לכם ממטיר הנני, "Behold! – I shall rain down for you food from heaven..." Rain cannot be controlled. If one wants more rain, there is nothing one can do to bring it (aside from tefillah). Similarly, it was impossible to increase the amount of mon – or the amount of parnassah - that falls. People think that if they work more, they will have more money. The Torah tells us that parnassah is like rain, which cannot be controlled. We do hishtadlus, but the amount that Hashem decides will always be – not a drop less or more.
Rebbe Moshe Lelover zt'l owned a store where he sold salt. Someone opened another salt store on the opposite side of the street. Rebbe Moshe wasn't afraid that this would take away his parnassah.
Once, the competitor overslept, and Rebbe Moshe knocked on his window and said, "Come quickly. People are already waiting for you in your store." This is because Rebbe Moshe believed that no one could take away the parnassah he was destined to receive. Even a competitor can't take away the money due to him.
The Yesod HaAvodah would tell his chassidim who were merchants that they should come late on market day. In this way, he trained them to believe that parnassah comes from Hashem and that working more hours won't increase the parnassah.
The Shach's Approach
The Shach (1621-1662, one of the primary commentaries on Shulchan Aruch) was supported by his father-in-law for the first few years after his chasunah. When the father-in-law's commitment to financial support concluded, he said to his illustrious son-in-law, "Market day is approaching. Here's some money. See what you can do with it."
The Shach did business with the money and was very successful. Another market day was approaching. His father-in-law approached him again and said, "You did so well last time. I'm sure you will do well this time, too."
The Shach responded that he doesn't want to do business again. He explained that it states in this week's parashah (15:9): אמר אשיג ארדוף אויב. The אויב, the enemy is the yetzer hara (because our greatest enemy is the yetzer hara). The yetzer hara says, אשיג ארדוף, that he will capture talmidei chachamim in his trap. How will he do that? שלל אחלק, The yetzer hara distributes wealth to the talmidei chachamim. He causes the talmid chacham's initial attempt at business to be very successful, and now the talmid chacham will invest a lot of his time and efforts towards becoming wealthy. Now that he has fallen into the yetzer hara's trap and is busy doing business instead of learning Torah the yetzer hara then empties out his pockets and makes him poor. This is alluded to in the words ידי תורישמו חרבי אריק. The translation of אריק is to empty, and תורישמו is from the root רש, poor. The yetzer hara empties his pockets and makes him poor, and then he loses out on both worlds.
Reb Chaim Palagi's Lesson
There were three very wealthy merchants, baalei tzedakah, in Istanbul, and almost everyone admired them. However, the smaller merchants in the same field felt that the monopoly of these businessmen took away their chance to make a living. They told Reb Chaim Palagi zt'l, "They take away almost every opportunity we have to earn parnassah."
Reb Chaim Palagi corrected them, "No one can take away your parnassah. Hashem gives each person the amount of money that is destined from heaven. It is even possible that they are helping you out in your parnassah. It is possible that in the merit of tzedakah, everyone in Istanbul receives parnassah."
Eventually, the three philanthropists closed their businesses and moved to Eretz Yisrael. The smaller merchants rejoiced, thinking they would now succeed in their business. But within a year, the smaller merchants lost all their money. They saw it as Reb Chaim Palagi had told them: The wealthy people weren't taking away their parnassah. They had parnassah in the merit of the tzedakah those philanthropists gave. They discovered that Hashem gives parnassah, and everything is in His hands.
Ein Od Milvado
A chasid of the Baal HaTanya sold bundles of sticks to be used for firewood. When he took inventory of his stock, he would count the number of bundles he had in his storage and when he was about to complete the inventory and total everything up, he would stop counting and say, "Ein od milvado", there is no one but Hashem. He wanted to remind himself that it wasn’t the number of bundles he had that would give him parnassah. Everything is from Hashem.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt'l repeated this story and asked, so why did the chassid count the bundles of sticks? He could have trusted in Hashem without knowing any amount of bundles at all. The Rebbe replied that the way of his Rebbe, the Baal HaTanya, was that we shouldn't behave in a way that disregards this world. That isn't the ultimate level and purpose. Rather, Hashem wants us to live in this world and make this world holy for Hashem. So, we count, and then we proclaim, ein od milvado, to remember that parnassah is from Hashem.
Before the Sea
When the Yidden stood before the sea, they panicked because the Mitzrim were running after them from behind. Moshe told them (14:14) תחרשון ואתם לכם ילחם 'ה. Literally this means, "Hashem shall make war for you [and will split the sea for you], and you shall remain silent." However, Rebbe Meir Premishlaner zt'l, in his holy witty manner, said that ילחם can mean "to give bread," and תחרשון can mean to plow. Thus, the pasuk is saying, "Hashem will give you bread. You plow." Do your hishtadlus, but parnassah will come from Hashem.
