The entire community of the children of Israel complained against Moshe and against Aharon in the desert. The children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the hand of Hashem in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to our fill! For you have brought us out into this desert, to starve this entire congregation to death. Hashem responded and gave them the Mann.
So Hashem said to Moshe, Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven, and the people shall go out and gather what is needed for the day. (16:4) The Even Ezra explains (15:35) that the miracle of the mann, which sustained Klal Yisroel for forty years, was the greatest of all miracles which they experienced in the desert /midbar. Unlike all the other miracles which were isolated occurrences, the mann served as daily testimony affirming Divine providence.
What could be better than the Mann? From a spiritual perspective, Chaza"l tell us it was the food of the angels; it was the materialism of the aura of Divine Presence. This is bread from heaven! From a physical perspective, imagine sitting down to a meal and wishing what you want and that is what it tastes like! With the Mann, there were no digestive problems. But what did the Yidden say? "...we are getting disgusted from this wasteless food" (Bamidbar 21:5).
To understand this, Hagaon Rav Avraham Pam l''vf connected the idea of the some of the Yidden not being happy with the Mann and the way of happiness in real life. Rav Pam once spoke, and described how before marriage people try to get the "perfect shidduch" Then when they finally found the right “thing" they get married. Yet we still find that after the person has been married for a while, that “thing" which had seemed just perfect, now leaves them dissatisfied. Rav Pam said, that happiness in marriage or in anything in life has nothing to do with "things", but it has everything to do with perception. There are two types of people in this world the people who will always be happy and the people who will never be happy.
This is the lesson from the parsha of the Mann. Here we clearly see that happiness has nothing to do with having “things”. Rav Pam said "If one doesn't like Mann, he'll never like anything!" Mann is the proof that happiness has nothing to do with having “things” or having items. Happiness is dependent on a person's perspective on life. One can be happy with very little and miserable with very much. That is the lesson of the Mann you either learn to look at life positively or you'll never ever be happy.
According to Rav Pam’s beautiful insight we can now add what the Even Ezra says about the Mann and Divine providence. When one realizes and believes that everything that Hashem does is for our benefit, and that there is a blueprint plan designed special for you, that should brighten up a person. However, we always try to design ourselves the blueprint we desire. When it doesn’t materialize, you become depressed and unhappy. This “thing” is our conception, but not necessarily what Hashem wanted.
Of course, most Yidden were satisfied with the Mann, and were happy people, as they had Emunah that the mann was the “thing” that Hashem planned for them. It was the only a minority who had the wrong perspective of life, and drew there own blueprint. The Yidden had true Emunah in Hashem at the splitting of the sea, and were so elevated with Simcha that they rejoiced and said Shira. Happiness comes only with Emunah. Knowing that Hashem is there for you and Has a listening ear to all your concerns. Speak to Hashem, and put all your worries aside, as Hashem is the source of all happiness.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
