“Don’t get sore. Listen, if today’s extra Monn is supposed to keep till Shabbos, it won’t go off and smell and get wormy, right?”
“So?”
“Now, our portion falls out there,” Avirrom pointed to some place in the distance, “out of everybody’s sight, right?”
“Yeah ... You mean we could take some of our Monn ... I think I’m beginning to see ...”
Later that evening, just before sunset, while almost everybody was at their Shiurim or busy preparing for Shabbos, the two lonely figures could be seen carrying baskets, stealthily making their way towards the outskirts of the camp and even beyond the protective Clouds of Glory as well. Once they were clear of the camp, Dosson spoke up.
“Don’t you think we should have baked the Monn into Challos?”
“No, stupid — we might be accused of stealing someone else’s Monn. Remember, we never get it in that form.”
They finally reached the desolate spot where they usually found their Monn. Silently, they spread handful after handful of Monn on the ground, finally turning their baskets over and patting them empty.
“Done,” said Avirrom, as he inspected the results with a professional eye. “It’s getting dark. Now let’s get back for some Shabbos sleep.”
Dawn of Shabbos morning saw both of them, Dosson and Avirrom, behind the latter’s tent for a last-minute briefing.
“We’ll assemble the weakest elements, as usual,” whispered Avirrom, “some of the mixed-multitude moaners, Micha of Don, maybe cousin Ohn — ”
“Okay. Let’s get started, and remember we’ve got precious little to eat from what fell yesterday till we’ve got it back!” They went to call their cronies.
Mosheh and Aharon got the first report right after Kiddush. Although deeply disturbed by this breach of Shabbos holiness, they preferred not to provoke Dosson and Avirrom with their presence. So they sent Hoshay’a bin Nune and Elozzor ben Aharon to look into the matter.
They found that a sizeable crowd had gathered. Many had come simply out of curiosity; a few were doubters who thought to themselves that after their exposure six days ago, Dosson and Avirrom can’t just be bluffing and that they must be on to something real.
Dosson and Avirrom were disappointed that Mosheh and Aharon had not come themselves, but they tried to make the best of the situation. They began leading the crowd toward the scene of their “proof.”
“You see,” said Dosson, “he said that no Monn would fall today. Well, it just goes to show how Mosheh doesn’t know everything.” He made a great show of looking round as if to find someone in the crowd. “And it looks like they’re afraid to show their faces!”
“But no one else’s portion of Monn fell today Dosson, did it? — or haven’t you noticed?” pointed out one of the mob.
“Perhaps Mosheh was right as far as great and good people like you are concerned, or he was right about ordinary people who don’t mind being bossed around by Mosheh and his brother,” retorted Avirrom in his usual caustic style, “but simple people like us seem to have been overlooked because ours did fall — as usual!”
“And you say it fell as powder as always,” asked someone else, “not even as bread or cake?”
“No,” replied Avirrom, “it’s the same for us as it’s been every day. You know that we always find our Monn in powder form and that’s what’s fallen today, too.”
Hoshay’a and Elozzor followed behind in pained silence. As they approached what Avirrom grandly called “the scene of the evidence,” one of the crowd called out, “Well? Come on! Where’s your Monn, Dosson? All I see is ordinary sand. Are you sure you haven’t been seeing a mirage?”
Goaded by the taunt, the brothers shouted back, “We’ll see who’s seeing things! It’s right over there, to the left!”
“Over where?” asked Micha, irritated. No one in the crowd could see anything but more sand and stones.
“Is this some sort of joke, you sons of Eliov?” asked one of the restless crowd. “I wasn’t exactly keen to go hiking this morning, you know!”
Dosson and Avirrom looked at each other desperately.
“Oh, here it is after all,” mocked another one, pointing to a mound of sand. “Why don’t you eat some, Avirrom?”
“He doesn’t know what Brochoh to say on it,” chided a third.
After some more of such teasing, Dosson couldn’t take it any longer. “I can’t understand it! We ourselves ... ”
“Shut up, you fool!” screeched Avirrom with venom in his voice.
Hoshay’a and Elozzor smiled at each other. In their hurry to bring back the news to Mosheh and Aharon, they didn’t notice the unusual behaviour of a small flock of quails flying high overhead.
The birds had formed a circle in the sky and were joyously chirping their praise to HaShem for the delectable Shabbos meal they had just eaten.
There is a custom to put out breadcrumbs for the birds on Shabbos Parshas Beshallach in remembrance of the part they played in the Kiddush HaShem that day.
See Sefer “Taamay HaMinhoggim” page 531, paragraph 98
Here is the link for the Yetsias Mitsrayyim video clip.
https://youtu.be/qtsF12oGghA
Enjoy!
O Y Baddiel
London, England
