The story of the "Man" raises a number of questions:

According to Rashi in the name of Chazal, a jar of Man was kept for generations, and with it, Yirmiyahu chastised the Bnai Yisrael when they spent too much time worrying about their parnassa and didn't study Torah. They responded to Yirmiyahu with comments like, "We have no time for Torah, we have to support ourselves," and Yirmiyahu held up the jar and said, "Look at what your ancestors supported themselves with."

But this is hard to understand. In the desert, the Bnai Yisrael experienced open miracles on a constant basis - the Ananei Hakavod, Miriam's Well, the Man itself, etc. How was this relevant for later generations that actually did have to support themselves?

Secondly, what exactly does the name "Man" mean? And why is it written initially that the Bnai Yisrael "called it Man because they didn't know what it was," while later on, after resting on the seventh day, the Torah says "And they called it 'Man"." What did the Bnai Yisrael know after a week that they didn't know at the outset?

We see in this story that the Bnai Yisrael were going through a process. Initially, they experienced Yetziat Mitzrayim and Kriyat Yam Suf through huge open miracles, until the departure from Mitzrayim was completed at the point where "The Bnai Yisrael saw Mitzrayim dead on the sea shore."

Immediately afterwards, "And Moshe moved the Bnai Yisrael from the Yam Suf." This was done against their will. They wanted to stay and gather more of the immense spoils that were washed up on the shore. It was hard for them to disconnect from all the riches of Mitzrayim. But Moshe dragged them away.

Then they come to Marah and complain about the lack of water. Moshe Rabbenu sweetens the water with the tree. The Bnai Yisrael come to Elim, where there are 12 springs and 70 date palms, and they "camped on the water". From there, they traveled to Midbar Sin, and complain about bread and meat.

What does all this mean?

Yirmiyahu told the Bnai Yisrael, "So says Hashem, I remembered the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, how you followed after Me in the desert, in an unsown land." The main difficulty was the daily travel in the desert, without all of the basic things that they knew in Mitzrayim - bread, meat, water, etc. Therefore, the complaints and the difficulties come when they need to cope daily with the desert. It is far easier to remove the Bnai Yisrael from Mitzrayim than it is to remove Mitzrayim from the Bnai Yisrael, but the Bnai Yisrael needed to get use to new habits and behaviors.

So what does Hashem do in order to disconnect the Bnai Yisrael from the daily routine of Mitzrayim? He gives them Man. On one hand, there is a tremendous bounty of Man. It changes into whatever taste is appropriate for each individual, and is completely consumed within the body, causing no waste (according to the Gemara in Yoma 75).



On the other hand, it has strange properties and requirements. None of it can be left over until morning, and if any is left, it becomes full of worms. On Shabbat, some can be left over and it doesn't develop worms. It doesn't matter how much you take, in the end you have exactly what you need, and on Fridays you have double what you took (according to Rashi).

And the most difficult to understand of all: Every day, the amount needed for that day falls, an every day the Bnai Yisrael are faced with not knowing whether there will be more tomorrow or not, or how it will fall. The Gemara in Yoma 76a relates how Rav Shimon Bar Yochai would tell his students that this was compared to a king who gave his son all that he would need for a year at one time, and the son would not visit his father for a year until what he had ran out. Hashem gives the Bnai Yisrael their food for one day, and the Bnai Yisrael needed to come back to Hashem every day out of concern that there would be no food the next day.

This is what the pasuk in Devarim (8:3) refers to, "Vaye'ancha, Vayar'ivecha Vaya'achilcha et haMan asher lo yadata velo yad'un avotecha." "And he humbled you and he made you hungry, and he fed you the Man that neither you nor your fathers knew."

In our parsha we have a similar statement: "Each said to the other, it is Man, (also, "What is it?") because they did not know what it was." This does not just mean that they didn't know what the external view of the Man was, but also that they didn't know what its internal essence was, what its characteristics were, and this was the trial and the disconnection from what they knew and were certain of in Mitzrayim.

The purpose of this, as the Pasuk continues in Devarim, is "In order to show you that a person cannot live by bread alone, but that only on what emanates from Hashem can a person live."

The Bnai Yisrael saw this in the Man all week, and on Shabbat mainly, as written in the Pasuk in our Parsha, "See that Hashem has given you the Shabbat, He therefore gives you bread for two days on the sixth day." Rashi there says that through the Man, they saw openly the leadership of Hashem over the Bnai Yisrael.

All of this is expressed in the name, "Man". In the Rishonim, we find two interpretations:

The Rashbam says that it comes from the words "Mi" or "Mah". In Aramaic or Egyptian, when a person wants to say either of those words, he says "Man" (mem-alef-nun).

Rashi bases his interpretation on the phrase, "Vayeman Hamelech", which refers to preparing food.

At first the Bnai Yisrael encountered something and they didn't know what it was. So they asked, "What is it" (as the Rashbam explains). But later one, and especially after Hashem's Providence was shown through the Shabbat, they saw that the Man shows that "Only on what emanates from Hashem can a person live." Therefore, they called it "Man" as in "preparation of food", which is Rashi's interpretation. Hashem was preparing our food, and this was shown by the tremendous bounty and through all of the flavors in the world.

The Bnai Yisrael continued to eat the Man until the 16th of Nisan, when they entered Eretz Yisrael. This was the date of bringing the Omer, and we see that the Omer replaced the Man. How?

The Omer represents our bringing to Hashem the beginning of the new year's first harvest. It is only after this is done that we are permitted to eat from the new harvest. This shows that "Only on what emanates from Hashem can a person live."

The Torah uses the root word of "Omer" to refer to slavery, or submission, "Vehit'amer bo umecharo," and "Lo Tit'amer Bah". The Korban Omer was meant to show submission to Hashem. In addition, the word "Omer" (without the vav) in Gematria is 310, which equals "Yesh". Through submission to Hashem, we receive all that there "is" (all the "Yesh") in the world.

Our existence in the desert was based on miracles, and in this setting, it was appropriate that we would see and learn the messages of the Man every day. But in Eretz Yisrael, where our lives are lived within the bounds of nature, we have the Omer, which shows the same lessons once a year. Yet the foundation of both is the same. It is no accident that the measure of Man allotted to each person was an "Omer Lagulgolet".

This is what Yirmiyahu showed the people of his generation, who didn't learn Torah. When you understand that "Only on what emanates from Hashem can a person live,", even if you are not in a society ruled by miracles, you can and must live by the Torah, and the bounty will come from Hashem.

There is another connection as well, between the Man and Haman from the Purim story. In Shirat Chana (Shmuel I, 2:5), Chana says, "Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry have stopped hungering." Yonatan Ben-Uziel says that Chana was prophesying about the sons of Haman, who were called "the well-fed with bread".

The Gemara in Megillah (16a) relates that when Achashverosh sent Haman to place the royal clothes on Mordechai, he found Mordechai and his students in tefillah. He waited until they were done and then asked the children what they were learning. They answered: the episode of the Omer. Haman said to them, "Your pinch (of Omer) came and defeated my 10,000 talents of silver." Mordechai responded, "Evil person, whatever the slave purchases is the property of the owner." (In other words, the 10,000 talents of silver are not yours, but belong to Achashverosh.)

The Gemara in Chulin (139) asks, where do we find Haman in the Torah? From Hashem's query of Adam, "Hamin HaEtz" referring to the Etz Hada'at. In other words, Haman obtained his power from the Etz Hada'at, the source of imaginary power and deceit, the power of the snake.

There are two types of "bread" in the world. There is the imaginary bread, which comes from the belief in "Kochi VeOtzem Yadi" - my power and the strength of my hand achieved all this wealth. Everything is mine and thanks to me. This is the bread of Haman - the bread of the well-fed.

The true bread, that of the Omer, defeats the imaginary bread of the 10,000 talents of silver, with the understanding that "Whatever a slave purchases belongs to his master." Everything comes from Hashem, and it is this bread that comes with the belief that "Only on what emanates from Hashem can a person live."