Commentary for Exodus 16:32

למשמרת means to put by.

ויאמר משה זה הדבר אשר צוה השם, Moses said: "This is the thing which G'd has commanded, etc." Why did the Torah have to write the word דבר, thing? Furthermore, to whom did Moses address this commandment? If he addressed it to Aaron, why is it not part of verse 33 where Moses commands Aaron to fill a bottle with manna? There seems to be a duplication here.

למשמרת לדורותיכם, to be kept throughout your generations.” The word משמרת, “safekeeping, memento,” occurs three times in connection with the manna. The first time the Torah writes למשמרת לדורותיכם in our verse here. Seeing the Torah adds the words “in order that they see the bread which I have fed them,” this is intended for the generation who actually were sustained by this bread. The second time (in verse 33) the wording is לפני ה' למשמרת לדורותיכם, “in front of G’d as a memorial throughout your generations.” This is a reference to the generations who would live in the land of Israel in the future. Thirdly, the Torah writes in verse 34 לפני העדות למשמרת, “before the Holy Ark as a memorial.” This is a reference to the latter years of the Holy Temple when King Yoshiyahu hid both the bottle of manna and the staff of Aaron to ensure it would not fall into the hands of the enemy if and when Jerusalem would be destroyed (compare Horiot 12). At that time the bottle containing the anointing oil (for Kings of Davidic descent) was also hidden to prevent it being applied to someone else. All of this happened when the High Priest Chilkiyah found an “opened” Torah scroll in the Sanctuary. (It was open at the verse describing the Israelites going into exile Deut. 28,36). He interpreted this as a bad omen and hid the Holy Ark, the tablets with the Ten Commandments and the items we have already listed. Also the box in which the Philistines had sent a gift to the G’d of Israel at the time when they returned the Holy Ark in the days of the Judges (Samuel I 6,8) was hidden at that time. We have a record of this in Chronicles II 35,3: “He (King Yoshiyahu) said to the Levites, consecrated to the Lord, who taught all Israel, ‘put the Holy Ark in the House that Solomon son of David, King of Israel built;’” Rabbi Eleazar said that there are textural indications that the staff of Aaron and the bottle of manna were to be treated on a similar basis as in each case the Torah used words such as משמרת, דורות, which suggest that these items should be kept where the Holy Ark was being kept. Hence when it came time to hide the one, the other items would be hidden in the same place.

Fill an omer [measure] with it. This was to show that the principle of the manna applied for all generations. Thus whoever dedicates himself to study will receive support from heaven, just as the members of the tribe of Yissachar were supported by their brethren from the tribe of Zevulun. Significantly, this verse is introduced by phrase, “This is what Ad-noy has commanded,” rather merely “spoken.” According to the Sifra (Parashas Tzav) the word “command” always indicates an obligation applying for all generations.

V. 32. Die Anordnung dieser Aufbewahrung sagte dem Geschlechte der Wüste, dass diese Wüstenwanderung ein Ende nehmen und sie endlich in normale Nahrungszustände führen werde, dass sie und ihre Nachkommen aber auch in diesen normalen Zuständen den durch die Mannanahrung anerzogenen Sinn bewahren und auch die sonst der sozialen und physischen Welt als טרף ,לחם und צידה "abgekämpfte und abgejagte" Nahrung, auch dann nur als מן, als von Gott "Beschiedenes und Zuerteiltes", gewinnen und betrachten sollen. Daher ward auch die צנצנת המן, "die Bewahrflasche des Manna" לפני הערות, unmittelbar mit den das Gesetz als Gottesspende bezeugenden Tafeln zugleich aufbewahrt. Gott, der das Gesetz gegeben, gibt auch die das Leben für die Erfüllung dieses Gesetzes erhaltende Nahrung. Gott, der die Nahrung gibt, hat auch das die Verwendung des mit der Nahrung zu erhaltenden Lebens bestimmende Gesetz gegeben. Das Bewusstsein beider Tatsachen gehört zusammen und ergänzt sich gegenseitig.

לדרתיכם FOR YOUR GENERATIONS e. g., in the days of Jeremiah: when Jeremiah was rebuking them (the people), saying, “Why do you not engage yourselves with the Torah?”, and they answered him, “Shall we leave our work and engage ourselves with the Torah? From where shall we earn a living?”, he brought out to them the cruse of Manna and said to them, (Jeremiah 2:31) “[O Generation], see ye the thing of the Lord!” It is not said “Hear the word” but “See the thing”! — This thing is what your fathers were fed with. The Omnipresent God has many messengers (many means) to provide food for those who fear Him (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 16:33).

I believe we must understand Moses' intention as follows. "This is the thing that G'd commanded: 'fill one Omer of it.'" G'd did not say who was supposed to take the Omer of manna and fill it. G'd did not even say in which manner this Omer of manna should be taken, neither did He specify where it was to be deposited. All that emanated from G'd's mouth were the words: "fill an Omer of it." When Moses spoke to Aaron on the subject he used his own intelligence to guide him. The word למשמרת can have two meanings. We have a rule that when a word is capable of being interpreted in two ways we give equal weight to either possibility; as a result, any action that has to be undertaken in response to a commandment which is ambiguous has to satisfy the requirements of either interpretation because we are not competent to exclude either interpretation. In this instance the two possible meanings of the words are: A) to safeguard the manna which has been set aside from becoming ritually defiled; B) to safeguard it against anyone stealing it or otherwise misappropriating it. Moses secured it against possible theft by decreeing that the bottle of manna should be stored in the Holy Tabernacle; after all this was the place where other nationally important properties such as the tablets with the Ten Commandments as well as the original Torah scroll would be being kept. It was clear to Moses that the place to keep something that G'd wanted the people to see after many generations was the Temple or its equivalent. You will find later on that G'd also instructed the staff of Aaron which had flowered to be preserved in the Holy Tabernacle. The censers of the 250 men who had sided with Korach in his uprising were also kept within the precincts of the Holy Tabernacle as covers for the altar (compare Numbers 17,25, and 17,3-4). The Mechilta on our verse speculates on the material that the bottle was made of and concludes it was of a transparent nature, i.e. silica- based earthenware. When such a container made of earthenware has a tight-fitting lid, its contents are not subject to ritual impurity. When G'd had spoken about the function of the manna in the bottle being למשמרת, Moses understood this word to possess both meanings. The reason Aaron was to take the bottle and fill it was because he was a Priest who perfomed the service in the Holy Tabernacle. He would also ensure that this bottle and its contents would remain ritually pure.

We may also follow a different approach. When Moses first heard the prophecy about the bottle of manna to be preserved for future generations, he arranged to tell the Israelites all this in its proper sequence. He then found himself unable to determine who should fill the bottle and where it was to be stored. In fact he did not know how to carry out this commandment. He then received further detailed instructions from G'd so that all his doubts were resolved. This is the reason that we find at the end of the paragraph (verse 34) that Moses did as G'd had commanded and that as a result Aaron placed the bottle in front of the Holy Ark. The reason the Torah states this detail is to tell us that Moses did not arrange the details on his own, but that just as the detail about where the bottle was to be placed had been communicated by G'd, so the other details which G'd is not on record as having spelled out were also communicated to Moses by G'd Himself.

If we follow our first approach then the words כאשר צוה ה׳ אל משה mean that G'd considered whatever Moses decided on his own as if He Himself had directed Moses to do it.

למשמרת לדרתיכם, "to be preserved throughout your generations." The reason the Torah speaks of the plural is that this bottle of manna would be featured twice in the future; once during the lifetime of the prophet Jeremiah, and in the still more distant future according to Mechilta 21 and Tanchuma 3 on our verse. Jeremiah used the bottle to answer the Jews who claimed that they could not devote time to Torah study as they would not then have time to earn their livelihood. He reminded them that those who study Torah would have their needs taken care of by G'd just as He had done when the Israelites were in th desert. The same would hold true in messianic times. This bottle of manna is reputed to be one of three items which the prophet Elijah will restore to the Israelites prior to the arrival of the Messiah.