Halakhah su Esodo 16:78

It is good to recite the passage of the Binding (Genesis 22:1-19), the passage of the Manna (Exodus 16:4-36), the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-13), and the passages of the burnt-offering (Leviticus 1:1-17), tribute-offering (Leviticus 2:1-13), peace-offering (Leviticus 3:1-17), sin-offering (Vayikra 4:27-35), and guilt-offering. Rem"a: But only in private is it permissible to recite the Ten Commandments each day: it is forbidden to recite them in congregation (Rashb"a Responsum 144).

It is good to recite the passage of the Binding (Genesis 22:1-19), the passage of the Manna (Exodus 16:4-36), the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-13), and the passages of the burnt-offering (Leviticus 1:1-17), tribute-offering (Leviticus 2:1-13), peace-offering (Leviticus 3:1-17), sin-offering (Vayikra 4:27-35), and guilt-offering. Rem"a: But only in private is it permissible to recite the Ten Commandments each day: it is forbidden to recite them in congregation (Rashb"a Responsum 144).

It is good to recite the passage of the Binding (Genesis 22:1-19), the passage of the Manna (Exodus 16:4-36), the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-13), and the passages of the burnt-offering (Leviticus 1:1-17), tribute-offering (Leviticus 2:1-13), peace-offering (Leviticus 3:1-17), sin-offering (Vayikra 4:27-35), and guilt-offering. Rem"a: But only in private is it permissible to recite the Ten Commandments each day: it is forbidden to recite them in congregation (Rashb"a Responsum 144).

And you knew that there are many other particulars in the laws of netilah, such as water that has dripped from an animal drinking, and water which is salted, and with water that a baker rinses his hands in, and two that have taken from a fourth, and with one of one’s hands rinsing, the other taken up to wash which they call in the Talmud, Massakhet Gittin “clean hands,” and if one is permitted to accept water from a gentile or from a menstruating woman, since there are those who have written that water is not accepted from a foreigner, and so on in many other things like this. And it is the rule with the laws of “ha-motzi’”, and likewise the rest of the blessings we are going to discuss, and other blessings of the table, for which there are many other particulars that I have omitted and not written about, for if I had decided to write about these particulars, the book would have been too long. For it is my intention to speak only briefly about generally known rules. Those in the know will know the particulars that go with them.

A second blessing “Ha-motzi’ lehem min ha-aretz” is from the words of the scribes, which they derived a fortiori: “If one who has satisfied his hunger says a blessing, how much the more so ought one when he is hungry say a blessing.”⁵⁸B. Berakhot 35a. The explanation is that when one has satisfied his hunger and has already enjoyed the holy things of Heaven, which until he has said a blessing are prohibited to him as if they were hekdesh, how much the more so when he is hungry and about to enjoy the holy things of Heaven ought he say a blessing before eating them, so as not to be penalized with having to make a sacrilege offering (korban me’ilah).⁵⁹That is, the offering required for someone who has “stolen” the sacred food set aside for the priests. You would think that one should say “min ha-adamah” – “from the ground” in this blessing, but it gets the expression from Scripture: “le-hotzi’ lehem min ha-‘aretz.”⁶⁰Ps. 104:14: “to get food out of the earth.” Though ‘adamah and ‘eretz can both mean “earth,” ‘adamah is the term more commonly used when speaking about harvesting food grown in a field. And if you take issue with the precise meaning of the expression “lehem” – “bread,” you will find that it means food in general, as in “he [King Belshazzar] gave a great banquet [lehem],⁶¹Daniel 5:1 (JSB) translating the Aramaic “’avad lehem rav.” since the bread itself is not what comes forth from the earth, but rather the produce from which they make bread. And so you will find with the manna: “I will rain down bread [lehem] for you from the sky.”⁶²Ex. 16:4. It is well known that bread did not come down from the sky, but the manna out of which they made bread,” as it is said, “they would make it into cakes.”⁶³Nu. 11:8.

Right after washing the hands comes the blessing, in other words, whoever has washed their hands for mayim ahronim ought to say birkat ha-mazon immediately.¹⁷⁶B. Berakhot 42a. And so you will also find in the Jerusalem Talmud: “Rabbi Zeira said in the name of Rabbi Abba, ‘There are three pairs of things that need to be done in immediate succession: the 18 Benedictions prayer has to follow the blessing for redemption without a break, kosher slaughter has to follow the laying on of hands without a break, and the blessing has to follow hand-washing without a break. The 18 Benedictions prayer has to follow the blessing for redemption without a break, as it is said, “The Lord is my Rock and my Redeemer,’ to which immediately is connected, ‘May the Lord answer you in time of trouble.’¹⁷⁷Ps 19:15 (last verse) and Ps 20:2 (first verse after the ascription). Kosher slaughter has to follow the laying on of hands without a break, as it is said, ‘He shall lay his hand…He shall slaughter.’¹⁷⁸Lev 1:4, 5. The blessing has to follow netilat yada’im without a break, as it is said, ‘Lift your hands toward the sanctuary and bless the Lord.’¹⁷⁹Ps 134:2. Rabbi Yosi the son of Rabbi Abin said, ‘Everyone who connects ge’ulah to tefilah without a break, Satan cannot accuse for the whole day; and everyone who connects the blessing to netilat yada’im without a break, Satan cannot accuse him during that meal. And likewise, everyone who lays his hand and slaughters without a break, there will be nothing invalid about that sacrifice.” So says the Jerusalem Talmud.¹⁸⁰Y. Berakhot 1:1.

One also has to take care to spread a cloth over the bread on the table when saying the blessing, for thus it was the custom of the old-timers to cover the bread when they would recite birkat ha-mazon, so that the bread won’t be embarrassed (that we’re reciting this blessing for the food over wine and not bread), and likewise when they would recite the Shabbat Kiddush on wine and not bread. And so they said for the daytime Kiddush: “One spreads a cloth and recites the Kiddush,”²⁰¹B. Pesah 100a. that is to say, one spreads a cloth over the bread, and then one recites the Kiddush over the wine. There is also in this an allusion and symbol of the descent of the manna, which when the manna first came down, it would come down on the surface of the wilderness, which is what this meant: “in the morning there was a fall of dew,”²⁰²Ex 16:13. and afterwards, the manna fell on it [the dew], which is what is meant by “over the surface of the wilderness lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.”²⁰³Ex 16:14. And it is written “when the fall of dew lifted” and not “when the fall of manna lifted,” so that “when the fall of dew lifted” teaches you that another layer of dew came down upon it [the manna].²⁰⁴Ibid. In other words, R. Bahya interprets the miracle of the manna to include two separate dewfalls, in between which the manna was sandwiched. And so our rabbis z”l said, “Dew above and dew below and the manna in the middle, as if it were packed in a box.”²⁰⁵Mekhilta Va-Yisa 3, which R. Bahya also brings in his Torah Commentary on to Ex 16:13. In other words, it was even more miraculous than other miracles, because the manna didn’t just fall, but rather God wrapped it in dew as he were a parent lovingly sending a “care package” to the Israelites. Therefore here at the table one spreads cloth and recites the Kiddush – a cloth above, a cloth below, and the bread in the middle. For this is a symbolic re-enactment of the descent of the manna.²⁰⁶Likewise the Tosafot to b. Pesahim 100b explain this practice.

One also has to take care to spread a cloth over the bread on the table when saying the blessing, for thus it was the custom of the old-timers to cover the bread when they would recite birkat ha-mazon, so that the bread won’t be embarrassed (that we’re reciting this blessing for the food over wine and not bread), and likewise when they would recite the Shabbat Kiddush on wine and not bread. And so they said for the daytime Kiddush: “One spreads a cloth and recites the Kiddush,”²⁰¹B. Pesah 100a. that is to say, one spreads a cloth over the bread, and then one recites the Kiddush over the wine. There is also in this an allusion and symbol of the descent of the manna, which when the manna first came down, it would come down on the surface of the wilderness, which is what this meant: “in the morning there was a fall of dew,”²⁰²Ex 16:13. and afterwards, the manna fell on it [the dew], which is what is meant by “over the surface of the wilderness lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.”²⁰³Ex 16:14. And it is written “when the fall of dew lifted” and not “when the fall of manna lifted,” so that “when the fall of dew lifted” teaches you that another layer of dew came down upon it [the manna].²⁰⁴Ibid. In other words, R. Bahya interprets the miracle of the manna to include two separate dewfalls, in between which the manna was sandwiched. And so our rabbis z”l said, “Dew above and dew below and the manna in the middle, as if it were packed in a box.”²⁰⁵Mekhilta Va-Yisa 3, which R. Bahya also brings in his Torah Commentary on to Ex 16:13. In other words, it was even more miraculous than other miracles, because the manna didn’t just fall, but rather God wrapped it in dew as he were a parent lovingly sending a “care package” to the Israelites. Therefore here at the table one spreads cloth and recites the Kiddush – a cloth above, a cloth below, and the bread in the middle. For this is a symbolic re-enactment of the descent of the manna.²⁰⁶Likewise the Tosafot to b. Pesahim 100b explain this practice.

Birkat ha-mazon is from the Torah, as it is said, “When you have eaten your fill, you shall bless the Lord your God.”²¹⁹Deut 8:10. The complete verse is “When you have eaten your fill, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you.” And they taught in a baraita:²²⁰B. Berakhot 48b. “you shall bless” – this is the blessing “ha-zan;” “the Lord your God” – this is birkat ha-zimmun (“the blessing of invitation”); “for the land” – this is the blessing “ha-aretz” (“for the land”); “good” [ha-tovah]– this is the blessing “boneh Yerushalayim.” And therefore it says “the good hill country [ha-har ha-tov] and the Lebanon.”²²¹Deut 3:25. I have only a blessing after the meal; from where do I get before it? Scripture says “”which He has given you” – from the moment He has given it to you, you are obligated to bless Him. Our rabbis z”l taught in a midrash: Moses instituted the blessing “ha-zan” for Israel when the manna fell down for them; Joshua instituted the blessing “ha-aretz” when he led them into to the land, and David and Solomon instituted “boneh Yerushalayim.”²²²B. Berakhot 48b. And you will also find in the story of the manna a hint at the blessing “ha-zan” in the manna itself, as it is said, “In the morning you shall have your fill of bread,²²³Ex 16:12. and you shall know that I the Lord am you God” – this knowing will occur when remind yourselves of it when you say a blessing over eating the manna. The fourth blessing, “ha-tov ve-ha-metiv,” was instituted at Yavneh. Our rabbis z”l needed to make reference in the blessing “ha-aretz” the Torah, and also refer in it to the covenant (brit), and for them to mention brit before Torah,²²⁴In B. Berakhot 48b-49a it says that Torah was given through three covenants, while the covenant of circumcision was given through thirteen covenants. R. Bahya explains the point of this allusion in what follows. so it would be said like this: “brit and Torah, life and food, for your brit which you sealed [upon us] and your Torah which you taught us.”²²⁵A quotation from a version of birkat ha-mazon used by R. Bahya and his contemporaries, but slightly different from the version we use now. And the reason that they needed to mention both in the blessing “ha-aretz” was to instruct us that it was because of the Torah that we merited the inheritance of the Land.²²⁶And so the Tur, and Rashi’s commentary on b. Berakhot 48b. And this is the reason for the setting up of the stones upon which “the whole Torah” is written, and this is what is meant by “to [le-ma’an] enter the land.”²²⁷Dt 27:3. Le-ma’an means literally “for the sake of” R. Bahya alludes to stones Moses instructed the Israelites to set up in Dt 27:2-3: “As soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Torah when you cross over in order, to enter the land that the Lord you God is giving you.” Le-ma’an – “for the sake of” this Torah “you will enter the Land.” And in my opinion, in “to [le-ma’an] enter the land,” “le-ma’an” means “so that you are able to enter,” that is to say, “Insofar as I am commanding you to write on them the whole Torah, so you will have the power to enter the land, because the power of the Torah will cut out [yakhritu] ²²⁸R. Bahya’s word choice here is rich in relevant connotations. “Cut out” – yakhrit – is from the root of the same verb “karat” used in the Biblical expression “to cut a covenant”- likrot brit – that is, to make a covenant, and also used for the punishment of someone who violates the covenant, e.g., as in Ex 12:15: “Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day [of Passover], that person shall be cut off [nikhreta] from Israel.”the enemies of the land, so that you will inherit it.

And you need to know that because the sages z”l said, “a bat kol went out and said that a cup of blessing is equal to forty pieces of gold, it is clear from this that each blessing of the hundred blessing equals ten pieces of gold.”²⁴⁰B. Hullin 87a. Since there are four blessings in birkat ha-mazon said over the cup of blessing – you do the math. This is also an allusion to the tradition that one said say at least a hundred blessings per day. And there’s support for this in the verse: “one ladle (kaf) of ten [shekels] of gold filled with incense,”²⁴¹Nu 7:14. that is to say, every “one from Ka”F,²⁴²Ka”F is numerically equivalent to 100. which are the one hundred blessings equal to “ten gold [pieces].” And you will also find in another place, “esreh zahav mishkalam” – “ten gold shekels in weight”²⁴³Gen 24:22, the value of the gold armbands Eliezer gave Rebekah as a present after she gave his camels water at the well. to which armbands Scripture follows with the phrase “Then I bowed low in homage to the Lord and blessed the Lord.”²⁴⁴Gen 24:48, immediately preceded in 24:27 with “And I put the ring on her nose, and the bands on her arms,” i.e., the ten shekel gold bands, which are equal to one blessing. The reason why every blessing is equal to ten shekels of gold is to hint that it is possible to include the 10 sefirot in each and every blessing. And the reason for 100 blessings every day is their correspondence to the 10 sefirot, ten blessings for each and every sefirah. And this what is written, “And now, O Israel, what (mah) does the Lord your God demand of you.”²⁴⁵Dt 10:12. And our sages z”l said, “Don’t read mah – “what,” but rather me’ah –“a hundred,”²⁴⁶B. Menahot 43b. that is to say, “A hundred the Lord your God demands of you.” And there are 99 letters in this verse; adding the letter aleph makes it 100.²⁴⁷That is, adding an aleph to the word mah, making it me’ah, give the verse 100 letters. In his commentary to the Torah R. Bahya brings this interpretation as the sod – “the mystical interpretation” of Dt. 10:12. And we found in King David (peace upon him), who said, “The utterance of the man set on high [‘al],”²⁴⁸2 Sam 23:1. The Hebrew word ‘al is numerically equivalent to 100. because one hundred men of Israel a day used to die in that generation, and deeply moved by this, David instituted [tiken]100 blessings.²⁴⁹Midrash Tanhuma Korah 12. Tiken – “instituted” of course also has the connotation of tikkun – “repair,” as in the sense of a cosmic repair through blessings of a world diminished by the loss of 100 lives. He didn’t institute them per se, but rather re-established them, since they had been forgotten, and David came along and re-established them.²⁵⁰Ibid. According to this midrash, Moses originally established the blessings, and afterwards, whne they had been forgotten, David came along and re-established them, and after David’s era they were forgotten again until the sages of the Talmud re-established them (Chavel). And thus is written, “So [ki khen] shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed [yivorakh].”²⁵¹Ps 128:4. The word yivorakh – “shall be blessed” is spelled without a vav, which means that by the numerical equivalent of K”I Khe”N – 100 – will the person who fears the Lord both bless and be blessed.²⁵²Lacking the vav, the Hebrew word can be read either actively as yivarekh – “he will bless,” or passively as yivorakh – “he will be blessed.” Therefore a person needs to recite 100 blessings and fulfill them each day. And on Shabbat, when it is not possible because the Amidah for Shabbat contains only seven blessings, as it is written, “I praise You seven times on theday,”²⁵³Ps 119:164. the day which is well-known and special, namely, Shabbat, our sages z”l already said, “one completes them with aromatic herbs and fancy fruits.”²⁵⁴B. Menahot 43b, i.e., one enjoys lots of extra snacks and aromas that require blessings to make up for the shortage of blessings.

And now I shall explain to you the three meals of Shabbat. Our rabbis said:²⁵⁵B. Shabbat 119b. A person is required to eat three meals on Shabbat, as it is said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath of the Lord, you will not find it today on the plain.”²⁵⁶Ex 16:25, referring to the manna. There are three mentions of “today,” each corresponding to one of the three meals on Shabbat. And about the reward for this mitzvah they said:²⁵⁷B Shabbat 118a. Whoever fulfills the mitzvah of three meals on Shabbat is rescued from three tribulations: from the birth pangs of the Messiah, from the judgment of Gehenna, and from the wars of Gog and Magog, and for each of these three the Scripture mentions “day.” For the birth pangs of the Messiah – “before the coming of the day of the Lord.”²⁵⁸Mal 3:23: “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord.” From the judgment of Gehenna – “For lo! That day is at hand, burning like an oven” and it is written, “and the day that is coming shall burn them.” ²⁵⁹Mal 3:19: “For lo! That day is at hand, burning like an oven. All the arrogant and doers of evil shall be straw, and the day that is coming – said the Lord of Hosts – shall burn them to ashes and leave of them neither stalk nor boughs.” And from the wars of Gog and Magog: “Lo, a day of the Lord is coming.”²⁶⁰Zech 14:1, referring to the apocalyptic wars at the end of time. The reason for the three meals of Shabbat corresponds to the three higher states that the soul will have in the eternal and true life that is called “the life of the world to come” (hayye ha-olam ha-ba) and “bundle of life” (tzror ha-hayim).

The first meal is the aspect of “shamor”²⁶¹From the commandment in the 10 commandments to observe Shabbat in Dt 5:12. – “Observe!” which is Malkhut, and “the Bride,” which is why Shabbat is called a “bride.” And this why it says, “Come bride, Come and let us go out to greet the Sabbath bride and queen,” and this is “Eat it today”²⁶²Ex 16:25. – [ikhlu-hu] the “day” for whom we make the Shabbat evening Kiddush over wine.²⁶³Midrashic creative philology reads ikhlu-hu “eat it” as something like “I shall make her a bride” – playing upon the similarities between kalah – “bride “and akhal – “eat.”

The second meal is the aspect of “zakhor” – “Remember!”²⁶⁴From the commandment in the 10 commandments to remember the Shabbat in Ex 20:8. which is Rahamim – Compassion, for whom we make the Kiddush of the Day, which is called Kiddusha Raba – “the Great Kiddush”²⁶⁵B. Pesahim 106a. because at night – shamor!, and in the day zakhor! which is Compassion, and the meaning of “for today is the Sabbath of the Lord.”²⁶⁶Ex 16:25.

The third meal is the upper source, which is called Ayin – “Nothing” -from what is written, “And Wisdom you will find comes me-ayin –“from Nothing.”²⁶⁷Job 28:12, which JSB translates “And wisdom, from where [me-ayin] can it be found?” R. Bahya creatively “misreads” the verse to reveal its kabbalistic meaning. And this is the meaning of you will not find it today on the plain.”²⁶⁸Ex 16:25.

And it is necessary that you know that human eating is nothing but an illusion, that it is not a true thing or a real activity, that it is something deceptive, something that keeps changing as it goes through the internal organs in a sequence of causes and effects. But ideas refined through wisdom, and by the attachment of one’s thought to the light of the intellect to the Upper Wisdom is itself “real and lasting eating,” as in the way that our Sages of blessed memory interpreted the verse: “‘And they envisioned God, and they ate and drank.’¹²Ex 24:11. R. Yohanan says, ‘real eating,’ [akhilah vada’it], as it is said, ‘In the light of the face of the King – life!’¹³Prov.16:15. And it is necessary for you to think hard about this verse, why it was necessary to say, ‘they envisioned,’ and why wasn’t it written as it was just before, ‘they saw?¹⁴Ex. 24:10. But rather because it specified ‘they saw’ so you would not understand [what happened next] as actual seeing with the sense of your eye, it follows that it was necessary to say ‘they envisioned’ immediately afterward to teach you that this wasn’t this prior kind of ‘seeing’ [re’iyah], but rather seeing by means of prophecy, and that is why it said, ‘And they envisioned [va-yehezu] God, and they ate and drank,’ from the term for prophetic “vision” [mahzeh]. And the explanation of the Scripture ‘And they envisioned God, and they ate and drank,’ is that the leaders merited to see with the prophecy of ‘a glass that does not reflect,’ without a barrier, while the rest of Israel had a barrier, and Moses really “saw” directly.¹⁵That is, the leaders’ prophetic vision was better than the Israelites’, but not as direct as Moses.’ “And they ate and drank,” that is to say that their eating and drinking by this vision was indeed “real eating.” And it is also possible to interpret “And they ate and drank” as that they saw by prophecy the very attribute from which they “ate and drank,” that is, from the very same attribute from which the manna came to them, which is the principle behind all their material support, about which matter it is written, “She rises while it is still night,”¹⁶Prov. 31:15. and it is written “Here I am causing it to rain down.”¹⁷Ex 16:4. And you already knew that this was material support that occurred at night, for this is to what ‘She rises while is still night’ is referring. And thus the manna used to come down during the third watch of the night, when the Israelites were sleeping in their beds in the desert. And on the next day they would get up early in the morning and find their sustenance ready for them. This is the meaning of what is written: “So they gathered it every morning.”¹⁸Ex 16:21. And thus you will find in First Temple that the rains used to fall on Wednesday and Shabbat nights, and on the next day they would get up early in the morning to do their work, without wasting any time. And so you also find with King Hezekiah, who said, “Master of the World, I myself don’t have the power in me to pursue enemies, or to sing a victory song, but I sleep on my bed, and you do it.” And the Holy One Blessed be He replied to him, “You sleep in your bed while I do it,” as it is said, “That night, an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp.”¹⁹2 Kings 19:35. This story about Hezekiah is a midrash from Lam. R. 30. It was about him (or this) David spoke when he said, “In vain do you rise up early and stay up late…He provides as much for His loved ones while they sleep.”²⁰Ps 127:2. The meaning of the Scripture is that what the other peoples achieve through hard work, by getting up early and staying up late to eat the bread for which they toil,²¹An allusion to Ps 127:2. R. Bahya hints here that food “served” to Israelites without any toil, that is, good things God prepares for them while they are asleep, is angelic food. As R. Bahya put in his preface, “Our food is not their food. Their [the angelic beings’] food is conceived in their mind, when they see the face of their Maker. Our food is meager bread, water, and tears, gotten by hard work and toil.” It is like the food Adam ate before the Fall.God provides to His loved ones while they sleep! This is the thing the Holy One provides to the one He loves, at the hour when he’s asleep, with no need to bother about it at all. And from now on any reference to “they ate and drank” means nothing other than a reference to “real eating,” or to eating the manna that was the offspring of the Upper Light – which is “real eating.”

And it is necessary that you know that human eating is nothing but an illusion, that it is not a true thing or a real activity, that it is something deceptive, something that keeps changing as it goes through the internal organs in a sequence of causes and effects. But ideas refined through wisdom, and by the attachment of one’s thought to the light of the intellect to the Upper Wisdom is itself “real and lasting eating,” as in the way that our Sages of blessed memory interpreted the verse: “‘And they envisioned God, and they ate and drank.’¹²Ex 24:11. R. Yohanan says, ‘real eating,’ [akhilah vada’it], as it is said, ‘In the light of the face of the King – life!’¹³Prov.16:15. And it is necessary for you to think hard about this verse, why it was necessary to say, ‘they envisioned,’ and why wasn’t it written as it was just before, ‘they saw?¹⁴Ex. 24:10. But rather because it specified ‘they saw’ so you would not understand [what happened next] as actual seeing with the sense of your eye, it follows that it was necessary to say ‘they envisioned’ immediately afterward to teach you that this wasn’t this prior kind of ‘seeing’ [re’iyah], but rather seeing by means of prophecy, and that is why it said, ‘And they envisioned [va-yehezu] God, and they ate and drank,’ from the term for prophetic “vision” [mahzeh]. And the explanation of the Scripture ‘And they envisioned God, and they ate and drank,’ is that the leaders merited to see with the prophecy of ‘a glass that does not reflect,’ without a barrier, while the rest of Israel had a barrier, and Moses really “saw” directly.¹⁵That is, the leaders’ prophetic vision was better than the Israelites’, but not as direct as Moses.’ “And they ate and drank,” that is to say that their eating and drinking by this vision was indeed “real eating.” And it is also possible to interpret “And they ate and drank” as that they saw by prophecy the very attribute from which they “ate and drank,” that is, from the very same attribute from which the manna came to them, which is the principle behind all their material support, about which matter it is written, “She rises while it is still night,”¹⁶Prov. 31:15. and it is written “Here I am causing it to rain down.”¹⁷Ex 16:4. And you already knew that this was material support that occurred at night, for this is to what ‘She rises while is still night’ is referring. And thus the manna used to come down during the third watch of the night, when the Israelites were sleeping in their beds in the desert. And on the next day they would get up early in the morning and find their sustenance ready for them. This is the meaning of what is written: “So they gathered it every morning.”¹⁸Ex 16:21. And thus you will find in First Temple that the rains used to fall on Wednesday and Shabbat nights, and on the next day they would get up early in the morning to do their work, without wasting any time. And so you also find with King Hezekiah, who said, “Master of the World, I myself don’t have the power in me to pursue enemies, or to sing a victory song, but I sleep on my bed, and you do it.” And the Holy One Blessed be He replied to him, “You sleep in your bed while I do it,” as it is said, “That night, an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp.”¹⁹2 Kings 19:35. This story about Hezekiah is a midrash from Lam. R. 30. It was about him (or this) David spoke when he said, “In vain do you rise up early and stay up late…He provides as much for His loved ones while they sleep.”²⁰Ps 127:2. The meaning of the Scripture is that what the other peoples achieve through hard work, by getting up early and staying up late to eat the bread for which they toil,²¹An allusion to Ps 127:2. R. Bahya hints here that food “served” to Israelites without any toil, that is, good things God prepares for them while they are asleep, is angelic food. As R. Bahya put in his preface, “Our food is not their food. Their [the angelic beings’] food is conceived in their mind, when they see the face of their Maker. Our food is meager bread, water, and tears, gotten by hard work and toil.” It is like the food Adam ate before the Fall.God provides to His loved ones while they sleep! This is the thing the Holy One provides to the one He loves, at the hour when he’s asleep, with no need to bother about it at all. And from now on any reference to “they ate and drank” means nothing other than a reference to “real eating,” or to eating the manna that was the offspring of the Upper Light – which is “real eating.”

You should know that that which they said (Makkot 23b), "613 commandments were stated to Moshe at Sinai," indicates that this is the number of the commandments that are practiced for [all] generations. For commandments that are not practiced for [all] generations do not have a connection to Sinai - whether they were stated at Sinai or elsewhere. However their intention in saying, "at Sinai," was that the main giving of the Torah was at Sinai. And that was His, may He be elevated, saying, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, and I will give [it] to you" (Exodus 24:12). And in explanation, they said, "What is the verse [that alludes to this]? 'Moshe commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov' (Deuteronomy 33:4)" - meaning to say - "the numerical value of [the word,] Torah is 611. In addition, 'I am the Lord your God' and 'You shall have no other gods' (Exodus 20:2, 3), that we heard from the mouth of the Almighty." And with them, the total of the commandments is 613. They wanted to say with this indication that the thing that Moshe commanded us - and that we did not hear from anyone but him - was the number of 611 commandments. And he called it, "an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov." And a commandment that is not practiced for [all] the generations is not an inheritance for us. For it is indeed only that which will be continuous for the generations - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 11:21), "like the days of the heavens upon the earth" - that will be called an inheritance for us. And likewise, their statement (Tanchuma, Ki Tetzeh), that it is as if each and every limb commands a person to do a commandment; and it is as if each and every day is warning a person from sin. This is a proof that the number will never be lacking. But if commandments that are not practiced for [all] generations were included in the count of the commandments, behold that the number would be lacking once the obligation of such a commandment ceased. And then this statement would only be correct for a limited time. However someone besides us already erred in this principle as well and counted - because he was forced by a need - "But let them not go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary" (Numbers 4:20); and "he shall serve no more" (Numbers 8:25), concerning the Levites. Yet these were also only practiced in the wilderness. And even though they said (Sanhedrin 81b:18), "From where is there a hint about one who steals a jar for the Temple service (that he is killed)? 'But let them not go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary'" - there is enough [clarification here] in their saying, "a hint." But the simple understanding of the verse is not like this; and it is not even included in those liable for the death penalty at the hands of the Heavens - as is explained in the Tosefta (Tosefta Keritot 1) and in Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 83a). And I am wondering about this, why they mentioned these negative commandments. Why did they not [also] count about the manna, "Let no one leave any of it over until morning" (Exodus 16:19); or that which He, may He blessed said, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war" (Deuteronomy 2:9), and likewise the prohibition that came about the the Children of Ammon, "do not harass them or start a fight with them" (Deuteronomy 2:19). And likewise should he count among the positive commandments, "Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard" (Numbers 21:8); and its saying, "Take a jar and put one omer of manna in it" (Exodus 16:33) - like he counted the tithe of the [booty] (Numbers 31) and the dedication of the altar (Numbers 7). And he should have also counted, "Be ready for the third day" (Exodus 19:15); "neither shall the flocks and the herds graze" (Exodus 34:3); "they shall not destroy, to come up" (Exodus 19:24); and many like these. And no intelligent person will doubt that all of these commandments were given to Moshe at Sinai as commands and [prohibitions; however they were all temporary and not practiced for [all] generations. And therefore they were not counted. And because of this principle, it is inappropriate to count the blessings and the curses that they were commanded at Gerizim and Eval; nor to count the building of the altar that we were commanded to build when we entered the Land of Canaan - for all of these were temporary commandments. And likewise, not the command that we were commanded to sacrifice any animal, from which we want to eat, as peace-offerings - as this was only a temporary command. And that was its saying, "and you shall bring them to the Lord" (Leviticus 7:8)." And they said in Sifrei, Achrei Mot, "'And you shall bring them' is a positive commandment" - but it was only so in the wilderness. For the dispensation to eat meat for pleasure is explained in [Deuteronomy]; and that is its saying, "you may eat meat whenever you wish" (Deuteronomy 12:20). And had it been appropriate to count everything of this type - meaning all that Moshe was commanded from the day he was appointed to be a prophet until the day he died - there would be more than three hundred commandments, besides the commandments that are practiced for [all] generations. This is when we count all the commands that came in Egypt, everything about the preparations [for the tabernacle service], and the other ones besides them - some are positive commandments and some are negative commandments, but they are all written in the Torah. And since he did not count all of them, he is perforce also obligated not to count any of them; and not like this other man, who took [only] some of these things to help him, when he toiled to find the [right] tally. And this is the critique we wanted to make about him regarding this principle.

You should know that that which they said (Makkot 23b), "613 commandments were stated to Moshe at Sinai," indicates that this is the number of the commandments that are practiced for [all] generations. For commandments that are not practiced for [all] generations do not have a connection to Sinai - whether they were stated at Sinai or elsewhere. However their intention in saying, "at Sinai," was that the main giving of the Torah was at Sinai. And that was His, may He be elevated, saying, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, and I will give [it] to you" (Exodus 24:12). And in explanation, they said, "What is the verse [that alludes to this]? 'Moshe commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov' (Deuteronomy 33:4)" - meaning to say - "the numerical value of [the word,] Torah is 611. In addition, 'I am the Lord your God' and 'You shall have no other gods' (Exodus 20:2, 3), that we heard from the mouth of the Almighty." And with them, the total of the commandments is 613. They wanted to say with this indication that the thing that Moshe commanded us - and that we did not hear from anyone but him - was the number of 611 commandments. And he called it, "an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov." And a commandment that is not practiced for [all] the generations is not an inheritance for us. For it is indeed only that which will be continuous for the generations - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 11:21), "like the days of the heavens upon the earth" - that will be called an inheritance for us. And likewise, their statement (Tanchuma, Ki Tetzeh), that it is as if each and every limb commands a person to do a commandment; and it is as if each and every day is warning a person from sin. This is a proof that the number will never be lacking. But if commandments that are not practiced for [all] generations were included in the count of the commandments, behold that the number would be lacking once the obligation of such a commandment ceased. And then this statement would only be correct for a limited time. However someone besides us already erred in this principle as well and counted - because he was forced by a need - "But let them not go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary" (Numbers 4:20); and "he shall serve no more" (Numbers 8:25), concerning the Levites. Yet these were also only practiced in the wilderness. And even though they said (Sanhedrin 81b:18), "From where is there a hint about one who steals a jar for the Temple service (that he is killed)? 'But let them not go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary'" - there is enough [clarification here] in their saying, "a hint." But the simple understanding of the verse is not like this; and it is not even included in those liable for the death penalty at the hands of the Heavens - as is explained in the Tosefta (Tosefta Keritot 1) and in Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 83a). And I am wondering about this, why they mentioned these negative commandments. Why did they not [also] count about the manna, "Let no one leave any of it over until morning" (Exodus 16:19); or that which He, may He blessed said, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war" (Deuteronomy 2:9), and likewise the prohibition that came about the the Children of Ammon, "do not harass them or start a fight with them" (Deuteronomy 2:19). And likewise should he count among the positive commandments, "Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard" (Numbers 21:8); and its saying, "Take a jar and put one omer of manna in it" (Exodus 16:33) - like he counted the tithe of the [booty] (Numbers 31) and the dedication of the altar (Numbers 7). And he should have also counted, "Be ready for the third day" (Exodus 19:15); "neither shall the flocks and the herds graze" (Exodus 34:3); "they shall not destroy, to come up" (Exodus 19:24); and many like these. And no intelligent person will doubt that all of these commandments were given to Moshe at Sinai as commands and [prohibitions; however they were all temporary and not practiced for [all] generations. And therefore they were not counted. And because of this principle, it is inappropriate to count the blessings and the curses that they were commanded at Gerizim and Eval; nor to count the building of the altar that we were commanded to build when we entered the Land of Canaan - for all of these were temporary commandments. And likewise, not the command that we were commanded to sacrifice any animal, from which we want to eat, as peace-offerings - as this was only a temporary command. And that was its saying, "and you shall bring them to the Lord" (Leviticus 7:8)." And they said in Sifrei, Achrei Mot, "'And you shall bring them' is a positive commandment" - but it was only so in the wilderness. For the dispensation to eat meat for pleasure is explained in [Deuteronomy]; and that is its saying, "you may eat meat whenever you wish" (Deuteronomy 12:20). And had it been appropriate to count everything of this type - meaning all that Moshe was commanded from the day he was appointed to be a prophet until the day he died - there would be more than three hundred commandments, besides the commandments that are practiced for [all] generations. This is when we count all the commands that came in Egypt, everything about the preparations [for the tabernacle service], and the other ones besides them - some are positive commandments and some are negative commandments, but they are all written in the Torah. And since he did not count all of them, he is perforce also obligated not to count any of them; and not like this other man, who took [only] some of these things to help him, when he toiled to find the [right] tally. And this is the critique we wanted to make about him regarding this principle.

Some of the meals prepared in the world to come are bodily and intellectual – for both the body and soul. And there are some intellectual meals for souls who stand alone without the body, and they enjoy forever those very worlds where each and every one resides according to their level. The bodily meals have been reserved for them from the beginning, the refined and pure foods created from the supernal light through a chain of causes. And they are: Leviathan among the fishes, Bar-Yokhnai among the birds, which were created on the fifth day, and Leviathan is called what it is because it is ordered for the righteous, and likewise the Behemoth of the thousand mountains,¹Ps 50:10. which was created on the sixth day with the creation of the human being, but before him. And the quality of these foods is very profound; they can penetrate into the intellect and purify the heart, like the manna which the generation in the desert merited, which was “like wafers in honey”,²Ex. 16:31. and was an offspring of the upper light, about which it is written, “Sweet is the light, and good to the eyes, to see the sun.”³Eccl. 11:7. And it is possible that their quality will be greater than those who ate the manna, for insofar as perception at the end of days will be greater and more elevated than all the times before, so will the hearts be wide enough to include knowledge of Ha-Shem (May He Blessed) in its completeness, like “waters covering to the sea,”⁴Is. 11.9. and this will be in the time of the Messiah greater and greater than the generation of the desert who went out of Egypt, habituated to hard labor, raising their hands out of mud, and their “palms just passed from the kettle.”⁵Ps. 81:7. For this time will be the perfect and elevated time, following the will of the One Who dwells in the bush, what is not so in this world, because it does not follow what His will was. And that is why they fixed the wording of the Kaddish to say, ‘be-alma dibra khe-r’utay‘ [‘in the world He created according to His will’], so consequently we pray for the time of the King Messiah which in the future the Holy One Blessed be He will create according to His will. And the compelling proof of this is that this world which we stand in now, in its conduct indeed does not follow His will, because here – when Adam sinned because of the serpent, it was against His will, because it was indeed His will that Adam live forever, that he never die. And thus the intention of creation was originally that no creature ever cross the line of serving its Creator, and because the design of the Holy One Blessed Be He was not fulfilled, but instead, the design of the Adversary, nevertheless, this world itself necessarily will return to the end which was the desire of its Creator at its beginning. And because we pray for this very time, the formulation of the Kaddish was fixed in the Aramaic language, so that the ministering angels won’t recognize or understand it, for if they did understand, they would be jealous of our status at that time, and they would pray for the delay of the redemption. Therefore we seek mercy for the name YAH as it written regarding it, “By the hand on the throne of YAH,”⁶Ex 17:16. Both kise and Yah are spelled defectively, that is without an aleph and hay respectively, according to R. Bahya’s midrashic reading of Ex 17:16 and the Kaddish. See Mahzor Vitry. that His name will be “made greater and sanctified”, that is, the “name Yah will be great and blessed” [yehay shmay (= shem yah) rabah mevorakh], namely, that both His name and His throne will be complete, in that world which He created according to His will, all of it will return to like it was at its beginning. And I have compelling proofs for this that there is no need for me to go into at length, for it is my intention in this Gate only to give an explanation of the bodily and intellectual meals prepared for the righteous in their body and soul, and for the intellectual meals which are for the soul alone without the body. And no one with understanding ought to be astonished if the righteous will have actual physical meals, that they will delight in both in body and soul. For see, in the Garden of Eden which had in its land a tree of life which could bring about eternal life for those who ate from it – whether good or bad, and there was water and grasses in it, which without a doubt, some of them were life-giving, others deadly, some of them healthful, others which would make you sick. And thus it is written in the Torah, “There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test.”⁷Ex 15:25, which R. Bahya understands to apply to the Garden of Eden as well, not just to the grumbling Israelites’ experience in the desert.And the view of our rabbis z”l was that the wood was bitter, and the Holy One Blessed Be He sweetened the bitter with something bitter, a miracle within a miracle, and so our sages z”l taught in a midrash:⁸Mekhilta Be-Shalah Vayisa’ 1. “‘The Lord showed him [Moses] a piece of wood.’⁹Ex 15:25. Rabbi Elazar says it was hardofaney,¹⁰A kind of ivy with berries poisonous to animals. R. Nathan says it was olive wood,¹¹According to the Mekhilta, ibid., there is no wood more bitter than olive wood. and there are others who say it was the roots of a fig tree.” In any case, it was bitter. And so you find it written about Elisha, “The water is bad and the land causes bereavement,”¹²2 Kings 2:19. and it is written, “Bring me a new dish, and put salt in it,”¹³Ibid. 2:20. and that “healed” the water.¹⁴Ibid., 2:22.Rabbi Simon ben Gamaliel says how much more wonderful are His ways than the ways of flesh and blood! He puts a harmful thing inside a harmful thing to make a miracle inside of a miracle.¹⁵Mekhilta, ibid. Moreover, we are able to teach even more midrash about this, for you know Torah has seventy faces, because when it said in the verse, “There He put them to the test,”¹⁶Ex 15:25. that is to say, there Moses tested this plant, and it was out of the science the Holy One Blessed be He taught him that he knew the power of this plant, about its nature or its virtue, which was to sweeten the bitter. And so it uses the expression: va-yorehuHa-Shem (i.e., “the Lord instructed him”), instead of va-yar’ehu (“He showed him”),¹⁷Ex 15:25. Actually, va-yorehu is just a defective spelling of va-yarehu, and so its literal meaning is the same: “He showed him,” but R. Bahya exploits the spelling anomaly for the sake of midrash.because he had to have Him teach him about this; the Holy One Blessed be He taught him the science of the plants He created – about their nature to revive and to kill, to heal and to sicken, to sweeten and to embitter. And this is the connotation of the expression hok u-mishpat (“statute and law”):¹⁸Here R. Bahya is drawing upon the classic Jewish medieval philosophical distinction between laws whose rationale are not immediately accessible to reason – “hukim” (e.g., the rules of kashrut) and those which any rational being would derive through reason – “mishpatim” (e.g., “Thou shalt not kill”). The Torah consists of both types of laws, but the hukim are known to us only because God revealed them. R. Bahya suggests here that the “laws of nature” (e.g., the nature of plants in this case) are analogous to laws governing human behavior – mitzvot. In other words, eh believe we can discern some qualities of the natural world through natural science, but other qualities are made known to us only through supernatural revelation. hok is its virtue whose reason is not known, and about mishpat, our rabbis z”l said, “And the Lord instructed him [about] the tree” – that is, its nature, that it is by law to be so in its nature. And it is connected immediately to “If you will heed the Lord your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to his commandments and keeping all His hukim [“statutes”], then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.”¹⁹Ex 15:26.Scripture has warned us not to entrust the core of our well-being to the power of plants, but rather to keeping the commandments, for they are the core. And with keeping the commandments He will keep them healthy, and prevent them from getting sick. And it was necessary to say this, because it is possible that mortals, erring and stumbling through their knowledge of the powers of these plants, will entrust the core of their well-being to them, and despair of seeking mercy from the Master of Mercy (may He be blessed) “in whose hand is every living soul.”²⁰Job 12:10. And this is the reason why King Hezekiah hid the Book of Cures, so that human beings would not stumble over them, and the sages z”l thanked him for this.²¹B. Pesahim 56a.

I investigated further and found that with regard to one who has a discharge in the night or in the day, or one who touches any contamination which renders him unclean, Scripture says “he is unclean until dusk” (Leviticus 22:6), which must be the end of the day. For if the day began with dawn, then one who has a discharge at night should become clean at the end of the “day,” namely, at dawn.

I also found explicit with regard to the first of the holidays (Passover), which God gave to Israel prior to instructing them about the Sabbath, “on the fourteenth day of the month at evening you should eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening” (Exodus 12:18), a total of “seven days” (ibid. 12:19). Thus the evening of the fifteenth is the first day. It is also written “[neither shall any of the flesh] from which you offered in the evening of the first day [be left over] until the morning” (Deuteronomy 16:4). Also, it is known that the firstborn were smitten at midnight (Exodus 12:29), yet it is written “on the day that I smote all firstborn” (Numbers 3:13, 8:17).⁴ The verse informs us that God sanctified all Jewish first born on the day that the Egyptian first born were slain. It seems likely that this took place on the first day of Passover. Also in Scripture “this day is a day of tidings…if we wait until the morning light” (2 Kings 7:9).

However, we are distinguished by our regimen of pleasures [dat sha’ashu’im] from the nations who err, rebel, and sin. For we found our Rock in the desert in the land of souls, and there He set for us a table against the nations, and thus David, said, ‘Set before me a table against my enemies’ [Ps 23:5). There the Lord gave us an abundance of charity and good things. There He gave us a marvelous portion of the bread in our law, bread from heaven through no toil. There He showed us through great love something like the world to come—where the divisions of His marvelously formed angels are fed without toil, hewn from flames and awesome fires; and the planting of the Lord of Hosts. Our holy race is lovely because our heart was tested in the desert. We rose up like sweet-smelling incense to thank the Lord and said a blessing over the table. As it is written regarding the manna: “In the morning you shall have your fill of bread and you shall know that I the Lord am your God.”¹⁹Ex. 16:12. Even while we were in the land of our enemies bearing our punishment,the manna soothed our dry and shriveled gullets,²⁰Nu. 11:6. while the flowering vines of our enemies spread heavy on the ground. Even without temple or altar, no medicine-making; the Torah of the Lord with us will save us from breaking. Marked as we are by our circumcision, fringes, and shaving–– the food on our table will help us recognize and remind ourselves to respect His greatness. Let us bless over the table of Him whose food we have eaten.²¹An allusion to the wording of the grace after meals. It is not so with the wicked, whose sins have earned them aninextinguishable fire;²²Ps. 14:4. their table lies before them like mire. Rising early in the morning they devour food and they do not call to the Lord; their hearts and eyes they raise to what delights them, but toward the One above not even the slightest look. Such is the sentence of the nations, that they are a vile and foolish nation filled with folk devoid of sense. Unlike those other nations is Jacob, for he will bless the sacrifice and then eat it.²³Jer 10:16; I Sam 9:13. All his fruit shall also be set aside for jubilation before the Lord;²⁴Lev 19:24. he will withdraw his right hand until the blessing is drawn back into the ‘palace that is before Me.’²⁵I Kg 6:17 [heykhal lifnay], usually translated as ‘the front part of the House’ (i.e., the Temple). Bahya reads lifnay as “before Me,” in order to allude to the mystical idea that saying a blessing returns the vital energy in what is eaten back to its source in the heavenly realm. This is among the ways of wisdom to keep the heart of man straight upon the path of the Lord’sbright lights, to prevent one straying from the service of his God; so that the temptationsof pleasure would not draw our purpose away from being drawn to Him, nor our sinfulinstincts seduce us from serving our Creator,²⁶An untranslatable wordplay here on yetzer and yotzer. from waiting for Him at the doors of His gates.²⁷Prov. 8:34.

Here are honest witnesses that the day begins with dusk. Similarly for all the holidays and the Sabbath, for all are “appointed seasons of God, holy gatherings” (ibid. 23:4). Only the Sabbath is called “a Sabbath for God” (Exodus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:14), for God rested during Creation. Since both the year and the day are dependent on the sun, for both motions are similar one to another, therefore the seventh year is comparable to the Sabbath day. Hence it is also written with regard to the seventh year “a Sabbath for God” (Leviticus 25:2). Therefore, just as the Sabbatical year begins with the autumn season, so the beginning of the Sabbath day is in that period of the day corresponding to autumn, which begins with dusk.

That He prohibited us from inclining towards idolatry and occupying ourselves with its narratives - meaning to say, into this study of spirituality. [That] means, star x descends according to this description and [then] does such; and [when] they burn incense to y and stand before it according to this description, it does thing z - and that which goes in this way. For thought about these things and study with these [types of] expressions is what arouses a person to seek them and their worship. And the verse that prohibited us from this content is His saying, "Do not turn to the idols" (Leviticus 19:4). And the language of the [Sifra] (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 1:11) is, "If you turn to them, you make them gods." And there (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 1:10), they said, "Rabbi Yehudah says, 'Do not turn to see them'" - it is not even permissible to observe the appearance of the image's form and the thought of its construction, so that one not spend any time [involved with any] part of it. And in the chapter [entitled] Shoel Adam (Shabbat 149a), they said, "[Regarding] writing that is under a picture or under graven images (deyokenaot), it is prohibited to read it on Shabbat. And [regarding] the image itself, even on a weekday it is prohibited to look at it, because it it is stated, 'Do not turn to the idols.' What is the [derivation from this verse]? Rabbi Yochanan said, 'Do not make a god from your minds.'" And the prohibition about this very content - meaning about the prohibition of the thought of idolatry - has already been repeated. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be seduced" (Deuteronomy 11:16). [This] means to say [that] if you have your heart delve into it, it will bring you to veer from the [true] path, and to become involved in its [actual] worship. And He also said about this exact content, "And lest you lift your eyes to the sky" (Deuteronomy 4:19). For He did not come to forbid a person from seeing them with his eyes, but rather forbade the matter in which one relates to their worship with the interest of the heart. And likewise, His saying, "lest you inquire about their gods," is forbidding the inquiry about the nature of their worship, even though one does not worship them. For this all leads to erring about them. And you should know that one who transgresses this is liable for lashes. And this has already been made clear at the end of the first chapter of Eruvin (Eruvin 17b), regarding that which they said, [that] we give lashes for [going outside of] the mixing of perimeters (eruvei techumin). And they gave as a proof, His saying, "let no (al) man go out of his place" (Exodus 16:29); and someone asked and said, "But how can they give lashes for a prohibition, with the word, al, when the commandment did not come with the word, lo? And they answered him rhetorically, "And do we not give lashes for anything that comes with the word, al? But if so, we would also not give lashes for, 'Do not turn to the idols!'" Behold this indicates that we give lashes for this negative commandment. (See Parashat Kedoshim; Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 2.)

Do not be puzzled by the verse “tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath for God” (Exodus 16:23), yet Moses did not mention this at dusk.⁵ So it appears that the Sabbath begins with dawn. I will now explain to you this section to ward off the claimant. Be aware that God did not command “do not perform any work” (ibid. 20:10) on the first Sabbath that manna fell. He waited with that proclamation until the day that they stood at Mount Sinai. Since Moses had specified “an omer for each head” (ibid. 16:16), and he instructed “no man may leave over from it until morning” (ibid. 16:19), when on Friday the people gathered two omer, they (the princes) informed Moses (ibid. 16:22) of the matter. Moses responded, “This is what God said” (ibid. 16:23), meaning that God already spoke with me regarding this matter before the raining of the manna when He said, “And it shall be on the sixth day [they will prepare what they have brought, and it will be double what they gathered daily]” (ibid. 16:5). He explained the reason for a doubling of manna was “a rest, a holy Sabbath” (ibid. 16:23), God will rest tomorrow. He did not reveal this secret⁶ The secret that no manna will fall on the Sabbath day. to them nor what they should do with the extra that he instructed them to put aside. In the morning of the Sabbath day Moses said to the people, “this day is a Sabbath to God” (ibid. 16:25), God will not cause manna to rain down, “today you will not find it” (ibid.), do not go out to gather.

Do not be puzzled by the verse “tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath for God” (Exodus 16:23), yet Moses did not mention this at dusk.⁵ So it appears that the Sabbath begins with dawn. I will now explain to you this section to ward off the claimant. Be aware that God did not command “do not perform any work” (ibid. 20:10) on the first Sabbath that manna fell. He waited with that proclamation until the day that they stood at Mount Sinai. Since Moses had specified “an omer for each head” (ibid. 16:16), and he instructed “no man may leave over from it until morning” (ibid. 16:19), when on Friday the people gathered two omer, they (the princes) informed Moses (ibid. 16:22) of the matter. Moses responded, “This is what God said” (ibid. 16:23), meaning that God already spoke with me regarding this matter before the raining of the manna when He said, “And it shall be on the sixth day [they will prepare what they have brought, and it will be double what they gathered daily]” (ibid. 16:5). He explained the reason for a doubling of manna was “a rest, a holy Sabbath” (ibid. 16:23), God will rest tomorrow. He did not reveal this secret⁶ The secret that no manna will fall on the Sabbath day. to them nor what they should do with the extra that he instructed them to put aside. In the morning of the Sabbath day Moses said to the people, “this day is a Sabbath to God” (ibid. 16:25), God will not cause manna to rain down, “today you will not find it” (ibid.), do not go out to gather.

I mention this interpretation to counter the heretics who do not believe the words of our Rabbis that the Sabbath extends from dusk to dusk. The true interpretation is what the Rabbis recorded, namely, that the Sabbath was given at Marah.⁷ “Israel was instructed in ten laws at Marah. Seven of these were accepted by the descendents of Noah. Three additional laws were courts, Sabbath, and respect for parents” (Sanhedrin 56b). The incident at Marah (Exodus 15:22–26) took place before the appearance of the manna (ibid., chapter 16). Scripture mentions “tomorrow” and not “this night,” for Scripture usually speaks of what is common, namely, that people work during the day. The meaning of “holy Sabbath” is that they should rest, and that is what they did, “The nation rested on the seventh day” (ibid. 16:30). In Jeremiah it is written: “to sanctify the Sabbath day by not working on it” (17:24). Moses mentioned “tomorrow,” which is daytime, because he addressed what is common. Similarly, “Man goes out to his activity and to his work until evening” (Psalms 104:23). Likewise, “You should not eat meat that was torn in the field” (Exodus 22:30), although the same prohibition applies to what was torn in a house. Similarly, “an occurrence at night” (Deuteronomy 23:11);⁸ This does not exclude an occurrence of the day. “an ox or a donkey fell there” (Exodus 21:33);⁹ Ox or donkey are not exclusive. and many more in the Torah like these.

I will now examine Creation, and I will begin to respond to the one who says that the night follows the day. If this were so, why did Scripture not state explicitly “from dawn to dawn is one day?” Or “from light to dawn?” Why did it interrupt with “it was dusk” (Genesis 1:5)? From the verse “it was dusk and it was dawn” it seems that from dusk until dawn is one day, contrary to what is stated earlier, “God called light ‘day’” (ibid.).

I shall explain the verse “it will bring forth produce for the three years” (ibid. 25:21).⁸⁸ Scripture states: “If you should say: ‘What will we eat on the seventh year? Behold we will neither plant nor gather our produce.’ I shall command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce for the three years. You will plant in the eighth year and eat of the old produce until the ninth year, until the arrival of its produce, you will eat old” (Leviticus 25:20–22). Among the problems that these verses present are: (1) the “three years” are listed as through the ninth year, which tallies to four years (6, 7, 8, and 9) instead of three. (2) We do not even have three full years, since the produce serves for half the sixth year, the whole seventh year, and half the eighth year. (3) Why would they be eating old produce through the ninth year when they can plant and harvest on the eighth year (since the year begins with Tishre)? Ibn Ezra addresses these problems. Be aware that a minute remaining of a Biblical day is considered a full day. For example, it is written “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (ibid. 12:3). If one is born on Friday one-half hour before the Sabbath commences, he is circumcised the following Friday morning, even though he has not completed seven full days.⁸⁹ Thus we see that when Friday ends one full day is completed, even though it was not 24 hours. Therefore the following Friday is the eighth day. Similarly, one day in the year is considered a full year. Sometimes it is counted as a separate year and sometimes it is left as part of the previous full year. Thus it is written “you will bear your sins for forty years” (Numbers 14:34). Now this incident occurred in the second year, and God did not punish them before they sinned.⁹⁰ The problem is how to arrive at a figure of forty years of wandering from the time they sinned (the slanderous report of the spies), when they remained in the wilderness only 39 more years. The number forty was due to their not crossing the Jordan until the “tenth of the first month” (Joshua 4:19) in the forty-first year.⁹¹ In this case part of one month counted as a year. This is in contrast to “they ate the manna forty years” (Exodus 16:35).⁹² The manna began in the first year of the exodus from Egypt and continued into the forty-first year. Yet Scripture writes “forty years,” omitting the one month of the forty-first year. In Scripture the “seventeenth” (1 Kings 14:21) is identical with “the eighteenth year” (ibid. 15:1);⁹³ We know that Rehoboam and Jeroboam began their reigns in the same year, with Rehoboam preceding Jeroboam by a few weeks. Also, Scripture relates that Rehoboam ruled for seventeen years (1 Kings 14:21), which would likewise be the seventeenth year of Jeroboam. Yet Scripture states that Rehoboam’s son, Abijam, began his reign in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam (ibid. 15:1). Obviously here “seventeenth year” and “eighteenth year” were the same year. also the “nineteenth.”⁹⁴ The eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:29) is also referred to as the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (ibid. 52:12). “The eleventh year” (2 Kings 9:29) is the same as “The twelfth year” (ibid. 8:25).⁹⁵ The verse relates that Ahaziah began his reign in the eleventh year of Jehoram (2 Kings 9:29), while in 2 Kings 8:25 it is written that Ahaziah began his reign in the twelfth year of Jehoram. Also, Ahaziah ruled for two years beginning with “the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat” (1 Kings 22:52), yet Jehoram his brother ruled after him “in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat” (2 Kings 3:1). There are many similar examples.

[Parshat] Vayehi Beshalach Pharaoh has one negative commandment in it. That we should not go outside of the boundary (techum) on Shabbat: That we have been prevented from going outside of the known boundaries on Shabbat, as it is stated (Exodus 16:29), "let no one leave his place on the seventh day." And the explanation comes about this that "his place" is called anywhere that is no further than three parsa from outside of the city (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sabbath 27:1-2). And a parsa is four mil, and a mil is two thousand ells. And we measure it from the outermost house in the city, even if it is as large as Nineveh. This is according to the law of the Torah, but the Sages made a fence and forbade that one should walk more than two thousand ells outside of the city.

R. Jacob Ettlinger notes that members of the generation of the Exodus acquired status as Jews by means of circumcision and immersion, i.e., circumcision before their departure from Egypt and immersion immediately prior to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Hence, at the time of the offering of the first paschal sacrifice on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt, their status was that of circumcised converts who had as yet not undergone immersion. Yet the Gemara, Shabbat 87b, declares that the commandment concerning Sabbath observance was given at Marah, before revelation at Sinai. Indeed, a literal reading of the sequence of events described in Exodus 16:22-30 indicates that our ancestors were commanded to observe the Sabbath prior to experiencing revelation at Mount Sinai.¹²It should be noted that Rabbi Schwartz remarks parenthetically that, prior to receiving the Torah at Sinai, our ancestors refrained only from the activity expressly proscribed in Exodus 16–29, viz., collecting manna on the Sabbath, but did not refrain from other restricted activities. In a somewhat similar vein, Ḥatam Sofer, Shabbat 87b, cites an earlier authority who maintains that, although commanded at Marah, Sabbath restrictions became binding only at Sinai. Accordingly, argues Rabbi Ettlinger, it may be deduced that the commandment concerning Sabbath observance is binding upon all who enjoy a similar status, i.e., upon converts who have undergone circumcision but who have as yet not undergone immersion. Thus, according to R. Jacob Ettlinger, such individuals are not only permitted to observe the Sabbath but are required to do so. Indeed, he argues, if not for a specific exclusion of the circumcised but unimmersed convert, such an individual would be required to participate in the paschal offering as well, since his status is identical to that of those who offered the first paschal sacrifice.¹³Cf., Avnei Nezer, Yoreh De’ah, no 351, sec. 4.

On Shabbos and Yom Tov¹For it is written, “A man shall not go out from his place on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16: 29) See Maseches Eiruvin 17b. There is a question if this law is Biblical or a Rabbinic enactment. it is forbidden²Some poskim rule that Yom Tov and Shabbos are equal regarding boundaries, and others say that the laws of boundaries on Yom Tov are only derabanan, (Rabbinically ordained). to walk more than 2, 000 amos from the place you were³This refers to your place of dwelling which is determined by where you are when Shabbos begins; you then acquire shevisah. at the onset of Shabbos. This is [in addition] to the space a person occupies which is four⁴The space the person occupies is not included in the 2, 000 amos. Mishnah Berurah 396: 8 rules that with regard to techumin a person’s place is not four by four amos, but rather, eight by eight amos. amos. This is true only if you happen to be in the field at twilight,⁵Or, if you left the techum on Shabbos, in which case you must stop and remain in your place until the end of Shabbos. but if you stayed in a city⁶Even if the city has no surrounding wall. [Shulchan Aruch Harav 396] [at the onset of Shabbos,] then the entire city is considered your place of residence. The outskirts of the city are also considered part of the city. What are the outskirts [of the city]? An area of seventy and two third amos.⁷See Maseches Eiruvin 57a. [This area] is considered part of the city, even though there are no buildings there. This is called the karpeif⁸Means park or yard, or enclosure. [enclosure] of the city. It is from the edge of this area that we begin to measure the techum Shabbos.

“And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare” (Exod. 16:5). He who prepares on the Sabbath Eve will eat on the Sabbath.¹Abodah Zarah 3a. A man should be exceedingly eager to prepare for Sabbath needs, and should hurry enthusiastically like a man who hears that the queen is coming to lodge in his house or that a bride and her entourage are coming to his house. What does he do? He rejoices greatly and says, “What great honor they show me to come within the shadow of my domicile.” He instructs his servants, “Prepare the house, clean it, and sweep it and prepare the beds in honor of the arrivals, and I will purchase for them meat and fish, and whatever else I can acquire in their honor.” He personally engages in the preparation of the dishes, even if he has a thousand servants. Now, what is greater than the Sabbath which is a bride and a queen²Baba Kamma 32b. and is called “delight.”³Isaiah 58:13. How much more that he, the master, should bother and be the one who prepares, even if he has a hundred slaves as in the case of Raba who salted a mullet for the Sabbath.⁴Shabbath 119a.

That is that He commanded us to honor the sages, to rise in front of them and to glorify them. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "In the presence of the elderly you shall rise and you shall respect an elder" (Leviticus 19:32). And the language of the Sifra is, "Rising that has honor." And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in the first chapter of Kiddushin. And you should know that even if this commandment is obligatory for all people in general - meaning to honor sages, and even [towards] a sage that is one's equal in wisdom, like they explained in their saying (Bava Metzia 33a), "The Torah scholars in Babylonia would stand up for one another" - you should know that there are additional [obligations] of honor for the student. And that is because the honor a student is obligated towards his teacher is much more than the honor due to a sage [in general]. And along with the honor, he is obligated to fear him. For they have already explained that the law of his teacher upon him is like the law of his father, whom Scripture has obligated him to honor and fear. And they already said (Sanhedrin 5b) that it is not permissible to disagree with his rabbi - meaning a disagreement that breaks with his instruction and legal decision, such that he relies upon his [own] wisdom and teaches or decides and instructs, unless [his teacher] gives him permission. And it is not permissible to quarrel with him, nor to get upset with him. And he may not suspect him regarding his actions or words with various suspicions, as it is possible that this was not [his teacher's] intention. And in the chapter [entitled] Chelek (Sanhedrin 110a), they said, "Anyone who disagrees with his teacher is as if he disagrees with the Divine Presence, as it is stated (Numbers 26:9), 'when they strove against the Lord.' And anyone who argues with his teacher is as if he argues with the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated (Numbers 20:13), 'These are the waters of Meribah, [where the children of Israel quarreled with the Lord].' And anyone who gets upset with his teacher is as if he is upset with the Divine Presence, as it is stated (Exodus 16:8), 'Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord.' And anyone who suspects his teacher is as if he suspects the Divine Presence, as it is stated (Numbers 21:5), 'And the people spoke against God, and against Moses.'" And this is completely clear, since the disagreement of Korach and the argument of the Children of Israel - and their complaint and their accusation and their suspicion - was with Moshe, who was the teacher of all of Israel; but Scripture put all of these matters of theirs towards God. And in the explanation (Avot 4:12), they said, "The fear of your teacher is like the fear of the Heavens." And [this fear] is all deduced and proved from Scripture's commanding [us] to honor parents and sages, as is explained in many places in the Talmud - but that [does not make] it a separate commandement. And understand this. (See Parashat Kedoshim; Mishneh Torah, Torah Study).