Musar su Esodo 16:37

The 24th commandment forbids Jews to leave their "place" on the Sabbath; In his ספר המצות, in which he enumerates the list of 613 commandments, Maimonides understands this commandment to refer to the prohibition of travelling or walking on the Sabbath more than one מיל or two thousand cubits (about 1.2 kilometers) beyond the city limits. He holds that this is a biblical prohibition. Maimonides later retreated from this position in his major Halachic work יד החזקה. He writes there that the Bible permits one to walk as far as 3 פרסאות, i.e. the distance of the encampment of the Jewish people in the desert. (12 times the distance mentioned earlier) Nachmanides disagrees with Maimonides on both counts, claiming that this prohibition is altogether not a biblical one, as is explained in the Babylonian Talmud. Nachmanides understands the verse 16,29 to prohibit carrying on the Sabbath from a private domain to a public domain and vice versa, i.e. the words אל יצא איש ממקומו are to be understood as אל יוציא איש ממקומו. The Talmud in Eyruvin 48 also adopts this view. Regardless of who is right, the Torah imposes restrictions of movement on the Sabbath either on man, or on his belongings, or on both.

And behold, the essence of humility is that he not find any value at all in himself, but rather think of himself as nothing. And the matter is like the statement (Exodus 16:7), "and what are we, that you complain about us" - until he is in his eyes, the lowliest of all the creatures and very disgraceful and disgusting. And when he constantly toils to reach this trait, all the other traits will be dragged after it. As behold, the first trait that is in the Crown is that It makes Itself appear like nothing in front of Its Emanator. Likewise, [should] a person make himself [to be an] actual nothing; and he [should] think of his disappearance, as much better than his existence. And with this, he will be in front of his detractors as if the [truth] is with them and he is [actually] disgraceful and to be blamed. And this will be a catalyst for the acquisition of the good traits.

והאיש משה עניו מאד מכל האדם . "Moses was more humble than any other human being." We can appreciate the value of the virtue of humility after we see that the only praise the Torah accords Moses, the father of all prophets, the man who maintained closer contact with G–d than anyone before him or since, is the reference to his humility. This teaches us to try and practice this virtue to the extreme. We are reminded of the Mishnah (Avot 4,4) which says: "be very very humble." When the Torah here says "more than any other human," we know of three humble people, Moses and Aaron who had said of themselves: "נחנו מה," who are we? (Exodus 16,7); then there was Abraham who said of himself: ואנכי עפר ואפר, "and I am only dust and ashes," (Genesis 18,27). Finally, there was King David, who said of himself: ואנכי תולעת, "and I am a worm." The most humble one of them all was Moses, since he did not even compare himself to anything else, but said:"We are nothing!" This is what the Torah meant when it said “מכל האדם”. The three letters in the word אדם, are the first letters respectively of אברהם, דוד, משה.

הנני ממטיר לכם לחם מן השמים … למען אנסנו הילך בתורותי. This verse contains an indirect instruction to say a word of Torah during meals.

והיה עקב תשמעון . In the previous paragraph (7,7) the Torah explained that G–d's love for the Jewish people is not based on our superior numbers, seeing that we are "small," numerically speaking. The Talmud Chulin 89a states in the name of Rabbi Eliezer that the meaning of this verse is that G–d likes the Jewish people because even when they are riding high (economically) they still humble themselves, i.e. they behave as if they were מעט מכל העמים, the least significant of all nations. Abraham, for instance, described himself as: אנכי עפר ואפר, "I am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18,27). Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16,7) said of themselves: ונחנו מה, "What do we amount to?" David described himself as: ואנכי תולעת ולא איש "I am only a worm, not a man" (Psalms 22,7). On the other hand, the "great" men among the Gentile nations did not react in this fashion to the greatness I (G–d) have bestowed upon them. I have given greatness to Nimrod; he responded by building a Tower in order to assert himself against Me. I gave greatness to Pharaoh; he responded by claiming "Who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" (Exodus 5,2). I made Sancheriv a mighty ruler and he reacted by saying: "Who among the gods of all these lands has saved them from me that you should imagine that the Lord will save you from me?" (Kings II 18,35). Similar expressions of arrogance are recorded as having been used by Chirom the king of Tzor, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and others. Rava or Rabbi Yochanan are reported to have said that the continued existence of the universe would not have been permitted had it not been for Moses and Aaron and people of their caliber, all of whom said of themselves: "what do we amount to?" It is interesting that G–d is described in Job 26,7 as תולה ארץ על בלימה, "suspending earth over merely מה" (hardly something), a reference to Moses and Aaron who had described themselves as נחנו מה. Rabbi lla'i, also on folio 89 Chulin, suggests the meaning of the verse in Job to be that the earth will be allowed to survive for the sake of people who בולם את עצמם, "put the brakes on their ego" at times of strife. Rabbi Abahu, on the other hand, says that he who considers himself as if he did not exist is the "salt of the earth." He uses Deut. 3,27: ומתחת זרועות עולם, in the sense of "he who is trampled by the world is the real 'arms' supporting the universe." Rabbi Yitzchak derives this same message from Psalms 58,2: האמנם אלם צדק תדברון מישרים תשפטו בני אדם. He understands this verse to mean that maintaining a silent (אלם) profile and speaking out only in matters of צדק, i.e. Torah, is what keeps the world going.

לקטו ממנו איש לפי אכלו. The Torah tells us here how much a person needs to eat to sustain himself. This is the reason the measurements are spelled out in such detail, as well as the fact that people's subjective estimate of their "needs" were proven wrong, since, regardless of how much they believed they had gathered, once they measured it, they found that every person had obtained the same quantity. When the Torah afterwards describes some people as "storing" extra מן for the following day against Moses' instructions, and it turned into worms, this was a warning of what our sages (Avot 2,7) called מרבה בשר מרבה רמה, that he who eats excessively, over and beyond his needs, only increases the number of worms that will eventually invade his corpse. When the Torah added: ויבאש, this is a hint that decomposition can set in even during one's lifetime when one gorges oneself on too much unneeded food. I have enlarged on this subject in my treatise שער האותיות under the heading of שלחן and the letter ק for קדושה.

They further said (Chulin 89a): "'It was not because you were greater than any people that the L-rd desired in you and chose you' (Devarim 7:7) - the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, 'My sons, I desire you because even when I bestow greatness upon you, you humble yourselves before Me. I bestowed greatness upon Avraham, yet he said to Me, 'I am but dust and ashes' (Gen.18:27); Upon Moses and Aharon, yet they said: 'And we are nothing' (Ex.16:7); upon David, yet he said: 'I am but a worm and no man' (Tehilim 22:7)"

To what is this similar? To a pig-herder who rose to become the king. As long as he remembers his early days, it will be impossible for him to become arrogant. Likewise, when one considers that at the end of all his greatness, he will return to the earth to be food for maggots, all the more so will his pride be submitted and his roaring arrogance quieted. For what is his good and his greatness if his end is shame and dishonor?

And when he contemplates further and pictures in his mind the moment he enters before the great Beit Din of the heavenly host, when he finds himself before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who is absolutely pure and holy, in the midst of the assembly of holy ones, mighty servants, strong in power, obeying His word, without any blemish whatsoever, and he stands before them, base, lowly, and petty in and of himself, defiled and polluted due to his deeds. Will he then raise his head? Will he have what to answer? And when they ask him: "where has your mouth gone? Where is the pride and honor which you assumed in your world?"

While explaining this we will also answer the question why twelve spies had been needed for that missionץ Another question that needs to be dealt with is why the Torah had to tell us that the time the spies went on their mission was the beginning of the grape harvest (13,20). Another difficulty that we plan to explain is the comment of Rashi that the local inhabitants when observing the spies said to one another: "there are some ants in the vineyards" (Rashi on 13,33). Where did Rashi get this from? A further difficulty is the wording of Caleb interrupting the majority report in 13,30, when the Torah says: "Caleb silenced the people before Moses." What great wisdom did Caleb pronounce when he told the people that with the help of G–d they would be able to inherit the land? One did not have to be a member of the spy team to come up with this kind of elementary wisdom! Any righteous person could have pointed this out at once!

The second kind of awareness demanded by Rabbi Akavyah, consciousness of one's destination, a place of worms and decay, similarly holds no terror when one speaks of meat such as the sacrificial meat which has been sanctified on the altar. Such meat is not subject to decay amd worms. The Talmud describes several instances of rabbis whose body had not decayed for many years after their burial. One such instance was that of Rabbi Eleazar who was blessed by a Jewish adulterer about to be executed that his flesh should not become worm-eaten nor decay (Baba Metzia 83b).

The absence of flies in the slaughterhouse cited as one of the ten miracles which occurred in the Holy Temple symbolises an absence of bodily desires. The body is less likely to decay when one controls them. Rabbi Akavyah therefore demanded an awareness of the fact that there would be a price to pay for indulging one's body in order to frighten us into controlling such urges. Berachot 10a states that the Shunamite woman who used to provide lodging for the prophet Elisha recognized that he was a holy man because flies never bothered him or his food. The presence of flies then symbolizes an excessive concern with the physical. The people who ignored Moses' instructions in Exodus 16,19 not to try and leave over part of the manna which fell on the first day learned their lesson because their left-overs became worm-eaten and stank. We read in Malachi 2,3: "I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festival sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its heap." The presence of flies and their ilk round the sacrificial meat is a clear sign of a curse. We have stated that our own table should serve as our private altar, i.e. as the visible symbol that we should strive for holiness.

The absence of flies in the slaughterhouse cited as one of the ten miracles which occurred in the Holy Temple symbolises an absence of bodily desires. The body is less likely to decay when one controls them. Rabbi Akavyah therefore demanded an awareness of the fact that there would be a price to pay for indulging one's body in order to frighten us into controlling such urges. Berachot 10a states that the Shunamite woman who used to provide lodging for the prophet Elisha recognized that he was a holy man because flies never bothered him or his food. The presence of flies then symbolizes an excessive concern with the physical. The people who ignored Moses' instructions in Exodus 16,19 not to try and leave over part of the manna which fell on the first day learned their lesson because their left-overs became worm-eaten and stank. We read in Malachi 2,3: "I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festival sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its heap." The presence of flies and their ilk round the sacrificial meat is a clear sign of a curse. We have stated that our own table should serve as our private altar, i.e. as the visible symbol that we should strive for holiness.