Kaisipang Hudyo sa Mga Awit 145:11: Akeidat Yitzchak & HaEmunot veHaDeot

When Shemot Rabbah 25, suggests that in answer to the question of why we observe the Sabbath, we should point out the fact that no Manna fell on the Sabbath, it means that we have seen proof that He created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. The falling of the Manna was associated with three miracles, (a) it did not fall on the Sabbath, to teach the sanctity of the Sabbath; (b) the fact that the daily ration collected was exactly adequate for each individual, there was no shortfall. This teaches that one should not chase after material goods and seek to accumulate them; (c) the double portion that fell on Fridays, teaching that the Sabbath was the day of rest, and that only those people would eat it who had prepared for it on Sabbath eve. The lazy people would starve. Compare Isaiah 65,13, "behold, My servants will eat, but you will starve!" (See Shabbat 153) (10) Since "seeing is believing," keeping a day's supply of Manna bottled up for future generations would reinforce the belief of future generations of Jews that Manna had indeed been also been spiritual nourishment, and as such had benefitted even the later generations. (11) The repetition of "they ate Manna for forty years etc.," is to emphasize that both their physical and their spiritual needs were met by consuming Manna during all these years. Alas, when the Manna stopped, and there was no longer visible evidence of G-d’s Providence, Israel began to depart from the level of Torah observance it had practiced up to that point. The Midrash quoted at the outset reflects the lesson of the Manna. Before explaining this in detail, we must understand some of the details in the parable. Why had G-d placed the table in the garden of Eden and not in the desert? Where were the angels Michael and Gabriel, if G-d sat the head and the righteous at His feet? Why did they divide the fruit of the garden and the fruit of the tree of life into separate courses? How does one accord honour to G-d if one portrays Him as asking others to recite grace? This is especially curious in view of the fact that that honour was declined by most of those who had been invited to say grace? Since the angels did not participate in the meal, how could they possibly have been asked to recite grace? What prompted David to bless G-d more than the other participants at that meal? Since G-d’s activities both within nature and when supernatural, are all designed to afford man a greater understanding of who He is, what He is, the extent of His power etc., eating at His table is symbolic of being allowed to share some of these insights. This is the reason the Midrash quotes the verses in Isaiah 33,16-22, in which G-d is featured as the Provider of parnassah, livelihood. When these verses describe how G-d established Israel in the choice land of Israel and Jerusalem, this refers to the Manna. Just as the Manna was food par excellence, so the land of Israel was soil and climate par excellence, providing the best in crops and agricultural products. Its advantages were similar to the advantages of Manna over ordinary food. Proverbs 30,7-9, expresses our attitude to earthly belongings. "Do not make me too poor or too rich." This is the reason that parnassah became known as shulchan aruch (see haggadah sheI Pessach) The term means that all necessities are at hand. The "fruit" represents the food for the body of elevated man, referred to earlier in this chapter. The bodies of such people are to be treated as separate from their spirit, and therefore rate vegetable matter as their proper nourishment. The fruit from the tree of life represents food offered to the mind and spirit. Since the latter is also the nourishment that sustains angels, it was quite in order for them to recite grace for what they had received from their Host. Honouring G-d by allowing Him to choose the order of who should recite grace, is a way of saying that G-d’s involvement in all that goes on in our world is not merely indirect, He being the ultimate Source, but that it is immediate. He remains in charge, overlords all that goes on in our world. Since the angels Michael and Gabriel had not been listed as guests participating at that meal, their mention may symbolise two different stages of human development. Michael is symbolic of the primordial intellect, something that represents merely man's potential. Gabriel, on the other hand, symbolises the mind and spirit that have matured, achieved their potential. According to Chagigah 16, these are the two angels that accompany man at all times, never leave him. G-d first asked Michael to recite grace, since he first and foremost is in need of the nourishment offered, and has to acknowledge what he has received from the Lord. Next comes the angel Gabriel, who has to give thanks for the spiritual sustenance received. It is this which enables the most refined part of man to achieve its perfection. Next in line are the ancestors who, though they owe many of their moral and ethical achievements to their own efforts, could not have done so without the nourishment (guidance) provided by Him. The ancestors in turn ask David to give thanks, since he is the king chosen by them; it is fitting that the human representative of Royalty, acknowledge the Royalty of the entire universe by this manner of thanksgiving. David was especially representative, since G-d had assisted him in an unparalleled manner. Therefore, it is he who says "I will pronounce the benedictions." It is worthwhile to recall another aggadah in Pessachim 119. In that instance, at the feast G-d prepares for the righteous in the future, "on the day He performs kindness with the offspring of Isaac," G-d offers the honour of reciting grace first to Abraham, who declines, citing inadequacies having sired Ishmael. Then Isaac declines, because he had sired Esau. Jacob also declines feeling inadequate having married two sisters during their lifetimes, something later on prohibited by Torah law. Moses declines not having been worthy to enter the holy land, whereas Joshua declines for not having been worthy to have a son. David, however, accepts the honour with alacrity. Actually, David had better reason to decline seeing he had transgressed Torah laws in effect during his lifetime. The answer, however is as stated. No one had received a cup so full of salvations, i.e. no one else had experienced so many acts of G-d’s Personal Providence as had David. It was fitting therefore that he, more than anyone else should lift the chalice in thanksgiving to the Lord. David's entire lifestyle of praising the Lord in song, reflects his constant awareness of all G-d’s kindness he had experienced. Having appreciated the foregoing, we can understand the inner connection between the Midrash with the Manna in the desert. (12) When Israel reached the oasis Refidim, which contained all the necessities of life except water, they thought that this was proof that Moses had acted on his own all along. They believed that Moses had finally miscalculated, having forced Israel to march through the desert. They challenged Moses to produce water. They argued that if G-d was indeed the force behind every one of Moses’s instructions, surely they were entitled to a miracle. Moses, realising that it was not really water they had requested, but that they had made the availability of water an issue to discredit his leadership, upraided them for "trying the Lord." If you have a quarrel with me, he said, do not bring the Lord into it. Moses was not angry at the request for water, but at the pretext this request served for. Only after the pangs of thirst grew stronger, and the people were actually afraid of perishing from thirst, did Moses call upon G-d to ask for help. This was both because the people were thirsty, and because he felt threatened personally. When the people accused Moses of taking them out of Egypt into a deathtrap, they did not refer to G-d, against whose leadership they would not have complained. Moses presented the people's case against himself as apparently justified. If succor would not be forthcoming, he argued, the people would be entitled to stone him, as is the fate of a false prophet. So as to remove such doubts from the people's mind, he was commanded to take the elders with him when he would perform the great miracle of producing water from the rock by means of the very staff that had up to now served to produce plagues, afflictions and death on the Egyptians. The episode of Massa and Merivah taught the lesson that G-d continued to guide the everyday lives of the Jewish nation.

Afterwards I say: How can this matter, that is, the blessed Creator, be sustained in our thoughts when none of our senses has fallen upon Him? And I say: Just as the goodness of good and the corruption of falsehood can be sustained in it (the mind) even though our senses have not fallen upon it. And just as we can conceive intellectually of the existence of that which has been collected and that which is found yet absent, and other such abstract things, even though the senses have not seen them. As Scripture says (Jeremiah 10:10): "But the Lord is truly God."And I say: How can His existence everywhere arise in our minds, such that there is no place except Him? Because no place was devoid of Him beforehand. For if places had separated His parts, He would not have created them. And if corporeal things had disturbed the places from Him, even partially, He would not have created them. And since the matter is thus - that His existence after creating all corporeal things is like His existence before creating them, without change, separation, concealment, or interruption - as it says (Jeremiah 23:24): "Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? declares the Lord."And I bring this matter closer to comprehension and say: Were it not that we are accustomed to some veils not blocking sound, and similarly we see that glass does not obstruct light, and we know that the sun's light is not harmed by the filth in the world - we would be astonished by this. But all these are wondrous things that testify to the truth of His matter. And I say further: How can it arise in the mind that He knows all that was and all that will be, and that knowledge of them is equal to Him? I explain that created beings do not know what will come about, because their knowledge comes only through the senses; and what has not come to their hearing, sight, and other senses, they cannot grasp. But the Creator, whose way of knowing is not through any cause, but is intrinsic knowledge because His essence is knowledge - the ephemeral and the future are together equal to Him, and He knows them without cause. As it says (Isaiah 46:10): "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying: 'My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure I will do.'" And when a person reaches this subtle matter intellectually, through tradition and seeing signs and proofs, his soul will believe it, and it will blend into his spirit, and he will find it present in his inner chambers, and wherever it stands in his hall, he will find Him there - as the prophet said (Isaiah 26:9): "My soul yearns for You in the night, also my spirit within me seeks You earnestly." And his love for Him will be perfect, without doubt, as it says (Deuteronomy 6:5): "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." And that servant will remember Him by day in his going about, and by night on his bed, as it says (Psalms 63:7): "When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches." His spirit, so to speak, will murmur at the time of remembering Him, from longing and pining, as it says (Isaiah 26:9): "My soul yearns for You in the night, also my spirit within me seeks You earnestly." And His remembrance will nourish him more than fatness, and His name will water him more than any water, as it says (Psalms 63:6): "My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips." Until he returns all his affairs to Him, and takes shelter in Him and always trusts in Him, as it says (Psalms 62:9): "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." And if He does good for him, he will give thanks, and if He afflicts him, he will endure - as it says (Psalms 22:30): "All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship." And if He were to separate him from his body, he would still hope for Him and not suspect Him - as it says (Job 13:15): "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." And in all that he observes of His ways, he will increase in awe and fear - as it says (Job 23:15): "Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him." And all that he contemplates of His attributes, he will magnify their praise and increase his joy - as it says (Psalms 105:3): "Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!" Until he loves those who love Him, and honors those who honor Him, as it says (Psalms 139:17): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!" And he will hate those who hate Him, and loathe His enemies - as it says (Psalms 139:21): "Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?" Until he will argue on His behalf and respond concerning Him and His ways with intellect and knowledge, not with heaviness - as it says (Job 36:3): "I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you." And he will praise and laud Him with intellect and honesty, not with exaggeration and lies - as it says concerning those who praise (2 Chronicles 30:22): "And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord." And he will not forget Him by making the five more than the ten, without adding to them, nor by fitting a world into the hollow of a ring, without having formed this one and expanded that one, nor by returning yesterday that has passed - for all this is futile. And some of the heretics may ask about all this, and we will answer that He is able to do anything, and that which is not dependent on Him is nothing - for it is futile, and futility is nothing; it is as if they asked whether He could do nothing. But they asked properly concerning this. Rather, he (the perfect servant) praises Him for intrinsic matters - that He is the Primal One who does not change or exchange, as it says (Deuteronomy 33:27): "The eternal God is a dwelling place." And that He Himself is truly One, as it says (Nehemiah 9:6): "You alone are the Lord." And that He lives and exists forever, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:40): "For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever..." And that He is able to do anything, as it says (Nehemiah 9:32): "Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty and awesome God..." And that He knows everything with perfect knowledge, as it says (Job 37:16): "Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?" And that He creates everything from the beginning, as it says (Jeremiah 10:16): "He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things." And that He does not do anything futile or chaotic, as it says (Isaiah 45:18): "He did not create it a waste, He formed it to be inhabited." And that He is not unjust or spoiled, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:4): "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice." And that He does only good for His servants, as it says (Psalms 145:9): "The Lord is good to all, and His compassion is over all that He has made." May all Your works praise You, O Lord... May they speak of the glory of Your kingdom... And that He does not change or become different, as it says (Malachi 3:6): "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." And that His kingdom will not cease or end, as it says (Psalms 145:13): "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom..." And that His command stands, no one can turn it back, as it says (Psalms 103:19): "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all." And that it is obligatory to praise Him for His good and great attributes, as it says (Psalms 138:5): "And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord." And that all that the narrators recount about Him, and for which the praisers praise Him - He is supremely lofty, great and exalted beyond it all, as it says (Nehemiah 9:5): "Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise." And this which is found in places in the books of praise and laudation is not attributed to Him, but rather to His narrations, as it says (Ezekiel 3:12): "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place." And that they said (Psalms 68:5): "Sing to His name" - and you will sometimes find it said (Psalms 72:18): "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things" to recount His story. And it says (Psalms 97:12): "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to His holy name." But in the words of our Rabbis there are many such things - it is to recount His story that they say: "Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom." And I say concerning all this that it too is a product of speech; that is, when it is intended to magnify and exalt, they place words before mentioning that great one. And the more such preceding words there are, the greater the exaltation. As it says (Esther 1:4): "He displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his majesty." And it is His wealth, kingship, and greatness; it is also His value, glory, and greatness. And the narrators likened some to others. Observe, may God guide you! What we have written, and contemplate it closely, and raise it up in your thoughts, and do not be hasty to decide on the words. Rather, decide based on the preceding fundamentals. And place the words as transition and approach, as we have explained.