Soul-Food Sustaining the Body through the Mann

בפסוק ועתה נפשנו יבשה.

On the pasuk: "and now our nefesh is dried up" (Bamidbar 11:6).

The Sefas Emes examines Bnei Yisrael's complaint that "our soul is dried up" amid their craving in the wilderness.

כי הנה באלשיך פרשת בשלח ביאר איך המן נתן חיות לגוף.

For behold, in the Alshich on parshas Beshalach he explained how the mann gave vitality (chiyus) to the body.

The Alshich explained the way in which the mann, a spiritual food, sustained the physical body.

כמו שנמשך ממזון הגוף חיות אל הנפש ע"י התקשרות נפש בגוף.

Just as vitality is drawn from the food of the body to the nefesh, by means of the connection of the nefesh to the body.

Normally physical food nourishes the body, and through the soul's bond with the body, that vitality reaches the nefesh as well.

מובן מזה כי מזון הנפש יוכל לקיים הגוף ג"כ ע"ש דפח"ח.

It is understood from this that the food of the nefesh can sustain the body as well — see there; these are beautiful words.

The relationship can run in reverse: spiritual nourishment of the soul can, through that same bond, sustain the physical body — which is how the mann worked.

ובאמת נראה שהכל הוא לפי מצב האדם אם הגוף טפל אל הנפש ניזון הוא במזון הנפש.

And in truth it appears that everything depends on the person's state: if the body is subordinate (tafel) to the nefesh, then it is nourished by the food of the nefesh.

Whether soul-food can feed the body depends on a person's spiritual level: when the body is fully subordinate to the soul, the body can indeed live off the soul's nourishment.

והנה כמו כן מדריגה על מדריגה בענין נפש רוח נשמה.

And behold, likewise level upon level in the matter of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

The same principle applies up the ladder of the soul's levels — nefesh, ruach, neshamah — each higher level able to sustain the one below it when the lower is subordinate.

ומרע"ה הי' מדריגתו בחי' התורה שהוא הרוח ממללא ולכן המשיך להם מאכל המן להיות מזון הרוח מעמיד גם הנפש.

And Moshe Rabbeinu — his level was the aspect of the Torah, which is the "ruach memalela" (the speaking spirit); therefore he drew down for them the food of the mann, so that the food of the ruach would sustain even the nefesh.

Moshe stood on the lofty level of the ruach — the Torah, the "speaking spirit" — and so he could draw down the mann, a food of the ruach that nourished even the lower nefesh and the body.

וכשנפלו קצת מזו המדריגה אמרו נפשנו יבשה כי לא הי' בטל כל הנפש אל הרוח.

And when they fell somewhat from this level, they said "our nefesh is dried up," for the entire nefesh was no longer nullified (batel) to the ruach.

When Bnei Yisrael slipped from Moshe's elevated level, their nefesh was no longer fully subordinate to the ruach, so it could not be nourished by the mann — hence "our soul is dried up."

ובדרך זה יש לפרש הפסוק שש מאות כו' אנכי בקרבו כו'.

And in this way one may explain the pasuk: "six hundred [thous.. .the people] in whose midst I am..." (Bamidbar 11:21).

Moshe's words about the six hundred thousand "in whose midst I am" can be read through this lens of soul-levels.

פי' שהם במדריגת הרוח ולא ימצא להם להיות מזון הרוח ע"י מזון הנפש כי הם במדריגת הרוח שצריך להיות עיקר המזון להרוח כנ"ל:

The meaning is that they are on the level of the ruach, and it would not be fitting for them to have the food of the ruach come by way of the food of the nefesh; for they are on the level of the ruach, where the main nourishment must be for the ruach, as above.

Because Bnei Yisrael belonged to the elevated level of the ruach, their nourishment was meant to flow primarily to the ruach (through the mann), not to be obtained through ordinary physical, nefesh-level food like the meat they craved.

Summary: The Alshich teaches that just as bodily food nourishes the soul through their bond, spiritual food can sustain the body too — when the body is subordinate to the soul. This applies up the ladder of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. Moshe, on the level of the ruach (the Torah), drew down the mann so that even the nefesh and body were fed by ruach-nourishment; but when Bnei Yisrael fell from that level and their nefesh was no longer nullified to the ruach, their "soul dried up," for they sought lower, nefesh-level food instead of the heavenly nourishment fitting their true level.