Refined Bodies Refined Sustenance

בפרשת המן.

“In the section of the manna.”

The Sefat Emet introduces his teaching by grounding it in the Torah’s passage about the manna.

דבר יום ביומו.

“A matter of each day in its day.”

This phrase emphasizes the uniquely daily nature of the manna and its spiritual implications.

כי בנ"י נתרוממו להיות גופם מזוכך.

For the Children of Israel were elevated so that their bodies became refined.

The manna purified Israel physically, preparing them for a higher spiritual state.

וכפי הזדככות הגופים כמו כן הפרנסה ומזונות שלהם.

And according to the refinement of their bodies, so was their sustenance and nourishment.

The quality of their food matched their spiritual and physical elevation.

ולכן דרשו חז"ל לחם שמה"ש אוכלין.

Therefore the Sages taught that it was “bread that the ministering angels eat.”

Manna derived from a lofty spiritual source, akin to angelic sustenance.

כי השפע בשורש הוא רוחניות מאוד.

For the divine flow at its root is extremely spiritual.

Material blessings begin as purely spiritual emanations.

וכל הברואים מקבלין אחר כמה צמצומים.

And all created beings receive it only after many contractions.

The spiritual energy must be diminished before lower beings can receive it.

ובנ"י קיבלו כמו שהוא בשורש.

But Israel received it as it is at the root.

The manna reached Israel in a far less diminished form.

וענין יום ביומו יתכן לפרש ע"פ מאמר זוה"ק יתרו כיון דלא אישתכח מנא ביומא שביעאה מה ברכתא אישתכח בי' אלא כולהו ברכאין בשביעאה תליא ע"ש.

And the matter of “each day in its day” can be explained through the Zohar, which teaches that no vessels exist on the seventh day, and all blessing depends upon it.

The Zohar links the structure of the week to higher spiritual vessels of reception.

פרשנו כי הימי המעשה הם כלים לקבל מימים עליונים שהם למעלה מן הזמן.

We have explained that the weekdays are vessels that receive from higher days beyond time.

Weekdays act as containers for transcendent spiritual influx.

אבל בש"ק מתעלה הכל אל השורש.

But on Shabbat everything ascends to the root.

Shabbat returns creation to its source.

וזהו דבר יום ביומו כל יום מיום המיוחד אליו.

This is “each day in its day,” meaning each weekday receives from its uniquely designated supernal day.

Every day receives tailored spiritual influence.

[וכמדומה לי שכעין זה כ' בזוה"ק באיזה מקום על פ' ברוך ה' יום יום].

[It seems to me that something like this is written in the holy Zohar somewhere on the verse “Blessed is God, day by day.”]

A bracketed recollection of a related Zohar passage.

ובשבת לא ירד המן שהמן כבר הוא בהתלבשות והוא בחי' ימי המעשה.

And on Shabbat the manna did not fall, for the manna is already in a state of garmenting and belongs to the weekdays.

Manna was tied to weekday modes of spiritual descent.

וז"ש היום לא תמצאוהו בשדה.

Thus, “Today you will not find it in the field.”

Shabbat stands beyond the realm where manna appears.

בשדה דייקא שאינו בנמצא. אבל למעלה בימים עליונים.

Specifically “in the field,” for it does not exist there, but above in the higher days.

Manna exists spiritually on Shabbat but not in earthly form.

בשבת הוא עיקר הברכה והשפע כנ"ל.

For on Shabbat is the essence of blessing and flow.

Shabbat is the root-source of all sustenance.

וכ' ראו כי ה' נתן לכם השבת.

And it is written: “See that God has given you the Shabbat.”

Israel perceived the special nature of Shabbat through the manna.

שע"י שדור המדבר ראו קבלת השפע מיום ליום כנ"ל.

For the generation of the desert saw the receiving of the flow day by day, as said above.

They watched sustenance arrive fresh each day.

לכן ראו בעין. ההפרש.

Therefore they saw with their eyes the difference.

They could see Shabbat’s difference with their own eyes.

שביום השבת יש עלי' לכל העולמות.

For on Shabbat all worlds ascend.

Shabbat elevates all levels of creation.

ויש לדייק כי בפרשת המן הי' הכל בבחי' ראי'

We must note that in the section of the manna, everything was on the level of seeing.

The manna introduced Israel to spiritual perception.

כמ"ש ויראו בני ישראל

As it is written: “And the Children of Israel saw…”

The Torah emphasizes visual experience.

כו'. ראו כי ה' נתן לכם השבת.

and so on. “See that God has given you the Shabbat.”

The manna made Shabbat visible.

ולכן לדורות כ' ג"כ מלא העומר כו' למשמרת כו' למען יראו את הלחם.

Therefore for the generations too it is written, “a full omer... for safekeeping... so that they may see the bread.”

A jar of manna was kept so later generations could see it.

ובפ' תשא כ' בש"ק לדעת כי אני ה' מקדישכם.

And in Ki Tisa it says regarding Shabbat: “To know that I am God who sanctifies you.”

Shabbat grants knowledge of God.

כי הנה שבת סהדותא איקרי.

For Shabbat is called testimony.

Shabbat serves as a witness to divine creation.

כי בנ"י מעידין בש"ק על הבורא ית' כמ"ש אתם עדי.

for on the holy Shabbat Israel testifies about the Creator, as it is written, “You are My witnesses.”

Keeping Shabbat is testimony.

ויש עדות בידיעה ובראי'.

And there is testimony of knowing and of seeing.

Knowledge and sight are distinct forms of spiritual verification.

כמ"ש או ראה או ידע.

as it is written, “whether he saw or knew.”

The Torah names two kinds of witness.

וידיעה היא למעלה מן הראי'.

And knowing is above seeing.

Knowledge is the higher form.

כי הראי' היא בחי' הסתכלות בגוף.

For seeing is the aspect of looking with the body,

Sight belongs to the body,

וידיעה שייך בנפש בלבד ג"כ.

and knowing belongs to the soul alone as well.

knowledge to the soul.

ובכאן בעת המן נזדככו גופות בנ"י. וזכו לבחי' הראי'.

And here, at the time of the manna, the bodies of Israel were purified.

Manna elevated even physical perception.

ואח"כ נתעלו יותר לבחי' ידיעה.

Afterward they ascended further to the level of knowledge.

Israel grew from sight to understanding.

לכן כ' כאן כי לא ידעו מה.

Therefore it says here: “For they did not know what it was.”

Their knowledge was still developing.

ויתכן כי אח"כ זכו ג"כ לידע מהות המן.

And it is possible that afterward they also merited to know the essence of the manna.

Over time deeper comprehension emerged.

כדכ' למען הודיעך כו' לא על הלחם כו'.

as it is written, “in order to make you know... that not by bread alone,” and so on.

Moses later explained the manna’s meaning.

ולכן עתה הי' השבת בראי' בלא ידיעה.

Therefore now Shabbat was in seeing, without knowing.

At first they only saw Shabbat.

ואח"כ במתן תורה שזכו אל הדעת.

And afterwards, at the giving of the Torah, when they merited understanding,

At Sinai, once they had understanding,

ניתן להם בבחי' ידיעה.

it was given to them in the aspect of knowing.

Shabbat was given as knowledge.

[ועיין בזוה"ק פ' וארא מזה].

[See the holy Zohar on Va’eira about this.]

A reference for further study.

וכ"כ אתה הראת לדעת מקדים ראי' לידיעה.

So too it is written, “You were shown, in order to know”: seeing comes before knowing.

At Sinai sight led to knowledge.

והקב"ה עשה זכר לנפלאותיו.

The Holy One made a remembrance of His wonders.

God leaves memorials of His miracles.

ומכל המדרגות שזכו בנ"י השאיר מהם לדורות.

From every level that Israel reached, He left something for the generations.

Each level attained leaves a trace for later times.

דכ' הכא למען יראו את הלחם.

As it is written here, “so that they may see the bread.”

The manna jar preserves seeing.

ושם כ' למען ידעו דורותיכם.

And there it is written, “so that your generations may know.”

The sukkah preserves knowing.

ומלא העומר שנשאר לדורות בוודאי הוא הארה שנמצא בכללות בנ"י

The omer preserved for generations is certainly a radiance found within the entirety of Israel.

This remnant embodied the spiritual imprint of the manna.

שיכולין להמשיך לפעמים מעין השפע של המן. וכ'

that can sometimes draw something of the flow of the manna. And it is written,

Something of the manna can still reach us.

קח צנצנת אחת

“Take one jar.”

The Sefat Emet hints that the word “one” alludes to a unique annual revelation.

כו'. ויש לדייק אחת ל"ל.

and so on. One should be precise: why say “one”?

Why does the verse specify one jar?

וי"ל ע"ד הרמז דכתיב התם אחת בשנה.

One may say by way of hint, as it is written there, “once a year.”

The word “one” hints at Yom Kippur.

והמן הי' לפני העדות.

And the manna was placed before the testimony.

It stood in the holiest place as a witness to God’s sustenance.

וביום הכפורים שכל בנ"י מתענין מאכילה ושתי'.

On Yom Kippur, when all Israel fasts from eating and drinking,

On the fast of Yom Kippur

ואז יש להם חיות ממוצא פי ה'.

they then have life from what comes out of God’s mouth.

Israel lives on God’s word alone.

ולכן כשנכנס הכ"ג לפני ולפנים.

Therefore when the High Priest entered the innermost chamber,

When the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies,

הי' לו המשכה מבחי' המן.

he drew from the aspect of the manna.

he touched the source of the manna.

ונתגלה הארה זו אחת בשנה:

And this light was revealed once a year.

That light shows once a year.

The Sefat Emet teaches that the manna revealed a unique interplay of sight and knowledge, weekday and Shabbat, contraction and root-source. Israel in the wilderness experienced sustenance in its spiritual origin, and remnants of that revelation remain accessible in all generations.