GOOD MORNING! Every week I teach a few business classes to both high school and college age students. Even though they are entrepreneurship courses, I focus the first four or five classes on helping my students develop a healthy perspective on what money is, its true value, and its purpose. I think this is crucial because it has been my experience that many, if not most, people have a terrible relationship with money.

There are many examples of relational financial toxicity: From resenting having to spend hard earned money on one’s life necessities, to feeling compelled to spend every penny that comes into your possession. Even worse, many spend the money before it even comes into their possession (e.g. splurging on something costly on the basis – or hope – that they’ll receive a big year-end bonus). Unfortunately, there is a huge portion of the population that not only struggles to live within their income, but can barely live within their credit limit.

One of the worst aspects of financial toxicity is when we tie our self-worth to our financial success. Unfortunately, our society feeds into this perception; in modern parlance a “successful man” is almost always solely referring to his financial success. He may be an absolutely awful person – a terrible husband, father, friend, business partner, etc. – but, as long as he is wealthy, we will label him a “successful” person.

Because of this, too many people define their personal success by their accumulation of assets (or lack thereof). The result of this delusion is that they use it as a barometer of the societal pecking order; leading some people to resent others who have more money than them – and the converse – looking down on those who have less money. It’s a pretty debilitating, not to mention disturbing, worldview to maintain.

Of course, this spills over into personal relationships. I once heard a prominent marriage counselor state that the vast majority of marital issues that come before him stem from the couple either having too much or too little money. While I think that’s a rather oversimplification of the underlying causes of marital strife, there is definitely some validity to the fact that finances present serious challenges within a marriage.

One of the fundamental truths of living is that being able to provide for oneself is the source of both our independence and personal dignity. At least this is the way it should be. But we live in unique times; one of inborn entitlement where many in our society expect someone else to provide for their basic needs. But this is not the way things are supposed to be.

King Solomon, often referred to as “wisest of all men,” wrote, “he that abhors a gift will live” (Proverbs 15:27). This principle is further emphasized by our sages in the Talmud (Sotah 47b) who also derided receiving gifts. In discussing the rapid declination of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the Second Temple the rabbis said, “When those who received gifts became numerous, the days became few and years short.” Several Talmudic sources likewise indicate that one must be careful not to accept gifts.

By contrast, earning a living allows a person to feel that he can take care of himself and that he has justified his existence. But even more importantly, it is what gives our existence meaning; this ability to earn gives us a sense of independence and allows us to feel that we truly exist. This week’s Torah portion has a strong message regarding our perspective on what it means to earn a living:

Then God said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain portion on every day, that I may test them, whether they will follow in my Torah, or not” (Exodus 16:4).

This week’s Torah reading introduces the “manna” (pronounced monn in Hebrew) – the miraculous food that sustained the Jewish people for the following forty years in the desert. This daily “bread” was collected by the Jewish people each morning (aside from Shabbat) and was their basic sustenance for all those years in the desert. In my mind, there is a definite connection between the manna or “monn” and the word money.

In the verse above, the Almighty tells Moses that the rules pertaining to the monn would reveal if the Jewish people were prepared to follow the laws of the Torah or not. In other words, if they were able to adhere to the rules surrounding the monn, it would indicate that they were ready to follow the laws of the Torah as well.

According to the sages, the two laws that were being used to test the Jewish people to see if they would follow the Torah are: 1) Whether they would leave monn overnight, which had been prohibited (except on Fridays) and 2) whether they would go out to collect monn on Shabbat, which would violate Shabbat (see Rashi’s comments ad loc).

But this is a bit puzzling. What is it about these two rules that makes them so revelatory that they are to be used as a litmus test for whether or not the Jewish people will be able to follow the laws of the Torah?

While it is common knowledge that God sustained the Jewish nation with the monn for forty years in the desert, it is less well-known that God commanded Moses to collect some monn and place it in a jar. This jar of monn collected by Moses was part of a permanent exhibit next to the Holy Ark in the “Holy of Holies” (see 16:33). In fact, according to the Talmud (Horayut 12a), when King Josiah hid the Holy Ark (around 610 BCE) this jar of monn was one of the items tucked away along with it.

The prophet Jeremiah, who lived some eight centuries after Moses, rebuked the Jewish people for not spending enough time studying Torah. They responded to him asking how they would have enough time to earn a living if they spent more time studying? Jeremiah pulled out the jar of monn and told them that God would provide for them just as he provided for their ancestors in the desert (see Jeremiah 2:31).

Jeremiah’s contention that God would provide, as He did with the monn, requires some explanation. The counter argument to his point is rather simple: “As soon as I wake up in the morning and see monn that I can go out and collect, I will stop going to work and commit to studying Torah!” What was Jeremiah trying to tell them?

While the monn had many miraculous attributes, one of its most wondrous aspects was in the collection of it. God informs the people that every person was to collect one omer of monn daily (roughly 3-4 quarts).

The Torah goes on to say something remarkable; that no matter how much or how little monn a person collected, when he or she returned home there was exactly one omer per person. In other words, no matter how hard one worked in the collection it made no difference – everyone got exactly what they were supposed to get.

This is the message that Jeremiah was trying to convey. Everyone has a set amount that the Almighty has portioned for them to receive and, at the end of the day, it makes no difference if they try to get more than they are supposed to receive. The miraculous nature of the monn demonstrated this reality. The sole caveat was that they had to make a reasonable effort to collect it. Some have an easier time collecting and some have a harder time, but in the end, God ensures that everyone gets what He wants them to have. Perhaps this is why in Hebrew the word for portion is “manneh,” a cognate of “monn,” because the monn ensured the everyone got exactly their portion.

This is directly related to the two laws governing the monn, and it becomes clear why their adherence demonstrates whether or not the Jewish people will follow the Torah. The first law is that one must not leave the monn overnight. An individual who chooses to save monn for the following day is one who is proclaiming, “I am in charge of my own destiny; I am in control.” He doesn’t want to be beholden to God by going out and collecting it the next day. This person refuses to recognize his dependence on a creator who runs the world and provides daily for our sustenance.

The second law of the monn is that it shall not be collected on Shabbat. This is a direct repudiation of the Almighty’s act of creation of the world, for Shabbat is the time we commune with Hashem and reflect upon all that He has done for us and the world. It is not a time for us to assert our independence.

A person who refuses to keep these basic laws of the monn cannot possibly accept the Torah or be expected to keep the Torah, because he has rejected the absolute supremacy of the Almighty. An integral aspect of the Torah is that it is the covenant between the Almighty and mankind, and it is a handbook for man’s participation in the running of the world. In safeguarding the laws of the monn, one exhibits a recognition of God as creator and king of the world and a trust that He – not we – is the ultimate provider of everything we have in this world.

Beshalach, Exodus 13:17 - 17:16

The Jewish people leave Egypt. Pharaoh regrets letting them go, pursues them leading his chosen chariot corps and a huge army. The Jews rebel and cry out to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt? Why did you bring us out here to die in the desert?” The Yam Soof (the Sea of Reeds – usually mistranslated as the Red Sea) splits, the Jews cross over, the Egyptians pursue and the sea returns and drowns the Egyptians. Moses with the men and Miriam with the women – each separately – sing praises of thanks to the Almighty.

They arrive at Marah and rebel over the bitter water. Moses throws a certain tree in the water to make it drinkable. The Almighty then tells the Israelites, “If you obey God your Lord and do what is upright in His eyes, carefully heeding all His commandments and keeping all His decrees, then I will not strike you with any of the sicknesses that I brought on Egypt. I am God who heals you.” (This is why the Hagaddah strives to prove there were more than 10 plagues in Egypt – the greater the number of afflictions, the greater number from which we were protected.)

Later, the Israelites rebel over lack of food; God provides quail and manna (a double portion was given on the sixth day to last through Shabbat; we have two challahs for each meal on Shabbat to commemorate the double portion of manna). Moses then instructs them concerning the laws of Shabbat. At Rephidim, they rebel again over water. God tells Moses to strike a stone (later in the Torah God tells Moses to speak to the stone; not here!), which then gave forth water. Finally, the portion concludes with the war against Amalek and the command to “obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.”