Man (Manna)

Man was miraculous food that the Yidden ate during Yetzias Mitzrayim. It began falling on the 16th of Iyar, one month after they left Mitzrayim, and fell every weekday for 40 years, until the day they approached crossing the Yarden to enter Eretz Yisroel.

The Man had wondrous properties, and one could taste all types of food in it. Along with it, precious stones and pearls would also fall.

History

After Yetzias Mitzrayim and Krias Yam Suf, the Yidden began advancing toward Eretz Yisroel. During their journey, they complained to Moshe and Aharon that they had nothing to eat, saying they preferred returning to Mitzrayim where they had abundant food, and they would rather be enslaved there than die of hunger in the midbar.

Following this, Hashem promised to give the Yidden food day by day, and in addition to the Slav (quail), He brought down bread from heaven:

"They journeyed from Eilim, and the entire congregation of Bnei Yisroel came to Midbar Sin, which is between Eilim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from Eretz Mitzrayim... And Hashem said to Moshe: Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather each day's portion in its day..." — Shemos, Chapter 16

This bread was called Man because Bnei Yisroel didn't know what to call it and said "Man Hu" (What is it?).

Another name for this bread is "Lechem Abirim," which has a double meaning: This bread is heavenly bread eaten by the Malachim called 'Abirim,' and it was absorbed in the limbs where the person eating it did not need to eliminate waste.

Despite the command to gather each day only for that day, and on Friday to gather a double portion for Shabbos, some Bnei Yisroel did not follow these commands. During the week, they hoarded too much Man, which rotted and became infested with worms, and on Shabbos they went out to gather and found nothing.

One of the purposes of bringing down the Man was "so that I may test them, whether they will follow My Torah or not."

At the end of forty years of wandering in the midbar, the Man stopped falling. By Hashem's command, they preserved some Man as a remembrance in the Kodesh Hakodoshim near the Luchos in the Aron Habris.

Chazal teach that in the future time, at the feast of the Shor Habor and the Livyasan, they will also serve from the Man. This will be done by Melech HaMoshiach who will bring down the Man and bring up water from the well - like Moshe Rabbeinu, the first redeemer.

Descent of the Man

The Man fell daily during the six weekdays, in a measure sufficient for each person for only one day. On Friday, a double portion would fall, one for Friday and one for Shabbos.

The Man fell between two layers of dew, and its form was round like seeds in a white-transparent color, thin in thickness, and tasted like honey or oil. The Yidden gathered the Man early in the morning, and what they didn't gather would melt when the sun shone upon it and warmed it.

The location where the Man fell varied among different levels of Yidden. For Tzaddikim, it fell at their doorstep, while others had to go out and gather it at some distance from their tent, according to their level of chassidus and tzidkus.

Even those who gathered a large amount of Man, and those who gathered a small amount, would arrive home with an equal measure of Man - an omer per person for each member of the household. This was a clear miracle that instilled emunah in Hashem among Bnei Yisroel and made them internalize that gathering the Man was just the vessel, and when a person tries to receive more than what was determined for them from above - nothing comes of it.

In the Man, one could taste all flavors in the world, and even the texture of the Man would change according to the taste that the person wanted to experience in it.

Its Bracha

Regarding the bracha on the Man, various opinions are brought in the seforim such as 'Borei Pri Ha'adama', 'Hammatir Lechem Min Hashamayim' and 'Hamotzi Lechem Min Ha'aretz'. There is also an opinion that they made the bracha according to the taste they experienced in it, and an opinion that they didn't make any bracha at all. Regarding the bracha on it in the future time, the Rebbe brings in Likkutei Sichos that according to the Rama MiPano, they will make 'Hamotzi Lechem Min Hashamayim' on the Man preserved in the tzintzenets in the Kodesh Hakodoshim, while according to the Sefer Chassidim, the bracha on eating the Man was 'Hanoten Lechem Min Hashamayim'.

In Toras HaChassidus

The shoresh of the Man is in the pnimiyus of Chochma Ila'ah.

The reason that whatever they wanted to taste in the Man could be tasted was because the spiritual source of this bread was so high that it was abstract from any particular taste or color, and therefore one could taste whatever they wanted in it even when it descended below.

Chassidus explains that the Man didn't fall on Shabbos because its entire purpose was pnimiyus'dike hashpa'ah, and on Shabbos there is an aliyah of the pnimiyus of the worlds to their source and shoresh, so the hashpa'ah of Man couldn't occur on Shabbos.

In general, the Man is like Torah, which is 'bread from heaven' and has no waste. More specifically, it is like pnimiyus haTorah, which compared to nigleh d'Torah is more refined, and moreover, it is specifically like the more elevated part of pnimiyus haTorah - the mochin that are above connection to middos.

B'hashalah (By Extension)

In the writings of our Rebbeim, it is brought that the concept of dmei ma'amad is like 'bread from heaven', and it contains wonderful taanug for our Rebbeim more than all other funds brought to them, which are like 'bread from the earth'.

Also regarding parnassah in recent generations, our Rebbeim expressed that this is like the Man, since according to teva it's not understood how one can make a living from such a small amount for all that is needed for household parnassah, and we must say that the entire matter of parnassah is 'bread from heaven'.