“Adonai spoke to Moses saying: I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I, Adonai, am your God. And it came to pass in the evening that quail appeared and covered the camp, and in the morning a fall of dew around the camp. And when the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. The Israelites saw it and said to one another, ‘It is a gift’—for they did not know what it was. But Moses said to them, ‘That is the bread that Adonai has given you for food.’ This is what Adonai has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you requires to eat, an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each of you shall fetch for those in his tent.’ The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little. But when they measured it by the omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no deficiency: they had gathered as much as they needed to eat.” (Exodus 16:11-18)

Commentary

“In this lay the whole teaching of the importance of conscientious industrious work to be able to rely on the blessing of Providence in seeking livelihood for oneself and one’s family.” (S.R. Hirsch)

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