Well, the Israelites finally get free. You know how the story goes. They leave Egypt in the night, Pharaoh realizes they are leaving forever and that he will lose his entire economy, and he sends his army after them. The Israelites run into The Sea of Reeds, Moses holds out his hand and G-d parts the waters so they can walk through on dry land to freedom. There are more details but that’s the gist.
They sing and dance (which is why this shabbat is called Shabbat Shirah – Shabbat of Song) and then soon are hungry and tired and whiny. G-d rains down manna for them to gather and eat. But here’s the catch – they should only gather what they need each day and not try to save extra. If they do, it will go rancid. They need to learn to trust that G-d will continue to provide everyday, just what they need. And right before the sabbath, they can gather a double portion so that they don’t actually have to gather on the day of rest (this is why we have two loaves of challah on the shabbat table).
This week, I want to focus on only one line of text –
Exodus 16:18
When they measured it with an omer, those who gathered more had nothing left over, and those that gathered less did not lack at all. Every man gathered according to his appetite.
וַיָּמֹדּוּ בָעֹמֶר וְלֹא הֶעְדִּיף הַמַּרְבֶּה וְהַמַּמְעִיט לֹא הֶחְסִיר אִישׁ לְפִי־אׇכְלוֹ לָקָטוּ
The omer is a unit of measurement they used, and this text is referring to gathering the manna I mentioned above. Notice, everyone didn’t gather the same amount. Some gathered more and some gathered less. But, all had enough. We love the idea of “enough” in Jewish tradition. At Passover, we sing a song called, “Dayenu” which means “it would have been enough for us” in reference to so many miracles and gifts from G-d. And I’m sure we’ve all been told to quit our belly-aching more than once with the phrase “enough already!” I digress.
The Israelites gathered different amounts, but everything was consumed. There was both no lack and no excess. As my teacher recently mentioned in a text chat about this verse (yes, I text people about Torah verses… not infrequently) this is the “goldilocks approach.” Everyone’s portion is just right.
The translation I selected, though gendered in the masculine (shocker) particularly says that everyone gathers according to their appetite, but the word is more literally, “their eating” – everyone gathered according to their eating. In other words, they gathered in a way that made sense for them – how they eat, when, what, etc…
As someone with what many consider extreme dietary restrictions, I get this all too well. But more broadly, I’m struck by this vision of equity. While we debate on the national stage the differences between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome, I think the world we are working towards ought to include visions of both. In this scenario, arguably, equality of opportunity alone would mean everyone is given the same exact portion of manna. Equality of outcome means everyone is fed. The truth is, we all need different things. Even two children raised in the same family – does equal mean everyone gets the same meal? Or does it mean each person is able to eat the food that best nourishes them? People aren’t “one size fits all.”
Here’s the question: how can we build this goldilocks world where people are able to gather enough but not too much?
I don’t know.
I can say that for the Israelites, it wasn’t easy. They (like us) tried to stockpile manna out of fear (my assessment) there wouldn’t be enough the next day. And I get that.
This reflection is less about proposing a path forward and more about offering a vision worthy of our hard work. May this text help us calibrate our moral compasses. May we all be fed according to our needs.