Reaching the Wilderness of Sin When the Egyptian Bread Ran Out

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 16:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, on the fifteenth day" (Exodus 16:1). Why is the day stated? To make known which day the Sabbath fell on, for it has been ordered and arrived from the day the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, until it was given to them on the twenty-second of Iyar. Another interpretation: why is the day stated? To make known the day on which the Torah was given to Israel. Another interpretation: why is the day stated? To make known the day on which the manna was given to Israel. The flatbread they brought out of Egypt they ate from for thirty-one days, and so it says, "And they baked the dough which they brought out of Egypt" (Exodus 12:39); and here "on the fifteenth day of the second month," right alongside it He says, "Behold, I will rain bread for you" (Exodus 16:4). Rabbi Shila says: they were supplied from it for sixty-one meals.

Themes

ExodusTorahShabbat

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