Behold I Will Rain Bread and the Daily Test of Faith

"And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread for you" (Exodus 16:4). Rabbi Yehoshua says: the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, Behold, I am revealing Myself at once and I will not delay. Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in says: He says "Behold" only for the sake of the fathers. "I will rain for you." Rabbi Yehoshua says: surely it is fitting only for you. Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in says: He says "for you" only by the merit of your fathers. "From heaven" from the good treasury in heaven, as in the matter that is said, "The LORD will open for you His good treasury, the heavens" (Deuteronomy 28:12). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: come and see how beloved Israel are before their Father in heaven; and because they are beloved, the works of creation were altered for them. The upper became lower and the lower became upper. For at first the bread would come up from the earth, as it is said, "to a land of grain and wine" (Deuteronomy 33:28), and the dew would come down from the heavens, as it is said, "his heavens also drop down dew" (there). Now the matters were reversed: the bread began to come down from the heavens, as it is said "bread from the heavens," and the dew to come up from the earth, as it is said, "and the layer of dew went up" (Exodus 16:14). "And the people shall go out and gather." Rabbi Yehoshua says: that you should not go out to your courtyards and gather, but that you should go out to the open places and gather. "A day's portion in its day." Rabbi Yehoshua says: that a person may gather from one day for the next, and likewise from the eve of the Sabbath for the Sabbath. Rabbi Eliezer says: that a person may not gather from one day for the next. And so Rabbi Eliezer would say: whoever has what to eat today and says, What shall I eat tomorrow? is of those lacking faith, as it is said, "a day's portion in its day" the One who created the day created its sustenance. Another interpretation: "a day's portion in its day." Rabbi Shimon says: because of Israel's belovedness He gives bread a day's portion in its day. A parable: to what is the matter like? To a king of flesh and blood who was angry with his son and said, Let him not see my face except at the start of the year, when he shall come and take his sustenance. He was provided for the whole year and was neglected. Would that I might see my father's face, even if I am not provided for! When the king was reconciled to him, he said, Let him come every day and take his sustenance. That son said, Even if I have nothing but the sight of the king each day, it is enough for me. So Israel, because of their belovedness, were given sustenance day by day, so that they would yearn for and receive the face of the Divine Presence every day. "That I may test them, whether they will walk in My Torah or not." It is a test for them and for all who come into the world, for whoever fills his heart to serve the Name with all his heart, He provides his needs from every place. Rabbi Yehoshua says: if a person studied two laws in the morning and two laws in the evening and did work all day long, it is reckoned to him as though he fulfilled the whole Torah. Rabbi Eliezer says: the Torah was given to be expounded only to the eaters of the manna. How so? A person would sit and study and not know from where he would eat and drink, from where he would clothe and cover himself. Thus the Torah was given to be expounded only to the eaters of the manna, and second to them, to the eaters of the priestly portion.