The Manna That Melted Into Rivers for the Righteous

Zavday ben Levi said: Two thousand cubits of manna came down each day, and it stood until the fourth hour. As soon as the sun came upon it, it dissolved and became countless streams, and it flowed and ran down. And for whom is it now prepared? For the righteous in the world to come. Whoever believes merits and eats of it, but whoever does not believe (Job 20:17): "Let him not look upon the streams, the rivers, the brooks of honey and curds." And since it ran down in streams, the nations of the world would come to drink of it, and it became in their mouths coriander and wormwood, as it is said (Numbers 11:7): "Now the manna was like coriander seed." But for Israel it became honey within their mouths, just as it says (Exodus 16:31): "And its taste was like wafers in honey." Rabbi Judah the Levite bar Rabbi Shallum said: There is a calculation that the manna came down for Israel each day as food for two thousand years, and its height was sixty cubits. It is written concerning the Flood (Genesis 7:11): "On that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened." And it is written concerning the manna (Psalms 78:23): "And He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven." A door has four windows. And it is written (Exodus 34:7): "Keeping mercy for thousands," and it is written (ibid.): "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children." From here we learn that the measure of good is five hundred times greater than the measure of punishment. When two windows were opened during the Flood, all those rains came down for twelve months. And here it is written "and opened the doors of heaven." From here we learn that the manna came down each day as food for two thousand years.