Another matter, “behold, I will rain down bread for you from the heavens,” that is what is written: “You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living being” (Psalms 145:16). Come and see that the nature of flesh and blood is unlike the nature of the Holy One blessed be He. The nature of flesh and blood is that when a sponge is in his hand, if he opens his hand no drop falls, but if he clenches his hand, it causes water to fall.
But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. The sponge is in His hand, as it is stated: “The streams [peleg]4Peleg can also mean body part. of God are filled with water” (Psalms 65:10), and likewise, “who measured water in His palm” (Isaiah 40:12). If He shuts it, the water does not come down, as it is stated: “Behold, He shuts the water and it dries” (Job 12:15), and it says: “He will shut the heavens and there will be no rain” (Deuteronomy 11:17).
He opens His hand and the rain falls, as it is stated: “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens [to provide rain for your land in its time]” (Deuteronomy 28:12). And it says: “You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living being” (Psalms 145:16). “The food of every living being,” is not written here, but rather, “the desire of every living being,” as He provides for the desire of each and every one.
Likewise, in the future, the Holy One blessed be He will give each and every one everything that he seeks. If you wonder about this matter, see what He did for Israel in this world, as He brought down for them manna, in which there were all kinds of delicacies, and each and every one of Israel would taste anything that he wanted, as it is stated: “These forty years the Lord your God is with you, you lacked nothing [davar]” (Deuteronomy 2:7).
What is davar? When one would desire to eat something [davar], and he would say so with his mouth: ‘If only I had a piece of fattened meat to eat,’ immediately, it would be transformed into the taste of fattened meat in his mouth. They would say a word [davar], and the Holy One blessed be He would fulfill their will. Rabbi Abba said: He would not even say anything with his mouth, but rather would think in his heart what his soul desired and the Holy One blessed be He would fulfill his will, and he would taste the flavor of what he desired.
Know that it is so, as Ezekiel said: “My bread that I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey I fed you” (Ezekiel 16:19). One verse says: “Behold, I will rain down bread for you from the heavens,” and one verse says: “And its taste was like a cake of honey” (Exodus 16:31), and it says: “Its taste was like the taste of cake baked with oil” (Numbers 11:8). How are the three verses realized? Lads would taste the taste of bread; elders, the taste of honey; babies, the taste of oil.