Why the Wilderness Was Needed for Torah to Enter the Body

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 226:9

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Another interpretation: all the more so, why did the Holy One, blessed be He, not bring them in by the direct route? Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, said: If I bring Israel into the land by the direct route, immediately each man will seize hold of his field and his vineyard and neglect the Torah. Instead, behold, I will lead them around in the wilderness forty years, so that they eat the manna and drink the water of the well, and the Torah will be absorbed into their bodies. From here Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai used to say: The Torah was given to be expounded only to those who eat the manna; second to them are those who eat priestly offering.

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