The Manna Tasted to Each According to Who Ate It

Another interpretation: it should not have said "from heaven" but "from the earth," for it is not the way of bread to come up except from the earth. This is what the verse says: "Whatever the LORD desired, He did" (Psalms 135:6). When He wished, He split the sea before Israel and made it dry land; and when He wished, He made it sea again. It is the way of the heavens to bring down dew and rain, and of the earth to bring forth bread, as it is said, "the earth, from it comes forth bread"; yet when He wished, He brought the bread down from the heavens, as it is said, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you," and the dew came up from the earth, as it is said, "And the layer of dew went up" (Exodus 16:14, below). It is written, "And the king allotted them [a daily portion]", that is, by measure; but when I brought down the manna for them, it came down as the rain comes down, without limit. Zavdi ben Levi said: the manna would come down two thousand cubits; each day it would remain until four hours, and once the sun came upon it, it would melt and become streams upon streams, flowing and running down. And for whom is it now prepared? For the righteous in the world to come. Whoever believes is worthy and eats of it; and whoever does not believe, of him it is said, "Let him not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curds" (Job 20:17). And since it came down in the streams, the nations of the world would come to drink of it, and in their mouths it became bitter as wormwood, as it is said, "And the manna was like coriander seed" (Numbers 11:7); but for Israel it became in their mouths like honey, as it is said, "and its taste was like wafers made with honey." And Rabbi Yehudah the Levite son of Rabbi Shalom said: the reckoning is that the manna came down for Israel each day, food enough for two thousand years, and its height was sixty cubits. It is written concerning the Flood, "On this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened" (Genesis 7:11), and it is written concerning the manna, "He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven" (Psalms 78:23). What would the nations of the world do? They would hunt a deer that had drunk of it, and taste in it the taste of manna, and they would say, "Happy the nation for whom it is thus." Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Hanina said: not as the old man tasted it did the infants taste it. The infants would taste in it the taste of milk, as it is said, "and its taste was like the taste of cake baked with oil" (Numbers 11:8); and the young men would taste in it like honey, as it is said, "and its taste was like wafers made with honey"; and the elders would taste in it like bread, as it is said, "Behold, I will rain bread for you"; and the sick man would taste it like fine flour mixed with oil and honey, like this gruel that they make for a sick person, as it is said, "and they cooked it in a pot" (Numbers 11:8). And from where do we know that there was in it the taste of fine flour and honey? As it is said, "And My bread which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey" (Ezekiel 16:19). Whoever was diligent would go out and gather from the field, as it is said, "And the people shall go out and gather"; and the average ones would go out to the entrance of their tents and gather; and the lazy ones would lie upon their beds and stretch out their hands, and it would come down into their hands, as it is said, "And the layer of dew went up" (Exodus 16:14, below).