The Dew of Manna and the Lifted Prayer of the Fathers

"And the layer of dew came up" (Exodus 16:14): here Scripture has taught you how the manna came down for Israel. "And behold, upon the face of the wilderness": not over the whole wilderness but only part of it. "Fine" [dak]: this teaches that it was fine. "Flaky" [mechuspas]: this tells that it came down like frost upon the ground, the words of Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in says: "And the layer of dew came up" [alah]: the prayer of the fathers came up [as a plea], for they were lying like dew upon the ground. "And behold, upon the face of the wilderness": not over the whole wilderness but only part of it. "Fine": this teaches that it came down from the firmament, as it is said, "who stretches out the heavens like a fine curtain [dok]" (Isaiah 40:22). And since it came down from the firmament, one might think it came down cold; therefore it teaches "warm." And how do we know it came down only upon the vessels? It teaches "like frost." Rabbi Tarfon says: it came down only upon the rims. As it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out His hand and took the prayer of our fathers who lie in the dust upon the ground, and brought down manna for Israel, as the matter is said, "I have found a ransom." "And the children of Israel saw it and said" (Exodus 16:15) "what is it" [man hu]: like a person who says to his fellow, "What is this?" So they said to one another, "What is it?" The expounders of hidden meanings said: Israel called its name man. "And Moses said to them": Rabbi Yehoshua says, Moses said it to the elders, and the elders to all Israel. "It is the bread": from here Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon would say, Israel were fattened like horses at that hour. It says here "for food," and it says elsewhere "Man ate the bread of the mighty" (Psalms 78:25). Do not read "the mighty" [abirim] but "the limbs" [evarim], bread that melts in the limbs. He said to them: the manna you eat melts in your limbs. "He sent them provision to the full" (Psalms 78:25): this is Joshua son of Nun, for whom manna came down equal to all Israel. And some say it came down upon his very limbs, and from his limbs he would take and eat; therefore it is said, "Man ate the bread of the mighty."