1)

What are the connotations of "Lechem Lo Achaltem ve'Yayin ve'Sheichar Lo Shesisem"?

1.

Ramban #1 and Moshav Zekenim #1: This is not comparable to when Moshe made a similar statement regarding himself, 1 but was merely a reminder that their chief sustenance comprised the Manna, 2 which they received miraculously directly from Hashem.

2.

Ramban #2 and Moshav Zekenim #2: Throughout the forty years in the great and fearful desert, they ate only the Manna 3 - exclusively, and it was only in the fortieth year, when they were close to Eretz Yisrael that the leaders of Yisrael purchased food 4 from the neighboring nations. 5


1

See Eikev, 9:9.

2

Ramban: Even though there were times when they ate regular food - See 2:28 & 29, as the Gemara explains in Yoma, 75b.

3

Ramban: As the Torah indicates in2:7.

4

Ramban and Moshav Zekenim: For added pleasure, not because they needed it and not for satiation. (Perhaps the leaders of Yisrael wanted to be able to bless Hashem for everything, including the five foods that they could not taste in the Manna - PF)

5

Ramban: As the Torah describes in 2:6.

2)

What is the Pasuk coming to teach us?

1.

Targum Yonasan: It teaches us that since they only ate (the Heavenly) Manna and water from the Well of Miriam, 1 and not bread made of wheat or wine (made of grapes), they were able to arrive at a full understanding of Hashem via Torah-study. 2

2.

It teaches us that Hashem deliberately fed that generation the Manna and from the well of Miriam to demonstrate that Hashem is their G-d


1

Targum Yonasan does not actually mention the well of Miriam, but it is clear that he is referring to it.

2

As the Mechilta states 'The Torah was only given to the generation that ate the Manna. See Na'ar Yonasan.

3)

Why does the Torah write "Ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem" (in the first person) despite the fact that the rest of the Parshah is written in the third person?

1.

Oznayim la'Torah: Because, although Moshe presented the K'lalos in the third person, 1 Hashem is personally consoling Yisrael.


1

Refer to 28:69:4:2*.

Sefer: Perek: Pasuk:

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