When the sixth day came, what they had gathered [was a] double [portion of] bread, two omers for each individual. (Shemos 16:22)

RASHI: THEY COLLECTED DOUBLE BREAD…A Midrashic explanation is that משנה in לחם משנה signifies מְשֻׁנָּה (meaning) different, changed — that day it was changed for the better as regards to its smell and its taste (Tanchuma Yashan).

The mon is one of those things that fire up many people’s imagination: A magical food that could taste like anything. It also fired up the thoughts of many commentators, as there are many different divrei torah written about this topic. I once saw a sefer exclusively on mon that was several hundred pages long. I am sure that everyone could find something “tasteful” in that sefer!

The Chofetz Chaim pondered “Everyone understands that the mon could take on any taste that one thought of, but what would the mon taste like if one didn’t think at all?” To that the Chofetz Chaim responded, “Without thinking at all, it would be truly tasteless!”

Another idea is brought out through the following question: How did Jews do chesed in the desert? Everyone had clothing, housing, and food to eat! No one was lacking! Could it be that the Dor De’ah had to miss out on the opportunity of chesed, which is one of the foundations upon which the world stands? One answer to this relates to the previous idea: The mon would take on the taste of whatever you wanted. But imagine the poor Jew who never had sushi in Egypt, and now could not make it taste like sushi because he didn’t know what sushi tasted like! A fellow Jew who was a “sushi pro” could do a chesed for him by thinking that his own mon should taste like sushi, which would imbue a sushi taste into it. He could then share a piece of it with his friend who would now be able to taste Sushi. (This idea raises many questions that we will not address now.)

Another famous idea is said by the Gerrer Rebbe, the Imrei Emes (Avraham Mordechai Alter 1865-1948): Rashi says that on Shabbos the mon had a “new” taste. He asks, “What was so special about the taste of mon on Shabbos? One could always have the mon taste like Shabbos food by simply thinking about Shabbos food during the week” (I am sure there are many people who think about cholent all week)! So what is this new taste of Shabbos? (A possible answer is that since the special taste of the Shabbos food comes from a spiritual source, this is not a taste that one could implant in the mon.)

The chassidim of the Chozeh of Lublin were once concerned that their euphoria about Shabbos was not sincere, but was merely a lot of hype. “How can we be sure that we are truly feeling the holiness of Shabbos?” The Chozeh said, “There is a simple test. On a weekday put on your Shabbos clothing, prepare and eat Shabbos food, and see if you feel Shabbos-like or Weekday-like.” To the Chassidim’s chagrin, the food tasted “heavenly” – exactly as if it were Shabbos! They came back to the Rebbe and asked, “Does it mean that this is all just hype?” To this the Rebbe responded, as only a Rebbe can, “If you keep Shabbos on Shabbos as one should, then you can bring that Holiness of Shabbos into the week as well.”

Let us go back to the Gerrer Rebbe. He answered his question by saying that every Shabbos we go through gives us a new level of Shabbos. In turn, we will have a more sublime and ecstatic taste in the food the following Shabbos. Yes, it is true that on a weekday the Jews could have had the mon taste like last Shabbos’ cholent, but they couldn’t make it taste like the new and improved Shabbos food of the coming week.

I believe that this idea is true, not only of Shabbos, but of all mitzvos. When mitzvos are done repeatedly, they combine together and give their cumulative strength to the next mitzvah, bolstering it to greater heights.

May we merit that our mitzvos are not seen by Hakadosh Baruch Hu as independent mitzvos, but rather part of an ongoing process in perfecting ourselves, the mitzvos, and the world around us, bringing it all to greater heights.

Have a better Shabbos this week!

And next week!

And next week!