Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Daf Yomi - Yoma 76 - Manna Due to Yehoshua

The Gemora states that in the merit that Yehoshua waited for Moshe at the bottom of the mountain, maana fell for him in the amount fitting for the entire Klal Yisroel. What was the point for this? Even if you collected more, you nevertheless only were able to get according to the amount of people in your household and only a set amount per person?

Meshech Chochma has a novel approach to this Gemora. Klal Yisroel received the manna in the zchus of Moshe. Moshe died on the seventh of Adar. The manna lasted for them until the sixteenth of Nissan when they entered Eretz Yisroel. These forty days, the manna was in the zchus of Yehoshua. This was a direct result from the forty days that Yehoshua waited for Moshe.


David said...

I understood the Gemara to mean that even though Yehushua was not at the bottom of the mountain with everyone else, but rather halfway up the mountain - neverthless, the mann fell privately for him anyway.

ben said...

David: how does that explanation, which I believe to be Rashi's, answer the question?

Perhaps we can also answer that the Gemara uses the passuk: lechem abirim achal ish earlier to be referring to malchaim who eat manna, and Rabbi Yishmael disputed this. The Meshech Chochma in introduction to Shemos writes that Moshe and Yehoshua both lost their free choice and became like malachim. According to Rambam in Yesodei haTorah, Moshe was separated from all materialism. Same should apply to Yehoshua, and angels should not be limited in their consumption of manna.