Not On Bread Alone

(יז) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ. אִם אֵין דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין חָכְמָה, אֵין יִרְאָה. אִם אֵין יִרְאָה, אֵין חָכְמָה. אִם אֵין בִּינָה, אֵין דַּעַת. אִם אֵין דַּעַת, אֵין בִּינָה. אִם אֵין קֶמַח, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין קֶמַח.

Pirkei Avot 3:17

(17) ...Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says: If there is no Torah, there is no worldly occupation, if there is no worldly occupation, there is no Torah. If there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; if there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. If there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; if there is no understanding, there is no knowledge. If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.

Guiding Questions:

What does Torah represent?

What does Flour represent?

Why are these two interconnected?

What clues in the rest of the passage help you find an answer?

דברים ח׳:ג׳

(ג) וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ֒ וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן הוֹדִֽעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י עַל־כָּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי־יי יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃

Deuteronomy 8:3

(3) He subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but that man may live on anything that the LORD decrees.

Guiding Questions:

What is Manna?

What is Bread?

What else do we need to survive, other than bread? Literally? Figuratively?

חזקוני, דברים ח׳:ג׳

(א) ויענך בדרך כדכתיב ענה בדרך כחי. (ב) וירעבך שלא נתן לך מן אלא דבר יום ביומו וזהו וירעבך שאינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו פת בסלו. ד״‎א וירעבך שאם הוריד לך מן בעוד שהיית שבע מן הצידה שהיתה בידך שהוצאת ממצרים לא היית משגיח עליו אפי׳‎ לטועמו שלא היית מניח לחם שהיית רגיל בו בשביל מן אשר לא ידעת ולא ידעון אבתיך ולכך הרעיבך.

Chizkuni, Deuteronomy 8:3

(1) ויענך “He afflicted you,” on the way, as in Psalms 102,24: ענה בדרך כחי, “He drained my strength while I was on the way.” (2) וירעבך, “He starved you;” by not giving you more manna than enough for one day at a time. We have a principle that it is not possible to compare the state of mind of people who have a supply of food in their travel bag with those who, even though not hungry, do not have such a supply to fall back on.(Talmud, tractate Yuma folio 74) An alternate interpretation of the last phrase: וירעיבך, if G-d would have provided you with manna while you still had supplies of regular food which you took out of Egypt with you, you would not even have bothered to taste it in order to see if you liked it. This is why He waited until you were hungry, after having exhausted your supplies. You then had no option but to eat what G-d had provided for you. Seeing that this was something totally unknown to you or to your forefathers, G-d had to “starve” you in order to have you accept His food. [We know how often the people treated the manna as something lacking substance, and they even dubbed it as לחם הקלקל,” (Numbers 21,8). Ed,]