A Title

Putting a menu together in the restaurant industry is a very thought out and meticulous process.  It begins with the owner, likely in consultation with others, determining the style of restaurant and finding the ideal chef.  The chef, spends hours, perhaps years in the kitchen perfecting his or her recipes, and choosing which dishes are suitable for the menu. The process does not end there.  Menu printing: prices, layout, and of course the names of the items.

Stuffed pasta squares not only will not sell as well as ravioli, but it will taste worse than ravioli.  A study by Oxford psychologist Charles Spence showed that the names of dishes actually affects our perception of its taste.  Food having an ethnic name, like Italian titles of our pasta, are rated as more authentic.  If a sandwich has an evocative description, it will receive more positive comments about the dish’s appeal and taste.  Things taste sweet when they have more sugar, and spicy with hot sauce, but even highlighting a flavor in a food’s description brings out the flavor or texture.

Even young children are part of this culture: Many kids prefer Wacky Mac over macaroni and cheese.

In our parsha this week we are introduced to the most delicious taste in history, from the very best Chef, G-d Himself providing מָן‎ for us in the desert.  Chazal tell us that the מָן‎ tasted like whatever you would like, the prefect texture, sweetness, not to mention low fat low carb.

But where is the sophistication in the name?

מָן‎

What does מָן‎ mean?  There are two primary views in the commentaries.

Rashi- מָן‎ is a generic term for food.  A prepared food is called מָן‎.

Ibn Ezra, Rashbam and others- מָן‎ means WHAT.  Bnei yisroel seeing this strange thing fallen from the sky turn to each other and ask “what is this?”

It makes sense they would give it such a strange name:

וַיִּרְא֣וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ אִ֤ישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו֙ מָ֣ן ה֔וּא כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ מַה־ה֑וּא וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם ה֣וּא הַלֶּ֔חֶם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן יְהוָ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם לְאָכְלָֽה׃

When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”—for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which the L-RD has given you to eat.

They literally did not know what it was.  They did not even know yet that it was food.

But as the days pass, they surely realize its food.  That week they must have been very satisfied with this unexpected exquisite dish from heaven.

The pesukim continue and tell us that as Moshe told them, no מָן‎ fell on Shabbos.  Some went anyway, but they did not find any מָן‎ to collect.

Comes Sunday, and the מָן‎ falls again.  And again it is named:

וַיִּקְרְא֧וּ בֵֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ מָ֑ן וְה֗וּא כְּזֶ֤רַע גַּד֙ לָבָ֔ן וְטַעְמ֖וֹ כְּצַפִּיחִ֥ת בִּדְבָֽשׁ׃

The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey.

Now they know what it is!  It tastes delicious, they are being fed Heavenly food, why do they stick to the trivial name מָן‎- food, or whatchamacallit.

Secondly what caused this rededication to the name מָן‎?  Why do they name it a second time?  They called it מָן‎ the first time it fell!

Rabbi Yaakov Neuberger, one of the Roshei Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, suggests that the appreciation of the מָן‎ was reaffirmed after Shabbos.  After a day of the מָן‎ disappearing, they were unsure what would follow.  When Sunday’s מָן‎ fell, their excitement returned.  So they renamed it מָן‎.

But why מָן‎?  Human nature is to get used to anything.  When we see fettuccini or ravioli on the menu, it doesn’t really excite us.  And the restaurants have upped their game with even more exotic names of dishes.  Eventually a flashy name loses its allure.  The מָן‎ was exotic and exciting when it first fell, and that second week the excitement returned.  So in choosing a name for the מָן‎, they chose something they could eternalize, a name that would capture not the dish’s taste, but their initial surprise and excitement.  For the next 40 years, מָן‎ would continue to fall each day, albeit without the excitement.  Forever called what is this?, the term מָן‎ served as a reminder of how special, unique, and unexpected the מָן‎ is.

They tell a story of Rav Avigdor Miller submerging his head under the kitchen sink.  When his granddaughter asked him what he was doing, he explained that he wanted a better appreciation for air, so he submerged his head for thirty seconds to appreciate a breath of air.

Some of our most precious possessions are those which we take most for granted.  When I recently was in the market for a planner, I saw that some had space for writing down things I am grateful for.  But you do not need to buy a planner: try making a list of five things you are grateful for.  Then add five more tomorrow. Keep adding five a day and if you continue the exercise, eventually you will recognize hundreds of core items you are thankful for that you overlooked the first few days.  Only by following in the footsteps of Bnei Yisroel and making conscious decisions to remind ourselves of our appreciation will we be able to develop a proper sense of gratitude.