Man can not live by bread alone.
A famous expression, with its origin in this week's Torah portion. It's a reference to the miraculous Manna that fell daily (except for Shabbat) while the Jews traveled through the desert. During those 40 years, it was clear that their sustenance came from heaven.
Upon reflection, we can also tap into this. There is a limit to how much success we can manufacture by merit of our own deeds. Business deals can still fail, customers can remain disinterested in your product, elaborate conferences can yield no results. At other times, however, things simply "fall into place". A product goes viral. An app gets sold for a billion dollars.
The manna reminds us of where that blessing comes from.
There's another lesson that we can take from this expression. We can't live on bread alone because we need more than just ingredients tossed together. We crave something more. Having a completed checklist of items - a job, money, a home, possessions, do not ensure happiness or satisfaction. There's an intangible, that gives it all life. The values and accomplishments that go beyond the material have's and don't have's. The meaning we find in what we do, the mission that inspires it, the experience we share with those whom we love.
While we were in NY this week with the kids visiting Bubby and Zaidy, we took the opportunity to visit family and friends in the Boston area.
Here's a story, told to me by our cousin:
An Israeli woman was staying with her, while her son was enlisted on a mission in Gaza during last summer's chaos. Every few days, she would receive a call from him, letting her know that he was alive and safe. One day, he tells her that his new pair of glasses had broken. My cousin asked her why she didn't seem upset about the broken pair of glasses. She replied: He's alive?He hasn't been injured? He's able to call her? The glasses will work themselves out.
Let's remember, it's not about the glasses.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush
ב"ה