The Mysterious Taste of Manna: An American Journalist's Unique Experience in the Desert

One of the greatest miracles Hashem performed for Israel was providing manna during their journey in the desert. "For forty years the Israelites ate manna, until they came to a habitable land."

This wasn't just an illusion or a one-time event. It was a daily miracle for forty years, feeding an entire nation. Tricks can’t nourish people for long. Without real, sustaining food for even two days, survival in the desert would have been impossible.

Scientists and researchers have attempted to explain manna, but none can truly justify the sustenance of a nation. Various findings are intriguing as curiosities, not explanations, making it clear that this miracle is unparalleled, both before and after, "a perpetual miracle."

Not only researchers investigated the manna, but also Jewish sages, who noted that remnants of manna can still be observed in the desert annually. The miracle was not just in its quantity but in its existence.

Over eight hundred years ago, Rabbi Petachiah of Regensburg, a scholar from the Rhineland, described the annual appearance of manna in the Sinai Desert. He was the brother of Rabbi Isaac the White, one of the tosafists, and a sage in his own right. His work, "The Travels of Rabbi Petachiah," is a captivating historical source on the Land of Israel at that time.

In Sinai, the Bedouins showed him white granular seeds, claiming that these grains descend with dew every year, on plants or directly on the ground. Maimonides earlier wrote: "The deserts where Arabs reside today... manna naturally descends there" (Guide for the Perplexed 3:50).

Later sages addressed these reports, and Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini, chief rabbi of Hebron, devoted a whole section in his book "Sde Chemed" to whether these grains could fulfill the mitzvah of matzah!

Curious about manna's taste? Rabbi Petachiah wrote, "I tasted it, unable to withstand its sweetness," but no worries, it doesn’t harm the teeth. The sages mentioned that manna was pure nourishment, requiring no bodily waste disposal.

Journalist David Arnold longed to taste the manna. An American Christian and likely unfamiliar with these teachings, he felt little emotion when he sampled the grains during his Sinai travels. He wrote: "The texture is unlike anything I've tried, both chewy and crispy. Eating becomes personal, as no two tastes are the same. I could taste a mint-like flavor, while you might sense lemon. No other food is like it" (published in "New York Times," June 8, 2010).

We, familiar from childhood with these teachings, where each person tasted whatever flavor they desired in the manna, are certainly tempted to try this wondrous food, assuming any connection to what our ancestors enjoyed in the desert, the miraculous bread from heaven.