שמות, פרק ט״ז, פסוק כ״ד

Gathering food in the wilderness required daily trust, as saving leftovers normally resulted in immediate ruin. Yet, as the weekend approached, a new reality took hold. The Israelites set aside their extra portion of manna gathered on Friday for Saturday morning. In sharp contrast to the rest of the week, when any leftover food quickly rotted by dawn, this special portion remained completely fresh and clean [ביאור שטיינזלץ, קאסוטו]. The secret to this miraculous preservation lay in their obedience. Because the people set the food aside specifically to fulfill God's Commandment, acting with complete discipline exactly as they were told, the manna received special divine protection [מלבי״ם, שפתי כהן].

The preservation happened in two distinct ways: the food did not develop a foul smell, nor did it attract any pests. In the natural process of decay, food usually begins to smell terrible before worms appear. Logically, if the manna did not even begin to smell, it certainly would not have worms. However, the absence of a specific, fast-acting pest is highlighted to show that even creatures known to arrive rapidly—sometimes before any bad smell begins—had absolutely no power over the food [רשב״ם, מלבי״ם]. Commentators note an interesting distinction between different types of pests. While a standard worm is a long, crawling creature that only appears after the food has already begun to rot, the particular pest kept away from the manna was a tiny creature or flying insect that hovers over sweet things to initiate the infestation process. Since not even these initial pests appeared, it was guaranteed that the food would never become infested [העמק דבר, שפתי כהן].

The unique terminology used for this pest carries a deeper, symbolic meaning. The primary approach among commentators notes that this specific term appears only twice in all of Scripture: in this account of the manna, and in a passage describing the dead in the earth. From this linguistic connection, a spiritual concept emerges. Just as the manna was spared from decay on the Sabbath, the dead also experience a profound rest on the Sabbath, during which decay has no power over them in their graves [בעל הטורים, רבנו בחיי, תולדות יצחק, צאינה וראינה]. Furthermore, the fact that Moses is mentioned in the same breath as the absence of decay serves as a subtle hint about Moses himself. It suggests that even after his death, his physical body remained entirely whole and untouched by decay [שפתי כהן].