Lechem Mishneh: Real Wealth

My Rebbi, Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, once spoke about the two stages of the Children of Israel receiving the wealth of the Egyptians. They first “borrowed” all the gold and silver they could find while still in Egypt. They then collected much more gold and silver at the banks of the Sea.

He pointed out that in the second instance the Jews were so absorbed in collecting the spoils that they had to be forced to leave before collecting all they could.

God was teaching them that true wealth is when you have enough to be able to walk away and leave some money on the table, so to speak. We have a difficult time dealing with people who refuse to let go of a penny of their own money.

I believe that the two Challot, and the double portion of Manna they represent, correspond to the two collections of wealth. They were allowed to leave the extra Shabbat portion overnight, unlike on other days. The portion we leave over for the next Shabbat feast represents the degree of wealth and financial security that enables me to walk away from that little extra bit of wealth.

On Shabbat, the double portion is a reminder of how much we have and that we can stop our ceaseless search for more and more. We can leave some on the table.