determined to observe the Sabbath, and did so. [108] They did not
know, to be sure, what they had lost through their violation of the
first Sabbath. Had Israel then observed the Sabbath, no nation
would ever have been able to exercise any authority over them.
[109]

This, moreover, was not the only sin that Israel committed during
this time, for some among them also broke the other
commandment in regard to manna, that it, not to store it away
from day to day. These sinners were none other than the infamous
pair, Dathan and Abiram, who did not hearken to the word of God,
but saved the manna for the following day. But if they fancied they
could conceal their sinful deed, they were mistaken, for great
swarms of worms bred from the manna, and these moved in a long
train from their tents to the other tents, so that everyone perceived
what these two had done. [110]

To serve future generations as a tangible proof of the infinite
power of God, the Lord bade Moses lay an earthen vessel full of
manna before the Holy Ark, and this command was carried out by
Aaron in the second year of the wanderings through the desert.
When, many centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah exhorted his
contemporaries to study the Torah, and they answered his
exhortations, saying, "How shall we then maintain ourselves?" the
prophet brought forth the vessel with manna, and spoke to them,
saying: "O generation, see ye the word of the Lord; see what it was
that served your fathers as food when they applied themselves to
the study of the Torah. You, too, will God support in the same
way, if you will but devote yourselves to the study of the Torah.
[111]