In his book, “Insects as Human Food,” Dr F. S. Bodenheimer, professor of zoology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describes his efforts to identify the biblical manna. Some scholars have thought that it was a lichen, Lecanora esculenta, which grows on rocks in many parts of the Middle East, producing pea-sized fruiting bodies that are prized as sweet delicacies. These fruiting bodies are light enough to be blown about, so they could conceivably form a manna rain. But it would be a unique event, and the Bible reports a regular appearance of the manna every morning. Furthermore, no one has ever found this lichen in the Sinai region.

There are, on the other hand, may reports from travelers in the Sinai region of a “manna” associated with tamarisk thickets. This granular, sweet manna appears every year for a period of some weeks in June, although it varies greatly in abundance from year to year. It has generally been assumed to be a secretion of the tamarisk itself, but Dr Bodenheimer, who visited the Sinai to study this “manna,” found that it was the product of two species of scale insects living on the tamarisk shrubs. His argument that this insect is the source of the biblical manna convinced Marston Bates, one of my favorite essayists, and who almost destroyed his marriage by his insistence that all his guests and his wife sample all sorts of tasty insects. Dr Bates believes that this is why the Torah allows us to eat certain insects; to acknowledge their role in producing manna!

I hope both Drs Bodenheimer and Bates are wrong! Their theory kind of ruins my appetite for manna, and that, I believe, is exactly why the Torah allows us to eat certain grasshoppers!

As my wife will attest, as will every person who has ever cooked for me, I am a finicky eater. Debbie, as I was writing the first paragraph above, brought me a plate of gluten free polenta, “which,” she said, “is similar to foccacia,” (I never heard of polenta or foccacia before!)transformed into a slice of pizza. The problem is that it has a huge mushroom on top. Yuk! What shall I do? What’s worse; a grasshopper or a mushroom? But, here I am, writing about the Torah teaching us to overcome such (refined) tastes; so, here I go… (I’m removing the mushroom)

The Torah pushes us to overcome our initial reactions to things; to take a second look, to experience all we are permitted, to enjoy God’s creation, even polenta.

I’ll stay away from grasshoppers, but I will take a second bite of this “pizza,” Yuum….

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.