We mention graciousness of God’s taking care of all the needs of the Jewish people in the desert during the Seder in the Dayenu song.
If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and had not fed us the manna, Dayenu. It would have been enough.
If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat, Dayenu. It would have been enough.
We also mention this piece in the daily Prayer for Livelihood:
Also, in the desert you provided [our ancestors] bread from the skies, and from the stones you drew water for them, and you took care of all their needs, and their clothing did not wear out.
The question is: why is this detail so important to the story of the Exodus?
What can this teach us about our own freedom, and even productivity?
The Fundamental Needs
God could have brought the people out of Egypt and left it at that. Technically, once out of Egypt they were free.
They were physically free.
But they were in the desert, with no clear way to get food or water.
Although we all want freedom of choice, unrestricted freedom with too much uncertainty is taxing on the brain. There’s a lot to “figure out.” That “figuring out” takes a lot of brain energy.
Physiological Needs Come First
In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, meeting the physiological needs — food, shelter, clothing — are a prerequisite to any other behaviors.
According to Maslow, we cannot self-actualize when we have uncertainty about our basic physiological needs. For our purposes, “self-actualize” includes such “basic” things as the ability to focus on learning or hold down a job.
The brain uses more energy than any other organ in the body, even when it is at rest.
The more we tax the brain with stuff to figure out, the less energy is available for learning new things or focusing on specific tasks.
This helps explain why many kids who don’t have consistent access to food struggle in school and why homeless people struggle to just “get a job.” Trying to figure out where your next meal is coming from or where you’re going to sleep tonight is a full cognitive load. There’s no energy left for learning or job hunting.
Mental Freedom
Had God simply taken the Jews out of Egypt and left them in the desert, they wouldn’t have been mentally free. They would have been forced to figure out where to get food and water and shelter.
By taking care of their needs in the desert, God gave the Jewish people the gift of mental freedom.
As Rabbi Tom Snyder explains,
God took care of them so that they wouldn’t be obsessed and distracted by physical details. Instead, they could focus on spiritual growth and learning Torah. They felt the whole world operating in confluence with them.
They didn’t have to think about logistics or details or planning.
With the manna, the Jews woke up every morning and saw a thin layer of food carpeting the desert floor. They gathered exactly what they needed each day. They didn’t have to put anything away in a bank account. They knew that the next day God was going to open the heavens and shower His blessing again. They felt taken care of. Like being in the womb. They didn’t have to worry.
Free Your Mind
The lesson from this is that we must find ways to free our minds from the logistics of our basic needs. When we have a supportive structure that holds us, when we trust that we will be provided for, we have more brain energy available for learning, spiritual growth, and self-actualization.
Turns out that En Vogue was right: free your mind, and the rest will follow.
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