(2002/5762)
In this week’s Parsha we read that both the Aron and the jar with the Mun inside of it were hidden. Why where these two specific item hidden? It is possible to say that the Aron, containing the Ten Commandments was too Kadosh, holy, to be opened to the public view. However, the people gathered the Mun on a regular basis, so why was it chosen to be hidden?
This idea becomes clearer as we realize that both the Aron and the Mun symbolize two different aspects of our life. The Aron represents our spiritual needs, while the Mun represents our physical needs, one of them being food for our bodies. There is a Pasuk in Pirkei Avot that says, “if there is no flour, there is no Torah.” In other words, we cannot exist physically and learn Torah if we do not tend to our bodily needs. On the other hand, if we disregard the Torah that we have learned, then our physical existence becomes meaningless. The Aron and the Mun symbolize the two aspects of a Torah Jew’s life, which is why these specific items were hidden.