Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah
Sforno on Exodus 16:28/ספורנו על שמות ט״ז:כ״ח
אעַד אָנָה מֵאַנְתֶּם לִשְׁמוֹר. הִנֵּה הַחֵטְא בִּשְׁמִירָה נַעֲשָׂה בֵּין כֻּלְּכֶם, כִּי אַתָּה אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא יָצָאתָ עִמָּהֶם לִלְקוֹט, גָּרַמְתָּ שֶׁיֵּצְאוּ, שֶׁלֹּא לִמַּדְתָּ אוֹתָם הִלְכוֹת שַׁבָּת וְעִנְיָנָן, רַק אָמַרְתָּ "שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תִּלְקְטֻהוּ" וְלֹא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, וּבָזֶה מָרוּ אֶת פִּיךָ, וְאָמַרְתָּ "וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבָּת לֹא יִהְיֶה בוֹ" וְהֵם לֹא הֶאֱמִינוּ לִדְבָרֶךָ. אֲבָל לֹא לִמַּדְתָּם מִצְוֹתַי, שֶׁבִּכְלַל מְלָאכָה תִּהְיֶה לְקִיטַת הַמָּן שֶׁחַיָּב בָּהּ הַלּוֹקֵט מִשּׁוּם תּוֹלֵשׁ, וַהֲבָאָתוֹ מֵרְשׁוּת לִרְשׁוּת שֶׁהִיא מִכְּלַל הַמְּלָאכוֹת גַּם כֵּן.
1עד אנה מאנתם לשמור, the rebuke included Moses; although Moses, of course, had not gone out to look for manna on the Sabbbath, who is held co-responsible for the people going out as he had withheld information concerning the Sabbath given to him already at the beginning of the week. During the intervening days Moses should have used the time to teach the people the laws concerning the Sabbath. Moses’ specific error is recorded by the Torah in verse 26 when he told the people “you will gather it for six days and on the seventh day there will not be any.” He had not told the people that they must not go out looking for it. The people did not so much rebel against G’d as against the instructions they had received from Moses, when they did not believe him, assuming that he merely did not want them to waste their time looking for something that was not there. Moses should have taught the people that even gathering up manna was considered a forbidden activity on the Sabbath, that the one doing this was considered as if he had harvested it, cut it, on the Sabbath. Not only that, he would also become guilty for transporting it from the public domain to the private domain, another one of the 39 categories of activities on the Sabbath which are disallowed.
בוְתוֹרֹתָי. עִנְיַן הַשַּׁבָּת וְטַעֲמוֹ וּמַתַּן שְׂכָרוֹ וְעָנְשׁוֹ, אֲשֶׁר כָּל יוֹדְעֵיהֶם יִזָּהֲרוּ לִשְׁבּוֹת בְּשַׁבָּת בְּלִי סָפֵק.
2ותורותי, the general tenor of Sabbath observance and the reward and punishment associated with proper Sabbath observance.