On our verse, which relates that the complainers lamented their recollection of the fish they used to eat in Egypt, the Medrash Pliah cryptically remarks mi’kan she’madlikin neiros b’Shabbos – from our verse we may derive that one is obligated to light candles on Shabbos, a mitzvah which has no apparent connection to our verse whatsoever.
The Chida explains the Medrash Pliah by nothing that we must first understand what they were complaining about, as we are told that one was able to make the Mon taste like anything he so desired simply through his thoughts. If so, why were they complaining about the fish they used to eat in Egypt when they were perfectly capable of causing the Mon to take on that taste with no effort whatsoever? Rather, the Gemora in Yoma (74b) states that although one was able to make the Mon taste like anything he desired, it nevertheless retained the standard appearance of the Mon. Even though they were able to make the Mon taste like fish, they lacked the enjoyment and satiety which comes from seeing the food which they wished to taste. The Gemora there even notes that a blind person won’t enjoy or become as full from a meal as a person with normal vision who consumes the same food. Based on this complaint, the Medrash Pliah questioned how a person will be able to avoid the same dilemma on Shabbos, as he won’t be able to enjoy and appreciate the Shabbos delicacies if he is forced to eat them in darkness, and it therefore concluded that from our verse we may derive that one is obligated to light candles on Shabbos!
