God again multiplied the miracle by drowning our enemies in the sea and taking us round about away from the land of the Philistines through the wilderness and provided us for forty years with all our provisions for forty years that we would need as it said, “God has watched over your wanderings through this great wilderness; (Deuteronomy 2:7). The Aramaic translation is, “God has provided all your needs.” “The Lord, you God, has been with you these past forty years; you have lacked for nothing.” (Deuteronomy 2:7) And it is written, “Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not crack these forty years.” In the Midrash¹² it says, “Rabbi Layzer ben Shimon asked Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Yossi ben L’kunya, his father in law, “What is the meaning of the verse, ‘Your clothing did not wear out?’ Could it be that their clothes were made of leather in the wilderness. (Rabbi Shimon) answered him, “The clouds of glory were wrapped around them so that their clothes would not wear out.” Rabbi Layzer said to him, But does it not say, ‘Your clothes did not wear out?’ Did they not grow?¹³” He answered, “Each person had a special snail (that could weave material) so that as much as each person grew, the clothes grew with them!” Rabbi Layzer said to him, “Did the clothing not need cleaning?” He answered, “The clouds of glory would scrub the clothing clean with fire. Don’t be surprised at this – their clothing was like the asbestos linen which was cleansed by throwing it into fire. He said to him, “their was a moistening spray near the well which made the clothing fragrant), as it said, “The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Mount Lebanon,” (Song of Songs 4:11) Had he provided all our need in the wilderness for forty years – which refers to the other - needsand not fed us manna, this would have been enough of a miracle for us.

footnotes: ¹² Pesikta D’rav Kahanah , a Midrashic work Vayehi bishalah ¹³ That is, how could the people wear the same clothes for forty years since they would have not been the same size – they grew older and larger.