Yoma 76A

זה יהושע שירד לו מן כנגד כל ישראל. כתיב הכא ״איש״, וכתיב התם: ״קח לך את יהושע בן נון איש אשר רוח בו״. ואימא משה, דכתיב: ״והאיש משה ענו מאד״? דנין ״איש״ מ״איש״, ואין דנין ״איש״ מ״והאיש״.

the verse is referring to Joshua, for whom manna fell corresponding to all the rest of the Jewish people, when he waited for Moses at Mount Sinai during the 40 days Moses was on the mountain. The verses allude to this: “Man” is written here, and “man” is written there: “Take to you Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lay your hand upon him” (Numbers 27:18). From here, the Talmud learns that the “man” is Joshua. The Talmud asks: Say that the verse is referring to Moses, about whom it is written: “Now the man Moses was very humble” (Numbers 12:3). The Talmud answers: We can learn a verbal analogy to the word “man” from the word “man,” but we cannot learn a verbal analogy to the word “man” from the phrase “the man,” which is used to refer to Moses.

שאלו תלמידיו את רבי שמעון בן יוחי: מפני מה לא ירד להם לישראל מן פעם אחת בשנה? אמר להם: אמשול לכם משל: למה הדבר דומה? למלך בשר ודם שיש לו בן אחד, פסק לו מזונותיו פעם אחת בשנה, ולא היה מקביל פני אביו אלא פעם אחת בשנה. עמד ופסק מזונותיו בכל יום, והיה מקביל פני אביו כל יום.

Furthermore, with regard to the manna: The students of R' Shimon ben Yoḥai asked him: Why didn’t the manna fall for the Jewish people just once a year to take care of all their needs, instead of coming down every day? He said to them: I will give you a parable: To what does this matter compare? To a king of flesh and blood who has only one son. He granted him an allowance for food once a year and the son greeted his father only once a year, when it was time for him to receive his allowance. So he arose and granted him his food every day, and his son visited him every day.