[Deuteronomy 8:9 states that G-d is] ... The one who fed you manna in the desert in order to afflict you. [What was this affliction?] Rabbi Ami and Rabbi
Assi offer different answers to the meaning of this 'affliction.' One says, 'A person who has bread in his basket is not like one who doesn't have bread in his basket' [This means, as only a single day's supply of manna would come down from Heaven most days and it could not be stored, Israel had constant anxiety as to whether they would receive their food the next day or not.] The other Rabbi's opinion is that one who sees their food and eats is not like one who doesn't see their food and eats. [The manna could taste like any food, but always looked like manna. Thus, the affliction was that the Israelites were denied the pleasure of seeing familiar foods.]
Rav Yosef says, from the idea that seeing food is an important part of satisfaction, we find a hint of the fact that blind people eat, but are never truly satisfied. Abbaye states that we can infer that if you have a formal meal, you should eat it during the day time [so that you may see it properly.]
Rabbi Zeira says, 'Why does Ecclesiastes 6:9 mean when it states "Looking with one's eyes is better than satisfaction of desire?" Resh Lakish says it means, 'The sight of a woman is better than the sexual deed itself.'
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