Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the Daily Manna
His students ask Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai why the manna fell every day instead of once a year, and he answers with a parable of a king and his only son.
A similar theme may be found in a Gemara in Yoma (76a), but there the message is for all of K’lal Yisrael. Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai’s students asked him, “Why didn’t Hashem make the manna fall just once a year (instead of falling every weekday)?” He answered with a parable. There was a king who had an only son. The king used to give him an allowance once a year to cover his expenses for that year. Consequently, the son came to visit only once a year. So the king changed his routine and decided to give his son only enough funds for that very day. Now the son visited his father daily.
K’lal Yisrael is the same. Were the manna to have fallen but once a year, they would not have felt the pressure to pray save that lone time. Now a father of four or five children would worry and say, “Perhaps the manna will not fall tomorrow.” Consequently, they prayed with fervor daily. Hashem made the manna fall every day to give K’lal Yisrael a reason to beseech Him daily.