diff --git a/vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/manna_ledger.ex b/vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/manna_ledger.ex
index 4cdb3fd8..2eadd910 100644
--- a/vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/manna_ledger.ex
+++ b/vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/manna_ledger.ex
@@ -20,6 +20,27 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
 
   Architecture §4, Step 26: Manna anti-hoarding enforcement
   and cycle-boundary surplus release.
+
+  ## What is eaten stays eaten
+
+  The day's consumption is written to `ledger.json` beside the provision
+  file, after every cycle that eats. A ledger that lives only in memory
+  forgets what was eaten whenever the process restarts: the same day's
+  provision is gathered again, whole. While manna was an emptyDir that
+  needed the kohen's hand; once the provision was put on a volume
+  (2026-10-04) a crash loop alone would have refilled the jar, as often
+  as it crashed. *Ish l'fi ochlo* — each according to what he eats
+  (Shemot 16:18): the omer is measured once.
+
+  - On the first load of a day — and at once when the process starts —
+    if `ledger.json` carries TODAY's date, consumption resumes from it. Another day's file is not this day's
+    record and is ignored.
+  - At the day boundary the file is cleared with the surplus. A release
+    within the same day clears the allocation but not the record.
+  - The file is a convenience of the vessel, never a source of manna:
+    it can only reduce what remains. If it cannot be read or written the
+    ledger keeps counting in memory and says so; it does not stop the
+    cycle.
   """
 
   use GenServer
@@ -129,13 +150,23 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
   end
 
   @doc """
-  Reset the ledger to initial state. For testing only.
+  Reset the ledger to initial state, and forget the persisted day.
+  For testing only.
   """
   @spec reset() :: :ok
   def reset do
     GenServer.call(__MODULE__, :reset)
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Where the day's consumption is kept: `ledger.json`, beside the
+  provision file (on the manna volume in production).
+  """
+  @spec ledger_file() :: String.t()
+  def ledger_file do
+    Path.join(Path.dirname(Manna.provision_file()), "ledger.json")
+  end
+
   # ============================================================
   # GenServer callbacks
   # ============================================================
@@ -152,11 +183,30 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
     }
 
     Logger.info("MannaLedger: ledger ready — d'var yom b'yomo")
-    {:ok, state}
+    {:ok, state, {:continue, :resume_day}}
+  end
+
+  # A process that starts in the middle of a day whose record is on disk
+  # takes the day up at once, rather than at its first cycle — so that
+  # /kodesh/status never shows an untouched jar that is in fact half
+  # eaten. With no record for today there is nothing to resume, and the
+  # first cycle gathers as it always did.
+  @impl true
+  def handle_continue(:resume_day, state) do
+    today = Date.utc_today() |> Date.to_iso8601()
+
+    if persisted_date() == today do
+      {_reply, new_state} = load_for(today, state)
+      {:noreply, new_state}
+    else
+      {:noreply, state}
+    end
   end
 
   @impl true
   def handle_call(:reset, _from, _state) do
+    forget_persisted()
+
     {:reply, :ok,
      %{
        cycle_date: nil,
@@ -175,40 +225,8 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
     if state.cycle_date == today do
       {:reply, {:ok, :already_loaded}, state}
     else
-      case Manna.check() do
-        {:ok, :no_provision} ->
-          new_state = %{
-            state
-            | cycle_date: today,
-              allocated: @zero_provision,
-              consumed: @zero_provision,
-              cycle_count: state.cycle_count + 1
-          }
-
-          Logger.warning("MannaLedger: no provision for #{today} — system will wait")
-          {:reply, {:ok, :no_provision}, new_state}
-
-        {:ok, manna} ->
-          new_state = %{
-            state
-            | cycle_date: today,
-              allocated: manna.provision,
-              consumed: @zero_provision,
-              cycle_count: state.cycle_count + 1
-          }
-
-          Logger.info(
-            "MannaLedger: provision loaded for #{today} (#{manna.type}) — " <>
-              "compute: #{manna.provision.compute_units}, " <>
-              "api_calls: #{manna.provision.api_calls_external}, " <>
-              "panels: #{manna.provision.sanhedrin_panels_max}"
-          )
-
-          {:reply, {:ok, :loaded}, new_state}
-
-        {:error, reason} ->
-          {:reply, {:error, reason}, state}
-      end
+      {reply, new_state} = load_for(today, state)
+      {:reply, reply, new_state}
     end
   end
 
@@ -243,6 +261,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
         new_consumed = Map.put(state.consumed, resource, consumed + amount)
         new_remaining = remaining - amount
         new_state = %{state | consumed: new_consumed}
+        persist(new_state)
 
         # Signal when provision runs low (< 10% remaining)
         if new_remaining < allocated * 0.1 and new_remaining > 0 do
@@ -303,6 +322,155 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedger do
         hoarding_violations: state.hoarding_violations
     }
 
+    # The day's record goes with the day's surplus — when the day is
+    # over. A release called while it is still the ledger's day (the
+    # late-provision re-gather in Manna.gather_for_cycle/0) lets go of
+    # the allocation, not of the memory of what was eaten: the reload
+    # that follows resumes today's count.
+    if state.cycle_date != (Date.utc_today() |> Date.to_iso8601()) do
+      forget_persisted()
+    end
+
     {:reply, {:ok, %{released: released}}, new_state}
   end
+
+  # ============================================================
+  # Loading
+  # ============================================================
+
+  # Gather `today`'s provision into the ledger, resuming today's
+  # consumption if this process is not the first to gather it.
+  defp load_for(today, state) do
+    case Manna.check() do
+      {:ok, :no_provision} ->
+        new_state = %{
+          state
+          | cycle_date: today,
+            allocated: @zero_provision,
+            consumed: @zero_provision,
+            cycle_count: state.cycle_count + 1
+        }
+
+        Logger.warning("MannaLedger: no provision for #{today} — system will wait")
+        {{:ok, :no_provision}, new_state}
+
+      {:ok, manna} ->
+        # What was already eaten today, if this process is not the
+        # first to gather it.
+        consumed = restore_consumed(today)
+
+        new_state = %{
+          state
+          | cycle_date: today,
+            allocated: manna.provision,
+            consumed: consumed,
+            cycle_count: state.cycle_count + 1
+        }
+
+        Logger.info(
+          "MannaLedger: provision loaded for #{today} (#{manna.type}) — " <>
+            "compute: #{manna.provision.compute_units}, " <>
+            "api_calls: #{manna.provision.api_calls_external}, " <>
+            "panels: #{manna.provision.sanhedrin_panels_max}" <>
+            if(consumed == @zero_provision,
+              do: "",
+              else: " — resuming the day: already consumed #{inspect(consumed)}"
+            )
+        )
+
+        {{:ok, :loaded}, new_state}
+
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        {{:error, reason}, state}
+    end
+  end
+
+  # ============================================================
+  # Persistence — ledger.json beside the provision
+  # ============================================================
+
+  # Written whole and renamed into place, so a reader (or a crash) never
+  # meets half a file.
+  defp persist(state) do
+    path = ledger_file()
+    tmp = path <> ".tmp"
+
+    body =
+      Jason.encode!(%{
+        "cycle_date" => state.cycle_date,
+        "consumed" => Map.new(state.consumed, fn {k, v} -> {Atom.to_string(k), v} end),
+        "written_at" => DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.to_iso8601()
+      })
+
+    with :ok <- File.write(tmp, body),
+         :ok <- File.rename(tmp, path) do
+      :ok
+    else
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        Logger.warning(
+          "MannaLedger: could not persist consumption to #{path} (#{inspect(reason)}) — " <>
+            "counting in memory only; a restart today would forget what was eaten"
+        )
+
+        :ok
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Today's consumption from an earlier life of this process, or zeros.
+  defp restore_consumed(today) do
+    path = ledger_file()
+
+    with {:ok, contents} <- File.read(path),
+         {:ok, %{"cycle_date" => ^today, "consumed" => consumed}} when is_map(consumed) <-
+           Jason.decode(contents),
+         {:ok, restored} <- parse_consumed(consumed) do
+      restored
+    else
+      {:error, :enoent} ->
+        @zero_provision
+
+      {:ok, %{"cycle_date" => other}} ->
+        Logger.info("MannaLedger: #{path} is for #{inspect(other)}, not #{today} — not this day's record")
+        @zero_provision
+
+      other ->
+        Logger.warning(
+          "MannaLedger: #{path} is unreadable (#{inspect(other)}) — " <>
+            "starting today's count from zero"
+        )
+
+        @zero_provision
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Only the five known resources, only non-negative integers. Anything
+  # else is not a ledger.
+  defp parse_consumed(consumed) do
+    Enum.reduce_while(@zero_provision, {:ok, %{}}, fn {key, _}, {:ok, acc} ->
+      case Map.get(consumed, Atom.to_string(key), 0) do
+        n when is_integer(n) and n >= 0 -> {:cont, {:ok, Map.put(acc, key, n)}}
+        bad -> {:halt, {:error, {:bad_consumed, key, bad}}}
+      end
+    end)
+  end
+
+  # The date the record on disk is for, or nil.
+  defp persisted_date do
+    with {:ok, contents} <- File.read(ledger_file()),
+         {:ok, %{"cycle_date" => date}} when is_binary(date) <- Jason.decode(contents) do
+      date
+    else
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp forget_persisted do
+    case File.rm(ledger_file()) do
+      :ok -> :ok
+      {:error, :enoent} -> :ok
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        Logger.warning("MannaLedger: could not clear #{ledger_file()} (#{inspect(reason)})")
+        :ok
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/vav_pipeline/test/manna_ledger_persistence_test.exs b/vav_pipeline/test/manna_ledger_persistence_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..86d0f2a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vav_pipeline/test/manna_ledger_persistence_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+defmodule VavPipeline.MannaLedgerPersistenceTest do
+  @moduledoc """
+  What is eaten stays eaten.
+
+  Until 2026-10-04 the ledger lived only in memory. A restart forgot the
+  day's consumption and the next cycle gathered the whole provision again.
+  That was hidden while manna was an emptyDir (a restart emptied the jar
+  too, and the kohen had to refill it by hand); once the provision was put
+  on a volume, a crash loop alone would have refilled it.
+
+  These tests restart the ledger process under its real supervisor — a new
+  process, an empty state, the same disk — and ask what it remembers.
+  """
+
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: false
+
+  alias VavPipeline.{HaltMonitor, Manna, MannaLedger}
+
+  setup do
+    if HaltMonitor.halted?(), do: HaltMonitor.resolve("manna persistence test setup")
+    MannaLedger.reset()
+    write_provision(10)
+
+    on_exit(fn ->
+      MannaLedger.reset()
+      File.rm(Manna.provision_file())
+    end)
+
+    :ok
+  end
+
+  describe "the record" do
+    test "is written beside the provision, with today's date, when a cycle eats" do
+      refute File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 7} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 3)
+
+      assert Path.dirname(MannaLedger.ledger_file()) == Path.dirname(Manna.provision_file())
+      record = MannaLedger.ledger_file() |> File.read!() |> Jason.decode!()
+
+      assert record["cycle_date"] == today()
+      assert record["consumed"]["compute_units"] == 3
+      assert record["consumed"]["api_calls_external"] == 0
+    end
+
+    test "is not written by a refused consumption" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:error, :provision_exhausted} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 11)
+      refute File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "a restart in the middle of the day" do
+    test "resumes the count — the provision is not gathered whole again" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 6} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 4)
+
+      restart_ledger()
+
+      # The new process takes the day up as it starts — before any cycle
+      # asks — so the status never shows an untouched jar.
+      ledger = MannaLedger.ledger()
+      assert ledger.cycle_date == today()
+      assert ledger.allocated.compute_units == 10
+      assert ledger.consumed.compute_units == 4
+
+      assert {:ok, :already_loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 6
+
+      # And it keeps counting from there.
+      assert {:ok, 5} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 1)
+    end
+
+    test "an exhausted day stays exhausted — a crash loop does not refill the jar" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 0} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 10)
+
+      for _ <- 1..3 do
+        restart_ledger()
+        assert {:waiting, :provision_exhausted} = Manna.gather_for_cycle()
+      end
+    end
+
+    test "the whole cycle path: gather, restart, gather" do
+      assert :ok = Manna.gather_for_cycle()
+      assert :ok = Manna.gather_for_cycle()
+      restart_ledger()
+      assert :ok = Manna.gather_for_cycle()
+      assert MannaLedger.ledger().consumed.compute_units == 3
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "a restart with nothing to resume" do
+    test "no record: the new process holds no day until the first cycle" do
+      restart_ledger()
+      assert MannaLedger.ledger().cycle_date == nil
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 10
+    end
+
+    test "a record but no provision: nothing is resumed into an empty day" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 9} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 1)
+      File.rm!(Manna.provision_file())
+
+      restart_ledger()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 0
+
+      # The vessel waits. (Which of the two waiting reasons it gives is
+      # the ledger's older behaviour for a day pinned with no provision;
+      # the router answers MANNA_DEPLETED for both.)
+      assert {:waiting, reason} = Manna.gather_for_cycle()
+      assert reason in [:no_provision, :provision_exhausted]
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "what the record may not do" do
+    test "another day's record is not this day's — it is ignored" do
+      write_record(%{"cycle_date" => "2026-01-01", "consumed" => %{"compute_units" => 9}})
+
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 10
+    end
+
+    test "a record that is not a ledger is ignored, and the cycle goes on" do
+      for garbage <- [
+            "not json",
+            Jason.encode!(%{"cycle_date" => today(), "consumed" => "all of it"}),
+            Jason.encode!(%{"cycle_date" => today(), "consumed" => %{"compute_units" => -5}}),
+            Jason.encode!(%{"cycle_date" => today(), "consumed" => %{"compute_units" => "3"}})
+          ] do
+        MannaLedger.reset()
+        File.write!(MannaLedger.ledger_file(), garbage)
+
+        assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+        assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 10
+        assert {:ok, 9} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 1)
+      end
+    end
+
+    test "it can only take away: a record larger than the provision leaves nothing" do
+      write_record(%{"cycle_date" => today(), "consumed" => %{"compute_units" => 500}})
+
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 0
+      assert {:error, :provision_exhausted} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 1)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "release" do
+    test "at a day boundary the record goes with the surplus" do
+      # The ledger holds no day (cycle_date nil ≠ today), as it does when
+      # the day it loaded has passed and been released.
+      write_record(%{"cycle_date" => "2026-01-01", "consumed" => %{"compute_units" => 2}})
+
+      assert {:ok, _} = MannaLedger.enforce_cycle_boundary()
+      refute File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+    end
+
+    test "a release within the same day lets go of the allocation, not the memory" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 8} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 2)
+
+      # Manna.gather_for_cycle/0 does this when a provision arrives late.
+      assert {:ok, _} = MannaLedger.enforce_cycle_boundary()
+      assert File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert MannaLedger.remaining(:compute_units) == 8
+    end
+
+    test "reset forgets the record (tests must not leak a day into each other)" do
+      assert {:ok, :loaded} = MannaLedger.load_provision()
+      assert {:ok, 9} = MannaLedger.consume(:compute_units, 1)
+      assert File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+
+      MannaLedger.reset()
+      refute File.exists?(MannaLedger.ledger_file())
+    end
+  end
+
+  # ------------------------------------------------------------
+  # Helpers
+  # ------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  defp today, do: Date.utc_today() |> Date.to_iso8601()
+
+  # Bring the ledger down and up again through its own supervisor — a
+  # new process with a new, empty state, and the file on disk untouched.
+  # That is a restart, not a reset.
+  #
+  # (Done with terminate_child/restart_child rather than Process.exit:
+  # this file restarts the ledger six times in well under five seconds,
+  # and a supervisor that sees more than three CRASHES in five seconds
+  # gives up and takes the application down with it — as the first
+  # version of this test found out.)
+  defp restart_ledger do
+    old = Process.whereis(MannaLedger)
+    :ok = Supervisor.terminate_child(VavPipeline.Supervisor, MannaLedger)
+    {:ok, new} = Supervisor.restart_child(VavPipeline.Supervisor, MannaLedger)
+    assert new != old
+    assert Process.whereis(MannaLedger) == new
+  end
+
+  defp write_record(record) do
+    File.mkdir_p!(Path.dirname(MannaLedger.ledger_file()))
+    File.write!(MannaLedger.ledger_file(), Jason.encode!(record))
+  end
+
+  defp write_provision(compute_units) do
+    expires = DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.add(6 * 3600) |> DateTime.to_iso8601()
+
+    provision = %{
+      "date" => today(),
+      "provision" => %{
+        "compute_units" => compute_units,
+        "memory_mb" => 512,
+        "api_calls_external" => 5,
+        "storage_delta_mb" => 2,
+        "sanhedrin_panels_max" => 2
+      },
+      "type" => "regular",
+      "expires_at" => expires,
+      "written_by" => "manna_ledger_persistence_test",
+      "written_at" => DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.to_iso8601()
+    }
+
+    path = Manna.provision_file()
+    File.mkdir_p!(Path.dirname(path))
+    File.write!(path, Jason.encode!(provision))
+  end
+end
diff --git a/vav_pipeline/test/test_helper.exs b/vav_pipeline/test/test_helper.exs
index 27f3f356..858379e6 100644
--- a/vav_pipeline/test/test_helper.exs
+++ b/vav_pipeline/test/test_helper.exs
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # Run with: SHORASHIM_L3=1 mix test --include l3
 ExUnit.start(exclude: [:l3])
 
+# The manna ledger resumes a day it finds on disk (ledger.json). A run
+# that was interrupted could leave one behind; no test should inherit it.
+if Process.whereis(VavPipeline.MannaLedger), do: VavPipeline.MannaLedger.reset()
+
 if System.get_env("SHORASHIM_L3") do
   {:ok, _} = VavPipeline.Repo.start_link()
   Ecto.Adapters.SQL.Sandbox.mode(VavPipeline.Repo, :manual)