Where Is the Soul of the Carob?
Oil is the soul of the tree. שֶׁמֶן, oil, sits inside נְשָׁמָה, soul, and the question that follows is where…
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Life Propagates Through Smell
Oil is the soul’s matter and smell is its channel, and neither of those says why creation should be built…
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All the Oils Are Beautiful for the Lamp
Start with what the halacha says rather than what it is assumed to say. If the practice is forbidden, nothing…
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The Mushroom Rises Without a Root
A mushroom comes up overnight out of a dead stump, and the halacha looked at it and refused to call…
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At the Table: Why We Light
Why anyone lights A Jew is named for thanks. Leah named her fourth son out of the one sentence she…
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Why a Candle Is Lit for the Dead
A candle is lit for someone who has died, and a lamp burns continuously in places where nobody is standing…
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With Smells We Smelt Light
Ore is metal locked inside rock, and heat alone will not release it. A fire hot enough to melt the…
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Lighting Chanukah with Oil
The Chanukah miracle was oil. Not wax, not a candle, and not light in general. One sealed flask. וּמָצְאוּ פַּךְ…
