Oil, from the Deep to the Flame
Oil is the only substance the Mishkan asked for by purity rather than by name.
שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית לַמָּאוֹר
Clear olive oil, beaten, for the light. Shemot 27:20
Beaten, not pressed to exhaustion. The first drop, the one that leaves the olive under almost no force, is the one that goes up to the Menorah. Everything heavier in yield is sent elsewhere.
Shem and shemen
A name and an oil are written with the same three letters, and Shir HaShirim puts them in one line.
לְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנֶיךָ טוֹבִים … שֶׁמֶן תּוּרַק שְׁמֶךָ
For the scent of Your good oils, Your name is oil poured out. Shir HaShirim 1:3
A name is what a thing is called from outside. Oil is what rises out of it under pressure. The verse treats them as one operation.
The lamp that is already yours
נֵר ה’ נִשְׁמַת אָדָם
The lamp of God is the soul of man. Mishlei 20:27
Read in that order, the sequence stops being metaphor. A pressed fruit yields oil, oil feeds a flame, a flame is what a soul is called. Lighting a lamp with oil from the ground of this land is the short version of the whole argument.
Carob oil for the learning lamp, Israeli carob in olive oil.
Keep reading
- Shemen oil, a name and eight, inside three letters
- Charuv and Chorev the carob and the mountain, four letters reordered
- Lighting Chanukah with Oil why olive oil is called the choicest, and how to light with it
The map shows how all of it connects.
New teachings by email, and a bottle to pick up from us in Petah Tikva. The light of Sinai for your table.
