Every oil has a verse
Each oil in the collection was chosen for a reason: a place it is written in Torah, Mishnah or Talmud, and a reading of its name that opens something. Here is the source, and here is the hiddush.
The Shabbat Lamp
Bameh madlikin, “with what may we light”: the oils the Mishnah weighs for the Shabbat flame.
Olive
Exodus 27:20“Bring pure olive oil, beaten, for the light, to raise an eternal lamp.”
The hiddushZayit. In Hebrish a zit, the thing that pops, like a volcano at Creation. Olive is home for Shabbat. Rabbi Tarfon allows only olive oil for the Shabbat lamp (Mishnah Shabbat 2:2).
Sesame
Mishnah Shabbat 2:2“The Sages permit lighting with all oils: sesame oil, nut oil, radish oil, fish oil, gourd oil.”
The hiddushShumshum holds shemesh, the sun, inside it. See-same. Open sesame.
Castor (kik)
Shabbat 21a“Reish Lakish: kik oil comes from a plant like the kikayon of Jonah.”
The hiddushA palindrome, and a kick that starts the engine. In English, CastOr: to cast ohr, light. The Mishnah keeps it off the Shabbat lamp (Shabbat 2:1); the Gemara grows it from Yonah’s gourd.
Read more →Flax
Exodus 9:31“The flax and the barley were struck, for the flax was in bud.”
The hiddushPish-ten: in Hebrish, ten fish. Push a ton.
Radish
Mishnah Shabbat 2:2“Shemen tznonot, radish oil, is on the Sages’ list for the lamp.”
The hiddushTzanun: to chill. It sounds like sinun, filtering.
Fish oil
Mishnah Shabbat 2:2“Fish oil, permitted by the Sages for the lamp.”
The hiddushSardine: sar-din, the minister of judgment. Mackerel: Maker El.
Cotton
Shabbat 21a“Oil from cotton seed, named by the Gemara among lamp oils.”
The hiddushKarpas, cotton, hangs in the palace of Shushan (Esther 1:6).
The Ketoret and the Anointing Oil
The spices of the Temple incense (Exodus 30:34, Keritot 6a) and of the shemen hamishchah (Exodus 30:23).
Frankincense
Exodus 30:34“Take spices: balm, onycha and galbanum, with pure frankincense.”
The hiddushLevonah carries lavan, white. One of the four named in the Torah’s ketoret.
Myrrh
Exodus 30:23“Take choice spices: flowing myrrh, five hundred shekels.”
The hiddushMor dror, free-flowing myrrh, opens the anointing oil.
Cinnamon
Exodus 30:23“Fragrant cinnamon, half as much, two hundred and fifty.”
The hiddushIn the anointing oil, and on the Sages’ ketoret list.
Cassia
Psalms 45:9“Myrrh, aloes and cassia scent all your robes.”
The hiddushKest cinnamon: this universe is a jest, and the moon is a little like Kayin for now.
Galbanum
Exodus 30:34“Balm, onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense.”
The hiddushBitter on its own, and still in the ketoret.
Spikenard
Keritot 6a“Myrrh, cassia, spikenard and saffron, each sixteen maneh.”
The hiddushNerd: also in Shir HaShirim 4:14.
Saffron
Song of Songs 4:14“Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense.”
The hiddushIn the ketoret by Keritot 6a.
Clove
Keritot 6a“Balm, onycha, galbanum and frankincense, seventy maneh each.”
The hiddushTwo readings, both true. In Hebrew today tziporen is clove. In the Sages’ ketoret, tziporen is onycha, the shecheilet of Exodus 30:34.
Balsam / Persimmon
Shabbat 26a“Go adorn yourself with balsam oil.”
The hiddushTwo readings, both true. Today afarsemon is the persimmon. In the Talmud it is the balsam of the Land, the oil of kings.
Trees of the Land
Wood, nut and resin from trees the Tanakh names.
Almond
Jeremiah 1:11“What do you see, Yirmiyahu? I see an almond branch.”
The hiddushShaked has the letters of kodesh, holy. The almond is the tree that watches: shoked.
Pistachio
Genesis 43:11“Take of the best of the land: balm, honey, gum, ladanum, pistachios and almonds.”
The hiddushBotnim, the gift Yaakov sends down to Yosef. It sounds like PeaceTok. Peanut is beten: the belly, what is inside.
Walnut
Song of Songs 6:11“I went down to the garden of nuts.”
The hiddushAll nuts are great, because the universe is inside one. Also inside an egg. Read king backwards and you hear a dream.
Hazelnut (Luz)
Sotah 46b“Luz: even the angel of death has no permission to pass through it.”
The hiddushNut to Oz. The city where death cannot enter.
Cedar
Leviticus 14:4“Two pure birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff and hyssop.”
The hiddushIn the Torah, in the purification.
Pine
Isaiah 44:14“He plants a pine, and the rain makes it grow.”
The hiddushOhr-nun: the light of Nun.
Blue Cypress
Isaiah 55:13“Instead of the thorn a cypress shall rise, instead of the nettle a myrtle.”
Myrtle
Zechariah 1:8“He was standing among the myrtles in the deep.”
The hiddushIn the Torah and in Jewish tradition, from Sukkot to Hadassah.
Palm
Leviticus 23:40“Fruit of a goodly tree, branches of palm trees.”
The hiddushDekel: a minute for God. It makes souls light.
Sandalwood
1 Kings 10:11“From Ofir came a great quantity of almug wood.”
The hiddushSand. El. Wood. Read backwards: mog, above Gog and Magog.
Carob
Shabbat 33b“A carob tree and a spring of water were created for them in the cave.”
The hiddushChorev, Sinai, and charuv share their letters. Our own oil from Israeli carob.
Read more →Neem
Bava Batra 16a“I created many hairs [nimin] on a person, and for each its own follicle.”
The hiddushNeem, nimin: hairs. Every hair with its own source.
Fields, Fruit and Flowers
The seven species, the gardens of Shir HaShirim, and what Israel missed in the desert.
Grape
Deuteronomy 8:8“A land of wheat and barley, vines, figs and pomegranates, olive oil and honey.”
The hiddushAnav: humble. A branch on the tree. Prophecy.
Fig
Deuteronomy 8:8“A land of vines, figs and pomegranates.”
The hiddushIn the Torah, of the seven species, and the first leaf in Eden (Genesis 3:7).
Pomegranate
Exodus 28:33“On its hem make pomegranates of blue, purple and crimson.”
The hiddushIn the Torah and in Jewish tradition.
Wheat
Deuteronomy 8:8“A land of wheat and barley.”
The hiddushIn the Torah.
Coriander
Numbers 11:7“The manna was like coriander seed.”
The hiddushThe flavor of the manna.
Read more →Nigella
Isaiah 28:25“Does he not scatter black cumin and sow cumin?”
The hiddushKetzach: ketz, the end.
Hyssop (za’atar)
Exodus 12:22“Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood.”
The hiddushIn the Torah. Many identify the ezov with the za’atar of the Land.
Wormwood
Deuteronomy 29:17“A root bearing gall and wormwood.”
The hiddushLa’anah, literally to answer.
Onion
Numbers 11:5“We remember the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.”
The hiddushB’tzel El: in God’s shadow.
Cucumber
Numbers 11:5“We remember the cucumbers and the melons.”
The hiddushIn the Torah.
Watermelon
Numbers 11:5“The cucumbers and the melons.”
Lily
Song of Songs 2:1“I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.”
The hiddushA palindrome, with an SOS inside it.
Henna
Song of Songs 1:14“My beloved is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of Ein Gedi.”
Aloe
Numbers 24:6“Like aloes planted by God, like cedars by the water.”
The hiddushTwo readings, both true. The Tanakh’s ahalim is aloeswood; the aloe vera carries its name.
Mandrake
Genesis 30:14“Reuven found mandrakes in the field.”
Apple
Song of Songs 2:3“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved.”
Ginger
Pesachim 42b“Moist ginger heals all the limbs of the body.”
The hiddushGinbara. Gin Bara.
Rice
Berakhot 37a“The Gemara sets the blessing over rice.”
The hiddushOhr-z: the light of Zion.
The whole collection
More oils on the shelf, with their stories still being written.