Weekly Sidra: VaYera / And he appeared
Torah Portion: Bereshit / Genesis 18:1-22:24
Haftorah: Melachim Bet / Kings II 4:1-37

1 A certain woman, the wife of one of the disciples of the prophets, cried out to Elisha: "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know how your servant revered the Lord. And now a creditor is coming to seize my two children as slaves." 2 Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what have you in the house?" She replied, "Your maidservant has nothing at all in the house, except a jug of oil." 3 "Go," he said, "and borrow vessels outside, from all your neighbours, empty vessels, as many as you can. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind you and your children, and pour [oil] into all those vessels, removing each one as it is filled." (II Kings 4:1-4)

Oil is a very expensive commodity in the world today.  Wars are fought over it, economies are dominated by it and much of the world can’t survive without it.

This week’s Torah portion is Vayera (and he appeared).  We see the birth of Isaac in this week’s portion a true miracle of Hashem.  This week’s Haftarah contains two stories about the prophet Elisha, a protégé of Elijah. In the first story an unnamed woman, traditionally identified as the wife of Obadiah, one of the Minor Prophets, comes to Elisha with a complaint. Her husband has died, and she is so destitute without him that her children are about to be taken away from her to be sold as slaves.

Elisha asks her if she has anything of value in her house, and she replies that all she has is a single jug of oil. Elisha then instructs her to borrow as many vessels as she can from her neighbors. Then, he tells her to pour the oil from her vessel into the other ones. Miraculously, the oil does not run out, ultimately lasting long enough to fill all the borrowed jugs. She returns to Elisha, who tells her, "Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your children can live on the rest."

Most people focus on the second miracle, the resurrection of the Shunamite woman’s son as it relates to the birth of Isaac, but I would like to tie the second miracle to the first.  Both children and oil were valuable commodities.  Elisha asks if she has anything of value in the house and all she had was a jug of oil.

We see a similar story in the Good News (Besorah HaTovah).  Martha, who was the sister of Lazarus, was serving. Lazarus’s other sister, Mary, broke a jar of very expensive oil. She poured it over Yeshua. She did this to show her great love for Yeshua. She was grateful to him, and she also believed in him. The oil was extremely expensive. Probably it cost all her money. Some people were very angry with her. Even some disciples did not like what she had done. Yehudah (Judas) said that they could have sold the oil for a lot of money. They could have given the money to the poor (Yochanan / John 12:4-6).

Then Yeshua spoke. He said that Mary had done a beautiful thing. She had prepared his body for the grave. Mary was one of the best listeners that Yeshua ever had. On a previous visit by Yeshua, she sat at his feet to listen to him (Luke 10:39). She probably heard Yeshua speak about his death. She probably understood that it had to happen. . She understood better than the disciples at this time. She wanted to give Yeshua a gift. She wanted to give him everything. Her gift shows how much she loved him. We see that the oil used on Yeshua was very expensive.

The Torah is God’s knowledge, which means that it is infinite. Therefore, there are different levels of the Torah, one deeper than the other. The hidden mystical aspect of the Torah is called Kabbalah. Kabbalah is often compared to wine; just as wine is hidden in the grape, and by squeezing the grape, wine is obtained, a similar analogy can be made with the Torah and Kabbalah. The deepest and highest level of the Torah is Chassidut, which is compared to oil. Oil floats on top of all liquids indicating its superior quality. At the same time oil makes everything oily. Another characteristic of oil is that all substances contain oil. If any substance is pressed enough oil will be obtained; therefore oil is contained in the essence of everything. Chassidut is also the essence of the Torah, and within it is contained all the other levels. In Chassidut, not only are the mystical and Kabalistic dimensions discussed, but all the other levels are an integral part. Chassidut unifies all the different levels of the Torah for the purpose of elevating the world and the person himself, to make the world and the person Godly. As a result the world becomes a dwelling place for God and causes the coming of Mashiach, the ultimate purpose of creation.

What is the oil in your life?  What do you have in your life that is expensive to give to Hashem?  Your children?  Your job?  Whatever you give to Hashem he will use it to overflowing, much like the oil in the jar.