Oil as Connection?
Aaron and on his sons as well; anoint them, (Ex. 28:41) … Take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him (29:7).. You must anoint … ‘This will be the sacred anointing oil for Me throughout your generations. (30:30)
Where does this idea of pouring oil on the head come from, and what does it mean?
Oil, shemen, is first mentioned in the text in the blessing Isaac gives Jacob: “May G-d give you of the dew of heaven and the oil of the earth,” (G. 27-28).
But it is Jacob who first pours oil: When Jacob wakes up from his dream and realizes that “these are the gates of heaven,’ he stacks some stones and pours oil on top. Is this not an odd thing to do, unprecedented in the Torah? What might it mean?
In the Torah, the only things poured are either oil (by Jacob or for anointing the priests), or the casting of copper, silver or gold for sockets, rings and hooks in the mishkan. Note how all of the meanings come together: “pour” in the Torah is a way to connect dissimilar objects, either mechanically (in castings for connecting pieces) or symbolically (anointings or oil offerings in sacrifices).
Perhaps there is a simple explanation? Shemen, oil, is linguistically linked to shemonah, the number “eight.” In the Torah, the number Eight is used to connect man and G-d. So we have the circumcision on the eighth day (Gen. 17:12 and 21:4), as well as the offering of the first-born animal (Ex. 22:29) on the eighth day. Similarly, after seven days of inauguration of the priests, it was on the eighth day that the priesthood was consecrated and started the active service between man and G-d (Lev. 9:1). Many sacrifices and festivals that were involved with establishing a connection between man and G-d were also called for the eighth day.
Events on the eighth, shemoneh, day usually also involved oil, shemen. Does this teach that pouring shemen, oil, is all about creating connections between disparate things (hence anointing the priests and casting of sockets, rings and hooks)?
Why Oil?
The creation of oil requires both nature and man’s effort to extract vegetable the essence of the vegetable. Could we thus understand that oil is an amalgam of both divine creation and mankind’s investment of time and energy? If so, could oil represent the work we have to invest in order to build relationships and connections? Is this not how it is commanded to be used?
Metzora Oil?
One of the odder commandments in the text also involves oil: the ceremony through which a metzora, someone who has harmed someone else in any way from gossip through to murder, is cleansed and “reset” as a member of society. (Lev. 14). The procedure is quite involved, but the final step includes:
The priest shall then take some of the log of oil … Some of the oil left in his palm shall be put by the priest on the ridge of the right ear of the one being purified, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot.
Could this also be explained through understanding the core function of the oil?
A metzora has harmed someone else, damaging a relationship. So is it plausible that the pouring of oil is a way to reset, to find a way forward in the eyes of G-d even after we have done something wrong? If so, how does one move on? Could it be by re-establishing the pathway to connect with G-d: the metzora gets oil applied to him (representing: ear – listening, hand – acting, foot-going) just as the priests are anointed with oil, and just as Jacob anointed the stones? Are not all cases of new beginnings, with new connections to heaven?
Forbidden Oil?
Could we extend this idea to the remaining example as well?
In this case, the pouring of oil is once brought as a negative case – in the case of the woman suspected by her husband:
That man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it.
Could this be explained as follows: this sotah ceremony is about clarifying a relationship, exposing divisions and loyalties in a marriage. Oil is about connection – and before there can be a holy marital connection there must first be trust between the two parties. Since the trust is not there, oil is forbidden.
Asher and Oil
The tribe of Asher is gifted with two specific blessings:
Out of Asher his bread shall be oily, and he shall yield royal dainties. (G. 29:20) … May [Asher] dip his foot in oil. (D. 33:24)
Why is Asher connected with oil?
Could the answer be a literal one? The letters that form the name “Asher” are the same letters that form the connecting word in Hebrew that translates as “that” or “which”. In the first example in the text:
G-d made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. (G.1:7)
The very word asher is used to connect an item with its location or identity! Extended: the waters above and below represent heaven and earth, which in turn echoes Isaac’s blessing (dew of heaven, oil of earth), and a purpose of man’s existence: to (re)connect the waters above and below? Is not oil thus symbolic of all relationships as well as our mission in the world?