Today, let's dive into a fascinating story about the shemen ha-mishchah, the sacred anointing oil, taken from Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash on the Book of Leviticus.

Imagine Moses, out in the wilderness, preparing this special oil. According to Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai, this wasn't just any oil; it was a vessel for miracles from the very beginning. The text in Exodus (30:31) specifies "zeh shall be the sacred anointing oil for Me." Zeh? What’s so special about that word? Well, in Hebrew, letters also have numerical values—a system known as gematria. And the numerical value of zeh? Twelve.

So, twelve log – a liquid measure – of oil. That’s it. Now, think about everything this oil was used for!

We're talking about anointing Aaron and his sons for seven whole days during their investiture as priests! According to our text in Vayikra Rabbah, it was used to consecrate the golden altar, the bronze altar, the table, the candelabrum – all their implements, even the basin and its base. And not just them, but also future High Priests and even kings! I mean, how much oil could possibly be left after all that?

It seems impossible. It should have been used up just soaking the branches used to infuse the oil with fragrance! The Midrash asks: How much was burned? How much was absorbed by the wood? How much soaked into the cauldron? And yet, according to this tradition, the oil miraculously never ran out.

Even if a High Priest was the son of a High Priest for ten generations, he still needed to be anointed! But here's a twist: you don't anoint a king who's the son of a king... usually. So why was Solomon anointed?

Well, that was because of Adoniyahu, David's son, who tried to seize the throne. To make it absolutely clear that Solomon was the rightful heir, anointing him was a necessity. We see similar situations with Yoash, who was anointed because of Atalya, and Yehoahaz, because his older brother Yehoyakim was next in line. These were exceptional circumstances that called for anointing.

And the really amazing part? The Midrash concludes by saying that this original amount of oil, this "zeh," will remain intact in the future! A constant, unbroken connection to that initial act of consecration.

There's a fascinating little detail about where and how kings are anointed. Kings are only anointed near a spring. We see this in the story of Solomon in 1 Kings 1:33, where he's taken down to Gihon to be anointed. And they're anointed from a horn – a keren. Why a horn? Because, the text explains, Saul and Yehu were anointed from a cruse (a simple jar), and their reigns were transient. But David and Solomon? Their kingdom was meant to be eternal, so they were anointed from a horn, symbolizing strength and enduring power.

So, what do we take away from this story? It's more than just a quaint legend about a never-ending supply of oil. It's about the power of consecration, the importance of legitimate leadership, and the enduring promise of the Davidic line. It reminds us that even within the seemingly mundane details of ritual, there are layers of meaning and miracles waiting to be discovered. And it makes you wonder, what "oil" do we have in our lives that, against all odds, continues to sustain and inspire us?