Parshas VaYeira

Let It Pour

L'Ilui Nishmas Tzvi Zev ben Baruch Shmuel:

In this week's Haftorah, a poor widow cries out to the prophet Elisha because her sons are about to be sold away as slaves to repay a debt. Elisha provides a puzzling reply:
"What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?"
"Just a cruse of oil." She answers. Elisha then tells her to collect as many empty vessels as possible. She begins to pour the oil from the little cruse into the vessels and oil continues to flow from the cruse until there are no more empty vessels to fill. Elisha instructs her to sell all of the oil, and she will not only have enough to repay the debt, but she will also be able to live off the remainder.

It is clear from Elisha's question "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" that the miracle, the blessing of more oil, depended on her initial possession of oil. It seems that Elisha required a "miracle starter." Had she lacked "something" in the house, there would have been no Brachah.

It is actually a Pasuk in Iyov (20:21), "There was nothing left of his food, therefore his prosperity will not endure," and it has Halachik ramifications. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 92a) uses this Pasuk as the source for the Halacha that one must leave bread on the table when he recites Birkas HaMazon: "And Rabbi Elazar said, 'Whomever doesn't leave bread on his table will never see a sign of Brachah.' As it says, 'There was nothing left of his food, therefore his prosperity will not endure.'" Rav Yosef Karo quotes this Gemara LeHalacha in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 180:1-2). Apparently, Brachah is dependent on having "something" initially, be it oil, or in this case, bread.1

The obvious question is, if Hashem is going to provide Brachah, miraculously or not, why necessitate a "starter?" Why did the woman have to provide a cruse of oil, and why do we need to leave bread on the table when we recite Birkas HaMazon?

The Magen Avraham comments that Brachah only affects "something." There has to be something to harness the Brachah before it can take effect. He adds, "Just like by Elisha and the woman." The Machatzis HaShekel explains that the Magen Avraham is referring to the fact that the Brachah depended on her initial possession of oil.2 Since she had oil, the Brachah could occur. He goes on to say that subsequent to Maaseh B'reishis, Hashem no longer desired creation ex-nihilo. After G-d's initial creation from "nothing," all Brachah, miraculous or not, would occur from "something" (Yeish MiYeish).

However, this does not sufficiently answer our question. Why is it that after Maaseh B'reishis, Brachah must emerge from "something?"

In his Sefer Nefesh HaChaim (Shaar 2:2), Rav Chaim of Voloshin explains that the word Brachah means to have more of something, a multiplicity. The Torah consistently uses the language of Brachah to describe someone receiving more of something - be it property, descendants, or whatnot. Yet, Hashem also asks man to give Him Brachah. The Gemara (Brachos 7a) says that Rabbi Yishmael, the Kohen Gadol, was doing the Avodah when he had a vision of Hashem, sitting on His throne saying, "Yishmael, my son, give me Brachah." How can we have "more" G-d? In fact, every Brachah we make raises this question, because we say, "Baruch Atah Hashem... - 'Blessed' are you Hashem..." How can we give G-d Brachah?

Rav Chaim of Voloshin understands a Brachah to be a request for Hashem to be manifest in the world to a greater degree. One of my Rabbeim once explained that the word Brachah is related to the word Berech, or Birkayim - knees. When we give G-d Brachah, we are requesting that He "come down here." We are requesting that Hashem bend His knees, as it were, and permeate our lives.3 Alternatively, Brachah could be related to the word Breichah - a pool that is overflowing from its source.4 Whatever the semantics are, the meaning remains the same. Every time we make a Brachah, we are asking to see more of G-d in mundane reality. A Brachah is a means through which we express Hashem in the world. This is how we can give G-d Brachah. A Brachah is a prayer to Hashem to see "more of Him" in the world. By making a Brachah, we are requesting to perceive Him to a greater degree. "Giving Hashem Brachah," is requesting that we see "more of Him" in our lives.

Yeish M'Ayin, creation, was Hashem hiding himself. The word for the world is Olam, like Ne'elam - hidden, because what the world does, by definition, is hide G-d. This allows us the ability to reveal Him. Creation ex-nihilo introduced a situation in which G-d could be revealed out of the darkness. Light always shines brightest when it comes out of the darkness. A Sefer Torah is written with black letters on a white background. Letters are seen most clearly when set against a background of the opposite color. Similarly, a thing is expressed the most when it emerges from a contrasting background.5 The background for Hashem's expression is the world. Now that we are in that situation, it is up to the Yeish to reveal Him. After G-d created the world, He left it up to man to "bring Him in." It is up to man to reveal Hashem in existence. G-d provides the system through which we can approach Him, but it is up to man to take the first step. Hashem will not reveal himself to man, there was only one Yeish M'Ayin. Now, it is up to man to reach out to G-d. Brachah can only occur through "something," through this world. There has to be "something" for the Brachah to affect. It is only once man has provided the starter that there be Brachah. Only then can we express G-d within it. Drawing Hashem into this world can only be done through this world, from "something," not from "nothing."

This is one idea that emerges from Elisha's question to the woman, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" Even miraculous Brachah depends on her initial possession of oil. Once she provides the starter, the Brachah can take effect. We provide bread on the table when we recite Birkas HaMazon for the same reason. It requires an action in this world for Hashem to be expressed. Every Brachah that we make is bringing more G-d consciousness into the world. However, it is up to the world to make the Brachos. It was up to the woman to provide the oil.

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