You’re most likely familiar with the miracle of Hanukkah, in which a small jug of consecrated oil that would last only for one day at most, miraculously kept the menorah lit for eight days. But there’s a second, far less well-known miracle of oil. After the Exodus, God commands Moses to mix together anointing oil, which is poured on pretty much everything: the Tent of Meeting, the Ark, the table, utensils, the lampstand, the altars and Aaron and his sons. But the recipe seems a little off.
Rabbi Yosei says: But isn’t (that amount of oil) insufficient to smear on the roots of those spices? Rather, they soak the roots in water and they they float oil (on the water) and the oil absorbs the fragrance.
Rabbi Yosei is concerned about the proportions of ingredients laid out in the Torah. It doesn’t seem like the stipulated one hin (approximately six liters) of oil would be enough to boil all the myrrh, cinnamon, aromatic cane and cassia that are supposed to be mixed in. Scrambling for an answer, the Gemara adds another step to the process: put some water in the pot to boil the spices, the scent of which will then seep into the olive oil floating on top of the mixture. Either that, or some sort of miracle is afoot to maintain the required volume of oil despite all the ingredients required in the mix.
But wait! It’s two-fer time, and there’s a third oil-related miracle afoot!
Rabbi Yehuda said to him: And was it one miracle performed with regard to the anointing oil? But wasn’t it initially only twelve log, and from it the Tabernacle, and its vessels, Aaron, and his sons were anointed for the entire seven days of inauguration, and all of it remains in existence for the future, as it is stated: “This shall be a sacred anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:31)?
Houston, we have another problem: The oil isn’t supposed to be enough just for Aaron, his sons and all the accoutrements for the Tabernacle at that moment. It’s supposed to be enough to anoint every high priest and king for all time. That’s a lot of oil, and twelve log hardly seems like enough.
And yet, it must be because this is what the Torah says must be done. The rabbis declare this bottomless supply another miracle and suggest that this second miracle should leave us unsurprised at the first.
Need another morsel of proof? How’s this:
And that oil remains in existence for the future, as it is stated: “This [zeh] shall be a sacred anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:31). The numerical value of zeh is twelve log.
We have a little bit of gematria, or Hebrew numerology, here. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has an assigned value, and the word zeh is made up of letters whose value adds up to twelve, which is also the volume of the oil: twelve log. So you can see how the rabbis thought this quantity of oil could last for generations.
So it’s not just Hanukkah that presents us with miraculous oil. Between a hin emerging from the mixing pot to the adequacy of one hin for all generations, there seems to be an odd link between oil and miracles, one that ensured enough to anoint leaders from Moses’ time through the end of the priestly lines.
Read all of Horayot 11 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 12, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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