Uncovering the Spiritual Message Found in Olive Oil

Discover the encouraging message about faith that is found in God’s commandment to use olive oil to light the lampstand (menorah) in the Tabernacle. Host Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, explains on today’s podcast how this ancient source of light teaches us how to access light in dark times and become a much-needed source of light in the world today.

Episode Notes:

In this today’s podcast, Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, focuses on Exodus 27:20 where God says to Moses, “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning.”

While it may seem like an insignificant detail, there is an important message within God’s directive to use oil made exclusively from olives. Yael relates her own recent experience making olive oil in the Galilee using the exact method that was done in ancient times, which gave her deeper insight into this specific command and helped her understand the symbolism of olive oil.

Yael will share Jewish teachings about God’s preference for olive oil and what that means for Jews, who are compared to an olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16), and Christians, who in the Christian Bible are compared to an olive shoot grafted on to the rich olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17).

Discover how these lessons of light and faith encouraged Yael during the darkest time in her own life when she lost her father and mentor, Fellowship Founder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, of blessed memory, and how these teachings strengthened her faith and carried her through. As the world continues to experience dark and difficult times, allow this episode to strengthen your faith and encourage you in sharing the light of faith with others.