ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף מלכים א 17:16

When Jacob used the expression יש לי כל "l have all that I need" in describing his economic status, he may have referred to sanctity which is also described by the word כל. There are several blessings in which Israel is compared to the sand of the sea. The meaning of the hyperbole is that just as the sand closes above any hole you make in it when you remove some of it, so Israel will be blessed by not feeling the removal of something from it as a loss, seeing that no visible void be will be left. Jacob described his economic wealth in similar terms when he explained to Esau that he had "everything." The deeper meaning of this concept is evident in Kings I 17,14 when Elijah the prophet assures the woman in the name of G'd that כד הקמח לא כלתה„ "that the jar of flour will not give out until the day that G'd will again let rain fall in the land of Israel." Examine how I explained 33,18: ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם. This blessing is one that all the patriarchs enjoyed in varying degrees; this is why we find the Torah using the expressions בכל, מכל or כל respectively in connection with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (compare Baba Batra 47).

וצויתי את ברכתי, "And I shall command My blessing, etc." The blessing referred to in this verse does not pertain to the growth of the crop; that blessing has already been mentioned when the Torah spoke of the earth giving its full yield. The blessing the Torah speaks of here is in the nature of what we read in Kings I 17 and Kings II chapter 4 where the prophet made the little bit of oil of the respective petitioners stretch miraculously. This is alluded to in the words of our verse that ועשת את התבואה, i.e. that the existing crop will be made to last for three years. My comments on Genesis 33,9-11 are relevant to this verse.

According to the plain meaning of the text the table was needed in order that the show-breads which the Torah commanded to be ever-present in the Tabernacle (Temple) could be placed upon it. These show-breads were necessary as the basic minimum to which G’d’s bounty could attach itself. The weekly offerings of these show-breads were consumed by the priests who performed the service in the Tabernacle or Temple during the week in question. A small part of this bread was sufficient for many priests. Our sages in Yuma 39 illustrated this point when they said that if a priest received as little as the size of a bean of that bread this would suffice to still his hunger. This then is the reason that this structure was called “table,” seeing G’d provided His blessing for the bread which was placed upon it. From this table G’d’s blessing for the food of the Jewish people would proliferate to all parts of the country, indeed to all parts of the earth. This blessing was in the nature of a יש מיש , “something based on something else.” It was of the same category as that demonstrated by such prophets as Elijah and Elisha who were able to make a minute amount of flour or oil grow into huge amounts. It was a precondition for these prophets to have something, i.e. a “יש” to work with (compare Kings II 4,2 and Kings I 17,16). Creating something out of nothing is something reserved for G’d Himself and such power has not been given to any prophet. In fact we do not know that a type of יש מאין creative activity ever occurred again after G’d commenced creating His universe in such a fashion.