The Oil That Did Not Stop
A widow facing the loss of her sons came to Elisha, and her single jug of oil kept pouring as long as she had vessels to fill.
A woman came to Elisha crying. Rashi says she was the widow of Ovadyah. Your servant, my husband, is dead, she said, and you know that he feared Hashem. Now his creditor is coming to take my two sons as slaves.
Elisha answered with a question. What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? Your maidservant has nothing in the house, she said, except a jug of oil.
Go, Elisha told her. Borrow empty vessels from all your neighbors, and do not borrow too few. Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour the oil into all those vessels, setting each one aside when it is full.
She did exactly as he said. Behind the closed door her sons kept bringing vessels, and she kept pouring. Jug after jug filled from the one small jar. At last she said to her son, bring me another vessel. There are no more vessels, he answered, and at that moment the oil stopped.
She came back and told the man of Hashem what had happened. Go, he said, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on what is left.
Source: Melachim II 4:1–7; Rashi on Melachim II 4:1. English: The JPS Tanakh (Gender-Sensitive Edition) and The Metsudah Tanach.
The oil flowed as long as the widow had vessels, and stopped only when she ran out of them. Hashem's help often matches the room we make for it. This week, pick one area where you have been asking for blessing, such as parnassah, a shidduch, or health, and add one vessel to receive it: a few extra minutes of tefillah, a coin of tzedakah each morning, or one concrete step you have been putting off. Then, like the widow, shut the door and keep pouring.