The anointing oil of Aaron, the High Priest, alludes to the mystical dimension of the holy oil in the Celestial Regions, which have their roots in the sefira of bina. In the book Pardes Rimonim, the concept of "oil" is described as follows: There are many different kinds of oil.
The anointing oil is an expression denoting abundance (otherwise known as "oil", as we will explain). When royalty is anointed by the oil it originates in the sefira of chesed and is called "anointing oil." In Aramaic it is called "mischcha d'rabuta", "oil of greatness", an allusion to chesed.
When this oil originates in tiferet, however, it is called "oil for lighting". The reason for this is that the tiferet symbolizes the "Great Luminary." The Shechinah employs this light when shining.
When it originates in gevura, oil is called "holy oil of anointing". This is because when G-d's abundance is absorbed through gevura, it also includes an element of the sefira chesed. The word "holy" is a hint of the sefira of gevura, whereas the word for "of anointing" alludes to chesed. The divine sustenance by itself is known as "a single olive"…
When the source of the oil is the sefira of yesod, it is called "pounded oil". This is the domain in which the olives (representing abundance from "above") are pounded into fragments from which the oil is extracted and, in turn, channeled to malchut. Two different stages of "pounding", are required to produce the required type of oil for the menorah.
When human beings mate the process is one of "pounding", as is well known. This process eventually results in the formation of a new life, a baby. When the parallel process occurs in the Celestial Regions, the result is the abundance we enjoy at the hands of G-d. This is equivalent to "refreshing oil" (see Psalms 92:11) because bina is also known as the region of "freshness" [in Hebrew, "raanan"]. The divine sustenance by itself is known as "a single olive", and without any adjectives is an allusion to sustenance provided through bina. This sustenance originates in chochma, which is part of the "right" side of the scheme of sefirot, the side from which G-d's goodness is revealed.
The sefira bina is also known as the seat of G-d's name Eh-yeh (spelled alef, hei, yud, hei). We find this word repeated in Exodus 3:14, where G-d refers to the abundance He will supply. When you apply the system of exchanging letters in the alphabet known as Atbash to the word for "oil", "shemen" [spelled shin, mem, nun], the result is the letters beit, yud, tet, which spell a divine name and equal the numerical value for the name Eh-yeh, 21. Thus far the quotation from Pardes Rimonim.
[Translated and adapted by Eliyahu Munk.]
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