Vayetze - Be Like A Mushroom

(11) He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. (12) He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (13) And the LORD was standing beside him and He said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. (14) Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants. (15) Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (16) Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is present in this place, and I did not know it!”

(1) A psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

(2) God, You are my God; I search for You,

my soul thirsts for You, my body yearns for You,

as a parched and thirsty land that has no water.

(3) I shall behold You in the sanctuary,

and see Your might and glory,

R' Elazar in the name of R' Yose bar Zimra, opened his discourse: "my soul thirsts for You, my body yearns for You"

R' Eivu said: "like truffles that await water"

The Rabbis said: Just as my soul thirsts for You, so do the 248 limbs that are within me thirst for you.

Where? "in a parched and thirsty land with no water"

Therefore "in the holies I have beheld You, Therefore in holiness I have beheld You"

"To see Your might" - this is your heavenly assembly - "and Your glory"

And behold! Hashem was standing over him.

The explanation for my soul thirsts is its like a mushroom that is thirsty for water because there is nothing that grows that desires water like the mushroom because they don't receive sustenance from the ground, rather from the air and therefore they need lots of water from above, so too righteous people don't nourish from the ground, but rather from above, from Hashem above.

The word al does not appear in the verse only the midrash interprets this to be because of his thirst and love he merited to see His glory and strength.

The Sages taught: Over a food item whose growth is not from the earth, for example... truffles and mushrooms, one recites: By whose word all things came to be.

Abaye said: With regard to growth, they grow from the earth, but with regard to sustenance, they do not draw sustenance from the earth. ​​​​​​​