Leviticus A Humble Letter

Parashat Vayikra Leviticus 1:1-5:26

We begin a new book of the Torah this week
And as with many new beginnings
A question hangs in the air:

How might these words, verses, and teachings
Bring new and needed wisdom
Into the world

Vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
The first word of the first parasha
[And also the name of the book]
Invites curiosity
Because of the distinct way in which
The word is written

Scholar and translator Everett Fox
In his work The Five Books of Moses
Renders the meaning of vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
As “Now [G!d] called”

To whom did G!d call?
Moshe

This is not new

However
The uniqueness of the word vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
In this parasha is two fold

The vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא that we read
In this particular place in the Torah
Is written with a tiny aleph

And

The words that follow vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
Create a phrase
Vayikra el-Moshe | וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה
That only appears in one other place
In the entire Torah
In Exodus chapter 24, verse 16
When G!d calls to Moshe
Vayikra el-Moshe | וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה
From amidst the clouds on Mount Sinai
What is happening with this tiny aleph?
And
How are these two phrases connected?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks [z”l]
From his book
Covenant and Conversation;
Leviticus; The Book of Holiness
Brings a teaching from the Kitzur Ba’al HaTurim
That the small aleph
Indicates Moshe’s humility

As explained earlier
The word vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא means call
If the aleph at the end is removed
The word becomes vayikar | וַיִּקְר
Which means chance
[i.e. inadvertent]

Omitting the aleph
Changes the meaning of the word

Moshe is thought to have scribed the entire Torah
From G!d’s recitation
Rabbi Sacks, via the Ba’al HaTurim,
Implies that when G!d and Moshe
Reached this point in their collaboration
Moshe did not want to write vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
But rather vayikar | וַיִּקְר

Moshe wanted to leave off the aleph
Implying that G!d speaking to Moshe
In this moment
From the Ohel Mo’ed [the Tent of Meeting]
Was mere chance
Rather than include the aleph
And affirm, assert
Perhaps even proclaim
That G!d calling Moshe
Has nothing to do with chance

Because all Torah scrolls
Are written with a tiny aleph
At the opening of the book of Vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
We know that the disagreement
Between G!d and Moshe was resolved

Although G!d convinced Moshe
To include the aleph in vayikra | וַיִּקְרָא
Moshe compromised
Writing a very small aleph
Expressing his deference to The Divine
AND
Literally making his mark in the Torah
That depicts his stature
Vis-à-vis G!d

Rabbi David Jaffe
In his book
Changing The World From The Inside Out
Teaches that
“The Hebrew word for ‘humility’
Is anavah
And its root is ayin nun heh
This root means ‘humility’
And ‘lowliness’
But these letters are also the same root
For ‘speaking’ and ‘responding.’

Anavah/ humility involves finding
The proper relationship
Between the self and the world around you
One who is appropriately humble
Neither gets lost in the whole
Nor sees oneself as the whole”

Following Rabbi Jaffe’s definition of anavah
Moshe expresses his humility
Through the tiny aleph
Rightsizing the relationship
Between himself and G!d
Neither getting lost in the whole
Nor seeing himself as the whole

It is also possible
Moshe assumed
That G!d’s previous call
From amidst the clouds on Mount Sinai
[Earlier in Exodus chapter 24, verse 16]
Was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
A kind of intimacy
That G!d would not replicate

Therefore
When G!d uttered the same phrase
Vayikra el-Moshe | וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה
From the Ohel Mo’ed [the Tent of Meeting]
Calling Moshe
From this new, fixed, physical site
Designated as their meeting place
Moshe was forced to confront
Regardless of his self-conception
That G!d called to him
To create a deeper level of relationship
Through a more established
And regular connection

It’s entirely plausible
That Moshe simultaneously craved
An ongoing partnership with G!d
And doubted his own capacity
To uphold his end

This rub
Is named the Central Relational Paradox
A facet of Relational Cultural Theory
Developed by Doctor Jean Baker Miller
At The Stone Center at Wellesley College

This phenomenon names
That often the connection we want the most
Can be the scariest to receive
And thus is pushed away
And/or avoided

Keeping in mind
Both the Central Relational Paradox
And anavah | humility
We can read Moshe as choosing the small aleph
To denote not only his trepidation
But also his willingness and desire
To step into the fullness
Of the relationship he craved with G!d

May each of us
Linger with these words, verses, and teachings
Acknowledging our own propensity
To focus on the elements of chance
Rather than register
The ways in which
We are intentionally called

May we find our way to our anavah | humility
So that
We know just how much space
Is the appropriate amount
For us to inhabit in each moment

And may we each know
When we need to use
A small aleph
In our relationships with G!d

Rabbi Rachel Tali Kaplan grew up in Maine and lived in many places, both near and far, before returning to her ancestral roots in the Greater Boston Area. After college, she fell in love with farming as an Adamah Fellow, and continued growing vegetables for a decade on many different farms. Shifting her focus from tractors to Torah was equal parts unforeseen and undeniable. At the Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Rachel fell in love with Spiritual Care. Post Ordination, Rachel completed her chaplaincy training through the Hebrew SeniorLife Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program, and went on to become a Board Certified Chaplain, while working as a Hospice Chaplain at Hebrew SeniorLife. When not working as the Hebrew College Rabbinical School Director of Student Life, Rachel loves exploring the outdoors, sharing time with loved ones, cooking, crafting, hammocking, listening to audio books, puttering and traveling.

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