Torah Commentary with Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal

וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָֹה אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר

"And (God) called out to Moses and Adonai spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting" (Leviticus 1:1)

We are starting a new book this week, the book of Vayikra, Leviticus. It begins with an anomaly. In our Chumash (Book containing the five books of Moses), the word Vayikra (the first word of the book) is written with a miniature "aleph." – וַיִּקְרָא

Upon investigation of this unusual scriptural tradition, we can find many answers. Rabbi Sampson Raphael Hirsch suggests that the reduced aleph is a reminder of humbleness. Since there isn't a specific commandment in the Torah mandating humbleness, this notation reminds us of the importance of a humble spiritual posture if we, like Moses, seek attention from God.

The Rambam puts the word, Vayikra, (meaning: to call out) into the context of the story. Unlike previous conversations with God, where Moses was Panim el Panim (face to face) with God, now the Mishkan (tabernacle) is complete, and God called from within this sacred space. Since it was already specified that Aaron, the High Priest, would be the only person allowed in the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctum, God had to call out and project God's voice a distance so Moses could hear. By itself, this doesn't explain the miniature aleph. However, Rambam concludes his commentary by saying:

The explanation of the verse according to its plain meaning and sense is: "and the Eternal called unto Moses and spoke unto him, out of the Tent of Meeting." By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Kabbalah], this verse is like, And unto Moses He said: 'Come up unto the Eternal' (Exodus 24:1). Its secret is known from the Revelation on Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. I have alluded to it already.

The Ten Commandments begin with "Anochi" which begins with the letter aleph. Maybe the small Aleph is suggesting that the first thing that God spoke from God's new abode amongst the people was the Ten Commandments.

This small Aleph invites us to read the word with or without this important first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. With the Aleph, the work means, as it is being translated, "And God called out to him (Moses). Without the Aleph, there are several ways to interpret the word. Rashi reads this word as Karah – קרה with a 'Hey' rather than an 'Aleph' changing the meaning from 'called out,' to 'it happened/it occurred.' For Rashi, the difference between the two words connotes an active versus a passive interaction; a formal versus a casual conversation.

Another way of reading this word without the Aleph is to add the 'Yud', first letter of the word "Yikra," into the root of the word rather than seeing it as a function of the verb conjugation. Read with the 'Yud,' the word now means 'precious, valuable, expensive.' This holds an important lesson for me about the use of words in our society. There is an expression, "Words are cheap." Unfortunately, this negative sentiment seems more true today than at any other time. Yes, our tradition knows how important words are. The universe was created with words. God's revelation was collected and carried with words. God shared God's will and hope for the world with words. As we start the book of Leviticus and begin to explore the holiness that our ancestors sought throughout this book, we should strive to reclaim the holiness and sacredness of words–both the words we share with others and the words we say about ourselves.