From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 8:58 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:paeshas Vayikra,5768
Someone's Calling
By Rabbi Joshua (contritely known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
This week's parsha begins with the verse, "And He called to Moshe,
and God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting saying" (Vayikra 1:1). An
obvious question here is, why isn't God mentioned in the first part of the
verse? Who is it that called to Moshe? A number of commentators explain that
this verse is a continuation of the end of parshas Pekudei, in which the Torah
describes how God's honor hovered over the mishkan, and as long as the cloud
covered the mishkan, Moshe could not enter. As Rashi explains, once the cloud
was lifted from the mishkan, Moshe could enter the mishkan and speak to God.
Thus, the book of Shemos ends with a description of a limitation placed
on Moshe's access to the mishkan and to God's word. Following this conclusion,
the Torah then begins Vayikra describing how God called to Moshe to prepare him
for entering the mishkan and speaking with Him. Since the beginning of Vayikra
is directly related to the subject discussed at the end of Shemos, it is clear
that God was the One who was calling Moshe, and, therefore, there was no need
to spell that out. Still, we need to understand why God chose to begin the
book this way. Why not start with a dramatic call by God to Moshe, with
His name clearly mentioned?
The previous Slonimer Rebbe, R. Shalom Noach Brazovsky,
zt'l, in his Nesivos Shalom, wrote that the Torah is here teaching
us the concept, articulated by King Dovid in Tehilllim, (51:19), that "the
offerings of God are a broken spirit." Rashi in parshas Shemini (Vayikra
9:23) mentions a midrash that Moshe constructed the mishkan, served in
and dismantled it each of the seven days of inauguration and the shechinah did
not dwell on it. The people were ashamed, and told Moshe that they feared that
the sin of the eigel was not atoned for, and all their efforts had been for
naught. Moshe responded that his brother Aharon was more worthy than he was,
and through his offerings and service to God on the eighth day the
shechinah would dwell among them, as the Torah describes at the end of Pekudei.
Thus, by beginning Vayikra as a continuation of the end of Pekudei, the Torah
is teaching us that although the work of the mishkan consisted in bringing
sacrifices to God, what is most important to God is to have a contrite spirit,
as Moshe did when he spoke to the people about Aharon and attributed to him
the dwelling of the shechinah among them. I would like to suggest a
different answer, inspired by the comments of the Nesivos Shalom, but somewhat
different from them.
The word for "and He called,", Vayikra, is written with a
small aleph at the end. Why? Many answers have been given, but one of the most
popular, as given by the Keli Yakar and others, is that Moshe, in his humility,
wanted the word Vayikra to appear to be written with a small aleph, so that it
could be mistaken for the word 'Vayakar,' or "and He happened to
come", which was a description of how God would appear to Bilaam. The
small aleph, then, was a sign of Moshe's humility. Perhaps, then, we can
suggest that God responded to Moshe's humility by leaving His own name out
of the opening phrase of the book of Vayikra, even though mentioning His
name explicitly at the beginning of the book would have had dramatic effect
that could have influenced many people to be stronger in their devotion
to Him. Because Moshe chose to limit his own honor by asking to have the letter
aleph written in miniature form, God Himself, besides acceding to the request,
limited His own presence in the verse, and did not mention His name in the
opening phrase of the book which revolves around sacrifices to Him. Perhaps
this can be seen as an expanded version of the idea expressed by Chazal
when they said that if someone comes to purify himself, he is helped from
heaven in his efforts.
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