הרהורי פרשת שבוע – ויקרא – אלוהים עושים רק שיחות קרות

ויקרא אל משה וידבר ד’ אליו מאהל מועד לאמר

And He called to Moshe, and God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying:

The book of Vayikra has us scratching our heads not with the first verse, but the first word, and not even over the entire word, but over one of its letters. The final letter of the word “Vayikra”, you see, is written in miniature form, which should certainly get even the most itch-tolerant Jewish heads scratching themselves. What is the meaning of this peculiar Aleph-minification?

As usual, we turn to Chazal, who let us in on the fascinating story of the little Aleph. God, say Chazal, instructed Moshe to write the words ‘Vayikra el Moshe’, which translates as ‘And He [God] called to Moshe. In his great humility, however Moshe complained that he was undeserving of this term being used to describe God’s beckoning to him. Instead, Moshe asked that the Aleph of Vayikra be left out, thus spelling ‘Vayikar’ instead, which connotes a more impersonal form of calling, a summons of sorts, often used to describe God’s summons to gentile prophets such as Bilaam. God, however, insisted that the intimate beckoning expressed by the word of ‘Vayikra’ be invoked, and only allowed Moshe to express his will that it say ‘Vayiker’ by making the Aleph of Vayikra small.

Fascinating indeed, yet now, many of us are scratching our heads in a different spot. How, we wonder, did the Torah allow Moshe’s will to find expression in the minifying of the Aleph, thus allowing us to read the word on some level as Vayiker, when in truth, a summons of such impersonal nature never really occurred, Moshe’s humility notwithstanding? If God truly did call Moshe lovingly, which he obviously did, then how can the Torah, which is the epitome of truth, even imply otherwise, albeit in subtle fashion?

Perhaps the answer lies in understanding why Vayiker implies a less affectionate form of calling. The commentators explain that this is because “Vayiker” is related to the word “Mikreh”, which means an incidental occurrence. Thus, the word Vayiker implies a one-time, unexpected beckoning, while Vayikra connotes an unexceptional, entirely anticipated, calling of one to another.

While God obviously related to these “callings” to Moshe as par-for-the-course, Moshe himself did not, and was indeed forever fascinated by the fact that God would call to him, regarding it as an amazing and unpredictable turn of events better described as coincidental- “Vayiker” – than expected, or Vayikra. Thus, despite the fact that in reality God did call to Moshe as a matter of course, there was likewise in all truth an element of “Vayiker” to the interaction, for that is how Moshe accepted the call on his end.

Perhaps we can take this a step further. From the fact that the Torah fuses Vayikra and Vayiker into one word by shrinking the Aleph, we can deduce that the Vayiker aspect, i.e. Moshe’s relating to God’s call as a novelty, was an integral factor in the Vayikra aspect, i.e. God’s actual calling on Moshe as a deserving confidant.

God only deems it worthwhile to reveal Himself, we must conclude, to those who are capable of forever approaching that revelation with the requisite fascination to properly absorb its every enthralling nuance.

It was this trait of Moshe which allowed God to continually reveal Himself to him, and it is this trait that we must develop if we likewise want God to continually reveal Himself to us.

Allow yourself to be forever fascinated by God, and you can be sure that He will forever be there to fascinate. Grow accustomed His presence, however, and you may be surprised to find Him present no longer.