ויקרא אל משה, in view of our being told at the end of the last portion that Moses could not enter the Tabernacle (Exodus 40,35), this is why now G’d called to Moses from the Tabernacle. As a result, the meaning of the verse here is “G’d called to Moses from the Tent and spoke to him.” The meaning of the verse is parallel to Exodus 19,3 ויקרא אליו ה' מן ההר, where the operative clause is the word מן ההר, “from the mountain.” It is important for us to know from where G’d’s voice originated. At that time it came out of the mountain, whereas now it came out of the Tabernacle. At that time it signaled that G’d had “descended” into the domain of earth, i.e. on top of Mount Sinai, whereas now it signaled that G’d had taken up residence in His home on earth, the Mishkan.
וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה. מֵהֵיכָן קָרָא לוֹ, מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד. יְהֵא שְׁמֵיהּ מְבֹרָךְ לְעָלַם, שֶׁמֵּנִיחַ הָעֶלְיוֹנִים וּבָחַר בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים לִשְׁכֹּן בַּמִּשְׁכָּן בִּשְׁבִיל אַהֲבָתָן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְכֵן אָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה, כִּי הַאֻמְנָם יֵשֵׁב אֱלֹהִים עַל הָאָרֶץ הִנֵּה הַשָּׁמַיִם וּשְׁמֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לֹא יְכַלְכְּלוּךָ (מ״א ח, כז). יֵשׁ פּוֹחֵר מִתְאַוֶּה לִכְלִי חֶרֶס כִּבְיָכוֹל, כִּי יוֹצֵר הַכֹּל הוּא. אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל הָאַהֲבָה, נִכְסְפָה וְגַם כָּלְתָה נַפְשִׁי לְחַצְרוֹת (תהלים פד, ג). וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר, וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.
(Lev. 1:1:) “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses.” From where did He call him? From the tent of meeting. May His name be blessed forever, because He left the upper world and chose to dwell below in the tabernacle out of love for Israel. Solomon said (in I Kings 8:27), “For will God really dwell on the earth; even the heavens and the heavens above the heavens cannot contain You?” Is there a potter who yearns for a clay pot, as it were? (Jer. 10:16) “For He has formed everything.” However, out of love (according to Ps. 84:3), “My soul longs for and even pines for [the courts of the Lord].” And so it says (in Lev. 1:1), “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses [and spoke unto him] from the tent of meeting.”
ויקרא אל משה תמיד מתוך הענן, כענין בהר סיני כאמרו ויקרא אל משה ביום השביעי מתוך הענן
ויקרא אל משה, always out of the cloud; similar to what was described already at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24,16) “He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the cloud.”
ויקרא אל משה. לפי שאמר למעלה בסוף הספר וכבוד ה׳ מלא את המשכן ולא יכול משה לבא אל אהל מועד וגו׳ הוצרך לקרותו וליתן לו רשות להכנס, ולפיכך כתב ויקרא אל משה.
ויקרא אל משה, “He called out to Moses;” seeing that the Torah had concluded the end of the Book of Exodus with the words: ‘the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle so that Moses was unable to enter the Sanctuary,” it was necessary to let us know now that He called out to him, i.e. gave him permission to enter the Sanctuary. In order to make this clear to the reader, the Torah, instead of writing: “the Lord called out to Moses,” omitted to tell us who it was that called out to him, so that the reader will know that this is not really a new paragraph but a continuation of what had been told us at the end of the Book of Exodus. In other words, we need to understand this opening line of the Book of Leviticus as follows: “the glory of the Lord which had been reported at the end of the Book of Exodus as filling the Tabernacle, now spoke to Moses.”
ורבותינו אמרו (תורת כהנים פרשה א ז) כי לכל הדברות ולכל האמירות ולכל הצוויים קדמה קריאה כלומר שיאמר אליו משה משה ויאמר הנני וזה דרך חבה וזרוז למשה
Our Rabbis have said that “all communications [that came to Moses], whether they are introduced by the word dabeir (speak), or by emor (say), or tzav (command), were preceded by a call,” that is to say, G-d said to him, ‘Moses, Moses’ and he answered, ‘Here am I.’ This was a way of expressing affection and encouragement to Moses. Now according to this opinion, Scripture mentioned the expression [And He called unto him …] here, because it was the first communication that came to Moses from the Tent of Meeting, thus teaching us concerning all the other communications that such was His procedure with him all the time and with the whole Torah.
״וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר״, לָמָּה הִקְדִּים קְרִיאָה לְדִיבּוּר? לִימְּדָה תּוֹרָה דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אָדָם דָּבָר לַחֲבֵירוֹ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן קוֹרֵהוּ. מְסַיַּיע לֵיהּ לְרַבִּי חֲנִינָא. דְּאָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא: לֹא יֹאמַר אָדָם דָּבָר לַחֲבֵירוֹ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן קוֹרֵהוּ.
The verse says: “And He called unto Moses, and the Lord spoke unto him from within the Tent of Meeting, saying” (Leviticus 1:1). Why does the verse mention calling before speaking, and God did not speak to him at the outset? The Torah is teaching etiquette: A person should not say anything to another unless he calls him first. This supports the opinion of Rabbi Ḥanina, as Rabbi Ḥanina said: A person should not say anything to another unless he calls him first.
וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה. זֶה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב: גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ, וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ יִתְמֹךְ כָּבוֹד (משלי כט, כג). כָּל מִי שֶׁרוֹדֵף אַחַר שְׂרָרָה, שְׂרָרָה בּוֹרַחַת מִמֶּנּוּ. וְכָל מִי שֶׁבּוֹרֵחַ מִשְּׂרָרָה, שְׂרָרָה רוֹדֶפֶת אַחֲרָיו. שָׁאוּל בָּרַח מִן הַשְּׂרָרָה בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּא לִמְלֹךְ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ עוֹד בַּה' הֲבָא עוֹד הֲלֹם אִישׁ, וַיֹּאמֶר ה' הִנֵּה הוּא נֶחְבָּא אֶל הַכֵּלִים (ש״א י, כב). ... וּלְבַסּוֹף, וַיִּשְׁלַח אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ רָעָה בֵּין בַּעֲלֵי שְׁכֶם וּבֵין אֲבִימֶלֶךְ, וְהָרְגָה אוֹתוֹ אִשָּׁה. וּמֹשֶׁה בָּרַח מִן הַשְּׂרָרָה. בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְעַתָּה לֵךְ וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֶל פַּרְעֹה (שמות ג, י), וַיֹּאמֶר בִּי אֲדֹנָי שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח (שמות ד, יג). אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי, שִׁבְעָה יָמִים הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְפַתֶּה לְמֹשֶׁה בַּסְּנֶה לְשָׁלְחוֹ. וְהוּא מְשִׁיבוֹ, שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל ה' בִּי אֲדֹנָי, לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי גַּם מִתְּמוֹל וְגוֹ' (שמות ד, י). אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, חַיֶּיךָ שֶׁסּוֹפְךָ לֵילֵךְ. כֵּיוָן שֶׁהָלַךְ וְאָמַר כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלֹהֵי הָעִבְרִים שְׁלַח אֶת עַמִּי וְיַעַבְדוּנִי (שמות ט, א), אָמַר אוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע, מִי ה' (שמות ה, ב). הִתְחִיל מֹשֶׁה אוֹמֵר, אֲנִי כְּבָר עָשִׂיתִי שְׁלִיחוּתִי. הָלַךְ וְיָשַׁב לוֹ. אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, יָשַׁבְתָּ לְךָ, בֹּא דַּבֵּר אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם (שמות ו, יא). וְכֵן עַל כָּל דִּבּוּר וְדִבּוּר, לֵךְ אֶל פַּרְעֹה (שמות ז, טו), הַשְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר וְהִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי פַּרְעֹה (שמות ח, טז), לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹרֵחַ מִן הַשְּׂרָרָה. לַסּוֹף הוֹצִיאָם מִמִּצְרַיִם, וְקָרַע לָהֶם אֶת הַיָּם, וֶהֱבִיאָם אֶל הַמִּדְבָּר, וְהוֹרִיד לָהֶם אֶת הַמָּן, וְהֶעֱלָה לָהֶם אֶת הַבְּאֵר, וְהִגִּיז לָהֶם אֶת הַשְּׂלָו, וְעָשָׂה אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן, וְאָמַר, מִכָּאן וָאֵילָךְ מַה יֵּשׁ לִי לַעֲשׂוֹת. עָמַד וְיָשַׁב לוֹ. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, חַיֶּיךָ, יֵשׁ לִי מְלָאכָה גְּדוֹלָה מִכָּל מַה שֶּׁעָשִׂיתָ. יֵשׁ לְךָ לְלַמֵּד לְיִשְׂרָאֵל טֻמְאָה וְטָהֳרָה, לְהַזְהִירָן הֵיאַךְ יִהְיוּ מַקְרִיבִין בָּנַי קָרְבָּן לְפָנַי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה, דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אָדָם כִּי יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן.
(Lev. 1:1:) “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses.” This text is related (to Prov. 29:23), “One's pride will bring him low, but the low in spirit will obtain honor.” Whenever anyone pursues [a position of] authority, authority flees from him, but whenever anyone flees from [a position of] authority, authority will pursue him. Saul fled from authority when he came to reign, as stated (in I Sam. 10:22), “So they inquired of the Lord again, ‘Has anyone else come [here]?’ And the Lord said, ‘Here he is hiding among the baggage.’” ...
Moses also fled from authority when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Exod. 3:10), “Come, I will send you unto Pharaoh, (Exod. 14:13) “But he said, ‘Pray Lord, please make someone else Your agent.” R. Levi said, “For seven days did the Holy One, blessed be He, prevail upon Moses in the thornbush in order to send him, and he was answering him, ‘Please make someone else Your agent.’” Thus it is stated (in Exod. 4:10), “Then Moses said unto the Lord, ‘Pray, Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in the past or now that You have spoken unto Your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “By your life, in the end you shall go.” When he did go [and] said, (in Exod. 5:1), “Thus says the Lord, the God of (the Hebrews) [Israel], ‘Let My people go and they shall serve Me,’” [and] that wicked man said (in vs. 2), “Who is the Lord,” Moses began to say, “I have already fulfilled my mission.” [So] he went and sat down.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Are you sitting down? (Exod. 6:11:) ‘Go and speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt.’” And so too for each and every oracle (as in Exod. 7:15), “Go unto pharaoh”; (and Exod. 8:16) “Rise up early in the morning.” [These verses are] to teach you that he fled from authority. In the end he led them forth, divided the sea for them, brought them into the desert, brought down the manna for them, brought up the well for them, brought over the quails for them, and made the tabernacle. Then he said, “From now on what is there for me to do?” He got ready and sat down. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “By your life, now you have a greater work than any that you have done, [i.e.,] to teach My children clean and unclean, to enlighten them on how to offer sacrifices to Me,” as stated (in Lev. 1:1–2), “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses […], ‘Speak unto the Children of Israel […], “When one of you presents an offering.”’”