8 Adar II 5776 | March 18, 2016
Parshat Vaykira
Shabbat Zachor
Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
Director of Spiritual Development, Maharat
Advanced Kollel: Executive Ordination Track Class of 2018
The book of Vayikra opens with a famous call:
And He called to Moshe, and the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying...
Before launching into a litany of rules regarding sacrifices, God turns to Moshe with two seemingly distinct utterances. First, "vayikra," God calls out to Moshe, amorphously, without specific content. Then, "vayidaber," God addresses Moshe with the message that follows at great length. Two verbal offerings are put forth with two different functions, it seems.
Rashi notices this doubling and suggests the initial call was purposefully, consciously contentless, though it was hardly pointless. Keriah, or calling, is "lashon chibah," the language of affection (Rashi on Lev. 1:1), he writes, and so God was expressing His love for Moshe through this action--the call of his name perhaps, or simply a reminder of His presence. As a new book opens, and with it, a new Mishkan-centric chapter in the life of the Jewish people, God reaffirms His unique ardor for Moshe, their leader.
The midrashic tradition does not sit well with this vague proclamation alone. Why was Moshe in need of affection at this juncture and just what did God say or do to communicate it? Let us recall that we just completed the book of Shemot, which ended with Moshe outside of the Mishkan.
(34) And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. (35) Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan.
After working so hard to facilitate the building of the Mishkan, after enabling the construction of this sanctuary for God to dwell amidst His people, all in complete accordance with God's wishes, Moshe could not find a way into it! So crowded was it by the glory of God that there seemed to be no place for a human being to enter. Moshe was alienated from the very structure that he brought into being.
Vayikra Rabbah suggests the following analogy:
מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁצִּוָּה אֶת עַבְדּוֹ וְאָמַר לוֹ בְּנֵה לִי פָּלָטִין, עַל כָּל דָּבָר וְדָבָר שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹנֶה הָיָה כּוֹתֵב עָלָיו שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ, וְהָיָה בּוֹנֶה כְּתָלִים וְכוֹתֵב עֲלֵיהֶן שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ, הָיָה מַעֲמִיד עַמּוּדִים וְכוֹתֵב עֲלֵיהֶן שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ, הָיָה מְקָרֶה בְּקוֹרוֹת וְהָיָה כוֹתֵב עֲלֵיהֶן שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ. לְיָמִים נִכְנַס הַמֶּלֶךְ לְתוֹךְ פָּלָטִין, עַל כָּל דָּבָר וְדָבָר שֶׁהָיָה מַבִּיט הָיָה מוֹצֵא שְׁמוֹ כָּתוּב עָלָיו, אָמַר כָּל הַכָּבוֹד הַזֶּה עָשָׂה לִי עַבְדִּי וַאֲנִי מִבִּפְנִים וְהוּא מִבַּחוּץ,
This is like a king who commands his servant and says to him, "Build me a palace." On every item that the servant built, he would write on it the name of the king. He put up walls and wrote on them the name of the king. He set up columns and wrote on them the name of the king. He established beams and wrote on them the name of the king. Finally, when the king entered the palace and saw that everything he laid his eyes on contained his name, he said, "All this glory my servant made for me, but [alas] I am now inside, but he is outside..."
The palace was majestic and awe-inspiring, honoring the king in every way. But it was also devoid of people and therefore useless as a vessel for royal service. So the king calls out to his servant and invites him in--"קראו לו שיכנס לפני ולפנים." Don't stay on the outside, he says. Come join me. Be with me in this grand space, and not just on the inside, but "לפני ולפנים," in the inner sanctum. As my beloved servant, that is where you belong.
So God calls to Moshe "be’lashon chiba," with the language of affection, as Moshe hovers on the outside of the Mishkan--full of fear, perhaps, or humility, or discomfort. Do not step away from the God-space that you created, God indicates, but step into it. It is your place too. It is our place. Even the inner sanctum.
The Torah suggests that this invitation to intimacy came through a quiet voice. The word "vayikra" is written with an unusually small aleph, known as the "אלף זעירא," "the little a." To help Moshe traverse the difficult distance from מבחוץ to מבפנים, from outside to inside, God whispered a nearly inaudible vowel, lulling Moshe toward Him, inviting him to connection, to a relationship grounded in the ultimate, mysterious unity of God and humanity. The numerical value of aleph is one, and so it seems that God's message of love was also a message of oneness. We belong in the inner sanctum together--together with God, together with humanity.
Sometimes all it takes to bring someone on the outside in is a quiet invitation that subtly affirms the little aleph, the unity that binds us all.
