Parshas Vayikra
This week’s Parsha is called, Parshas Vayikra. Hashem commanded Moshe (Moses) to tell the B’nai Yisroel (Jewish people) to bring Korbanos (offerings) to Hashem. The Korbanos mainly consisted of animals (kosher) and a variety of spices. There are many different types of Korbanos such as the Koraban Olah, Chattas, Shlumim, Aushum, and more. Now one might ask, “why did Hashem want the B’nai Yisroel to bring Korbanos?” The mitzvah of bringing Korbanos is really a “choak” – the “CH” is pronounced like the end of the word “Baruch” (choak is a law in the Torah that we can’t comprehend) but the Michatav M’eliyahu gives a beautiful explanation.
HaRav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler z”tl (aka, The Michtav M’eliyahu) explains the reason why Hashem wanted us to bring Korabanos was because when we had just left Mitzrayim (Egypt) we were so accustomed to serving idols with animals, spices, and the like that Hashem wanted us to be able to accept the idea of serving a G-d in a somewhat familiar manner.
The first passuk in this week’s Parsha says, “Vayikra El Moshe…” And He (Hashem) called to Moshe. Interestingly the passuk is written with an unusually small in size aleph (א) at the end of the first word “Vayikra” (And He called). The obvious question is why the small aleph?
Rabbeinu Shlomo Yitzchaki z”tl (or Rashi) gives a brilliant interpretation. Rashi says the word “Vayikra” is a word indicating affection instead of the word “Vayakar” which means “and He happened upon.” “Vayakar” was used in the incident with Bilam the wicked. This means that Hashem called to Moshe in a loving way and He called to Bilam with condemnation. The reason why the aleph is smaller than the rest of the word is because Moshe wanted Hashem to change the word altogether. He didn’t want it to look like he was so special that Hashem was lovingly calling him, but calling another (Bilam) with distain. instead of changing the whole word Hashem made a “deal” with Moshe and just made the aleph smaller. This way the word could be “Vayikra” or it could look like “Vayakar” because the aleph is small. This was a perfect example of the sensitivity and humility that Moshe Rabbeinu exemplified.
May we all learn from the week’s Parsha the greatness of Moshe was in great part due to his incomparable humility that he didn’t want even the slightest word in the Torah to make him look so great. We see how fondly Hashem looks at the person possessing great humility and we can infer the opposite from a person filled with arrogance. May we all strive to be on such a level! -Amen
HaRav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler z”tl (aka, The Michtav M’eliyahu) explains the reason why Hashem wanted us to bring Korabanos was because when we had just left Mitzrayim (Egypt) we were so accustomed to serving idols with animals, spices, and the like that Hashem wanted us to be able to accept the idea of serving a G-d in a somewhat familiar manner.
The first passuk in this week’s Parsha says, “Vayikra El Moshe…” And He (Hashem) called to Moshe. Interestingly the passuk is written with an unusually small in size aleph (א) at the end of the first word “Vayikra” (And He called). The obvious question is why the small aleph?
Rabbeinu Shlomo Yitzchaki z”tl (or Rashi) gives a brilliant interpretation. Rashi says the word “Vayikra” is a word indicating affection instead of the word “Vayakar” which means “and He happened upon.” “Vayakar” was used in the incident with Bilam the wicked. This means that Hashem called to Moshe in a loving way and He called to Bilam with condemnation. The reason why the aleph is smaller than the rest of the word is because Moshe wanted Hashem to change the word altogether. He didn’t want it to look like he was so special that Hashem was lovingly calling him, but calling another (Bilam) with distain. instead of changing the whole word Hashem made a “deal” with Moshe and just made the aleph smaller. This way the word could be “Vayikra” or it could look like “Vayakar” because the aleph is small. This was a perfect example of the sensitivity and humility that Moshe Rabbeinu exemplified.
May we all learn from the week’s Parsha the greatness of Moshe was in great part due to his incomparable humility that he didn’t want even the slightest word in the Torah to make him look so great. We see how fondly Hashem looks at the person possessing great humility and we can infer the opposite from a person filled with arrogance. May we all strive to be on such a level! -Amen
HAVE A GREAT SHABBOS AND WEEKEND!
Stay tuned for next week’s Parsha called, Parshas Tzav.
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