Shabbos Parashas Vayikra - 5780

Shabbos Parashas Vayikra - 5780

Rabbi Hal Miller

And He called to Moshe, and God spoke to him from the Mishkan, saying.

[Vayikra 1:1]

This third book of the Torah is sometimes known as Toras Kohanim, the laws

of the priests, although that name is also used for a commentary on this book

as well. The name Leviticus is Greek, not Jewish, so not relevant here. But

we call the entire book, as well as this first portion, by the first word, vayikra,

which itself does not have anything to do with the laws of sacrifices or priests.

Vayikra means "and He called" or possibly "and it happened". Vayikar would

mean "and he happened upon Moshe", which is the way the Torah introduces

God coming upon Bilaam and the other non-Jewish prophets. Moshe in his

humbleness wanted to write it that way, but God insisted on the final aleph to

make it clear that He came to Moshe specifically. Moshe wrote that aleph

very small, and our Torah scrolls today still reflect that. But still, this shows

that God held Moshe in a much higher regard than the other prophets. Rashi

says that this calling precedes every commandment, and shows God's

affection for Moshe and Israel.

Ramban and Rashbam think this is just a practical occurrence. Moshe

was not allowed to enter the Mishkan without being summoned, thus God

here called him in.

Our verse has a very strange construction. One would think it should say,

and God called for Moshe in order to speak to him, or something similar.

Malbim says that the verse reads "He called to Moshe" to teach derech

eretz, respectful behavior. Moshe was the only one there at the time, so it

was obvious who God was calling for, thus the lesson is that we should be

courteous to someone before we speak to them. Yoma [4b] says that it is

proper to obtain someone's attention before speaking to them.

Rav Hirsch addresses this question. The placement of "and He called" in

the verse teaches a lesson. Had it said, and God called and said, it would

indicate the calling and saying were the same thing. Here, there is a two-

part chronology. A calling came to Moshe independent of what was about

to be said. This is to emphasize that, unlike the other so-called prophets

of the world, Moshe did not have a dream, or "Divine inspiration", but God

spoke to him directly. The "and God said" that follows would be all that any

other prophet would relate. Our verse therefore shows us that the Torah

was not Moshe's dreams, rather God actually giving His commandments

to Moshe.