March 20, 2010 | 5 Nisan 5770

It is always tough venturing into ancient rituals and spiritual texts, so far removed from our daily life, making it difficult to find personal relevance. Nothing is more difficult than our parsha HaShavuah.  This week we begin to explore the book of Leviticus. Immediately we read about animal sacrifices, checking for blemishes and all the rites and rituals of the Kohanim as they slaughter, sprinkle and burn in order to expiate our sins. There are many reasons why we might feel uncomfortably distant from this text. Not only are animal sacrifices not a part of our reality but the whole idea of somebody else making atonement for our transgressions is not a part of our mainstream Jewish religiosity. That being said, I believe that our parsha is trying to reach out to us with an important message.

Parshat Va-yikra begins:

The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting: 
Speak to the Israelite people, and say to them:... (Leviticus 1:1-2)

When opening up to this parsha, one immediately encounters something very strange in the calligraphy of the first word. The last letter of the word, Va-Yikra (Aleph) is written smaller than all the other letters. In most books, there is a small asterisk leading the reader to a note, usually in Hebrew, that says, “The Aleph is small because of the traditional custom.” Clearly, this answer leaves us with very little information about this strange textual anomaly. When peering into the various commentaries that offer an explanation, it is clear that they are all speculative. Nobody seems to know the real answer to our miniature letter. Therefore, I would like to offer my own explanation.

I contend that we should read the word, Va-Yikra, in two ways - with the aleph and without the aleph incorporating both meanings of the word. With the aleph, Va-Yikra means, “and He called” providing us the traditional translation of this word – and he called. Without the Aleph, Va-yikra means honor, respect and dignity. Taken both together - God calls out to us with a call for honor, respect and dignity.  It is through God’s words, namely through Torah, that Jews have been able to hold onto their honor even through the most horrific circumstances. Leviticus begins by reminding us of the value and preciousness of God’s words. They are words that lead us to self-respect and help us find the dignity in others. We can find a lot in a word. All we have to do is listen hard enough.

Shabbat Shalom