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Shabbat Shalom Shaarei Kodesh,
This Shabbat, we begin a new book of Torah: Leviticus. This is one of the more complicated and problematic books of Torah to modern readers. The third book of the Torah concerns itself almost entirely with the sacrificial system, which was the way we encountered God until the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE.
What always strikes me as relevant though is the first word of the book - Vayikra, and how it is written in the Torah (see picture above).
The first word of this week's portion, Vayikra, is translated as: ”And He called.” But the word is written in an interesting way: it contains a scribal abnormality that is rarely found in the Bible. The last letter of the word, an aleph, is written smaller than its normal size.
Since the aleph is small, at first glance you might read the word without the aleph and pronounce it "vayikar." In fact, we find that word used when God appears to the character Bilaam in Numbers 23:4: "And God happened upon Bilaam."
Although the two words have a similar meaning, the Midrash tells us that the word vayikra (with the aleph) implies a loving, close relationship, as in Isaiah 6:3 when the angels are calling to one another. And the word vayikar (without an aleph) implies an accident – it just happened, not intentionally.
In other words, it teaches us that our interactions with each other, and with God, should not be treated as happenstance; we should approach our interactions with a degree of intention and with a higher purpose in mind.
Last Shabbat, we held a communal conversation with this purpose in mind. After services, I had our congregation split into two groups: those who thought that Jewish-Americans should not state our opinions publicly about government decisions in Israel, and those who feel we have an obligation as Jewish-Americans to speak up about internal matters in Israel. (For some background into the issue of Judicial Reform in Israel, please check out this document).
Rather than advocate for the opinion we believe in, I asked participants to first learn about the other argument that they oppose through studying articles written by respected sources in the Jewish world.
A rabbi’s contrary view: Can we all just get along? by Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt
An open letter to Israel’s friends in North America By MATTI FRIEDMAN, YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI and DANIEL GORDIS
In many ways, we acted like the Academy of Hillel, who always studied the opposing view presented by the Academy of Shammai and then taught that opposing view before their own. It was because of this respectful and challenging act that the Academy of Hillel’s opinions were followed most of the time.
Of course, we did not walk away with the answers to the situation in Israel, but we began a highly contentious conversation in a calm and respectful way.
The small aleph teaches us that we have a choice to recognize what and who is in front of us, or to just chalk up our experiences to randomness and mundanity. Perhaps the voices we hear around us that might oppose our view can actually teach us something.
I look forward to many such conversations, and I am grateful that we can come together as a kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation, to make room for others, to listen, to speak respectfully, and to carry on our sacred tradition in an ever-changing world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Baum
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