We have started sefer Vayikrah, the third book of the חמישה חמשי תורה
the five books of the Torah.
It’s interesting that this entire unit is called after the first word: “Vayikrah el Moshe”Hashem called to Moshe.
But at first glance, it doesn’t seem to capture the theme of the entire unit.
This Sefer is really all about Korbanot/sacrifices. If someone asked me, I would call it korbanot. Why call it Vayikrah/He called?
What’s the significance of the word Vayikrah?
Rashi describes what happened when Hashem called to Moshe. It wasn’t just a one-time thing. Every time Hashem called out to Moshe; it was in a term of endearment. And Rashi says, הַקּוֹל הוֹלֵךְ וּמַגִּיעַ לְאָזְנָיו וְכָל יִשְֹרָאֵל לֹא שׁוֹמְעִין;
G-d called out to Moshe, and only Moshe heard it.
Imagine you are sitting in your house and you suddenly hear a voice calling your name, but your wife, sitting right next to you, doesn’t hear a thing. Either you’re hearing something, or that was G-d that was just spoke to you. No one else heard it.
Why was it that way? Was it because G-d used a soft voice?
No. In fact, it says that G-d’s voice, so to speak, “ שובר ארזים breaks cedar trees.”
Yet, aside from Moshe, no one else could hear it.
What’s the lesson here?
G-d’s voice reaches the person that it’s supposed to reach. G-d speaks to all of us. His voice is loud, and His voice is powerful. But it’s personalized to every individual.
Even we can hear Hashem speak.
The Gemarah says לכל יום ביום בת קול יוצאת ואמרת
“A heavenly echo goes out and says.....”
There are many such quotes of what the echoes say. The rabbis ask who hears these heavenly echoes? The answer is, we hear it.
We can hear Hashem.
If you ever have an urge to do something good, or have a sudden urge to do Teshuva, where did that come from?
It’s because you heard G-d’s Voice.
Rav Wolbe explains this is one of his Sefarim. He says Hashem talks to us all the time. Sometimes he talks to us in ways that are natural, and sometimes it’s in supernatural ways.
Rav Yerucham explains how He talks through nature based on a Rabbenu Yonah in Berachot:
We mentioned previously that we make a beracha when we see a new moon. It’s a message of resilience for the Jewish people to see the moon get bigger and smaller.
Rav Yerucham asks: We know that the moon doesn’t get bigger and smaller. It’s always the same size moon. It doesn’t didn’t change. Who are we trying to fool?
And he gives a phenomenal answer. He explains that of course we know the moon doesn’t change. The Rabbis were able to calculate down to the milliseconds, to set the calendar for thousands of years. They knew how the moon worked. The Gemarah talks about it. It wasn’t a Hiddush.
But, says Rav Yerucham, taken from our vantage point, if we see the moon getting bigger and smaller, then that’s what G-d is telling us. The way I receive it, that’s what it means to me. What’s going on in the cosmos is irrelevant. That doesn’t mean anything to me. But how does it show up to me? If it looks bigger and smaller to me, then that’s how I receive it, and that’s my message. That’s what’s being said.
As the saying goes,
It’s not that you teach, but did they learn?
It doesn’t make a difference how you teach it, but whether I learned, and what I learned.
So, if I see the moon getting bigger and smaller, than that is what G-d is telling me.
We must be especially aware and keep our eyes open. Hashem is always giving us messages and talking us.
Imagine going through an international airport with tens of thousands of people, when suddenly, an announcement on the loudspeaker says in Hebrew, “At Gate 35, at 5:30, we’ll pray Mincha.”
Everyone in the airport heard that loudspeaker, but who was that announcement made for? It was made for the 10 Jewish men who needed a minyan. It wasn’t meant for the man from Indonesia who doesn’t understand Hebrew, or anyone else. It was made for the Hebrew-speaking, Jewish people who need a minyan in the airport. That’s the mashal.
The nimshal is that G-d makes announcements all day in the world, but who hears these announcements? Who understands the announcements? Whose language are they being said in? That’s who G-d is talking to.
There are so many announcements being made. If you don’t hear one, it’s because he’s talking to me. If I happen to notice something and think it’s fascinating, that means it’s being directed and sent to me.
We need to have this attitude. We aren’t prophets, but even if someone simply forwarded a class to you, that means you’re supposed to hear it. Everything we hear, we are supposed to hear. Because G-d calls out to us.
In Aleppo, about 250 years ago Hacham Abraham Anteby told the following story- A Jewish silversmith was hired by a local witch to make a silver case for some witchcraft. The man was uncomfortable taking the job, as it was for witchcraft, but he needed the money, so he took the job.
Shortly after that, in shul, the rabbi got up and started to give his halacha of the day. He spoke about making idols.
The silversmith went over to the Rabbi after the class and asked who had told him about the job. The Rabbi didn’t know what the silversmith was talking about. The silversmith told Rabbi the whole story about the witch, and the rabbi told him he wasn’t surprised. It was not a Hiddush. When Hashem wants to talk to people, He lets them hear things.
There’s a lot we have all heard, and that we are going to hear. But we must understand the fundamental in Emunah, that Hashem is talking to us, to the people who hear Him.
Have a great day.