PARASHAT VAYIKRA - DOES SIZE MATTER?

Parashat VAYIKRA - Does size matter?

Andre Widodo

© ORI

Shalom,

"Why is the word VAYIKRa written with a little א alef in Leviticus 1:1?"

Chazal explained that this text shows Moshe's humility (ענוה anavah) that Moshe waited for HaShem to call him into the Tent of Meeting (אהל מועד ohel mo'ed), although G-d had previously granted him full access to His Shechinah.

The first man, אדם Adam, was 'the handiwork of G‑d,' and G‑d attested that his wisdom was greater than that of the angels. Adam was aware of his own greatness, and this awareness caused him to overestimate himself and led to his downfall in to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

Moshe, who possessed a soul deriving from chochmah of atzilut (the highest manifestation of the divine wisdom), was also aware of his own greatness. But this did not lead him toward self-elevation. On the contrary, it evoked in him a broken and anguished heart, and made him extremely humble in his own eyes, thinking to himself that if someone else had been blessed with the gifts with which he, Moshe, had been blessed, that other person would surely have achieved far more than himself. Thus G‑d testifies in the Torah, Bamidbar (Numbers)12:3 that 'Moshe was the most humble man upon the face of the earth.'

In the letters of the Torah, there are three sizes of Hebrew letter: intermediate letters, oversized letters, and miniature letters. As a rule, the Torah is written with intermediate letters, signifying that a person should strive for the level of "the intermediate man." Adam's name is spelled with an oversize alef, in Divrei HaYamim Alef (1Chronicles) 1:1, because his self-elevation led him to his downfall. On the other hand, Moshe, through his sense of insufficiency, attained the highest level of humility, expressed by the miniature א alef of the word VAYIKRa.