PARASHAT TETZAVEH - PAKAIAN?

PARASHAT TETZAVEH - PAKAIAN?
Andre Widodo
© ORI

Shalom chaverim,

Shemot (Keluaran) 28:2

וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֑יךָ לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת

Haruslah engkau membuat pakaian kudus bagi Harun, abangmu, sebagai perhiasan kemuliaan.

Shemot (Keluaran) 28:3

וְאַתָּ֗ה תְּדַבֵּר֙ אֶל־כָּל־חַכְמֵי־לֵ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִלֵּאתִ֖יו ר֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֑ה וְעָשׂ֞וּ אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֧י אַהֲרֹ֛ן לְקַדְּשׁ֖וֹ לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִֽי

Haruslah engkau mengatakan kepada semua orang yang ahli, yang telah Kupenuhi dengan roh keahlian, membuat pakaian Harun, untuk menguduskan dia, supaya dipegangnya jabatan imam bagi-Ku.

Mari kita perhatikan kata לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת di Shemot (Keluaran) 28:2. 

Kata לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת ini sebenarnya lebih tepat diterjemahkan sebagai untuk kemuliaan dan untuk kemegahan. 

Yeshua di Hitgalut (Wahyu) 16:15 mengatakan:

Hitgalut (Wahyu) 16:15
הִנְנִי בָא כְּגַנָּב אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ הַנֵּעוֹר וְאֶת־בְּגָדָיו הוּא נֹצֵר לְבִלְתִּי יֵלֵךְ עָרֹם וְרָאוּ אֶת־עֶרְוָתוֹ׃
"Lihatlah, Aku datang seperti pencuri. Berbahagialah dia, yang berjaga-jaga dan yang memperhatikan pakaiannya, supaya ia jangan berjalan dengan telanjang dan jangan kelihatan kemaluannya."

Apa maksud Yeshua dengan mengatakan "memperhatikan pakaiannya..."? Apakah Yeshua berbicara tentang pakaian secara literal? Harus pakai baju putih? Atau apakah ada makna tersembunyi dari perkataan Yeshua di atas?

Di lain pihak, seorang raja yang paling bijaksana di dunia yang pernah hidup, raja Shlomo, pernah mengatakan:

Kohelet (Pengkhotbah) 9:8
בְּכָל־עֵ֕ת יִהְי֥וּ בְגָדֶ֖יךָ לְבָנִ֑ים וְשֶׁ֖מֶן עַל־רֹאשְׁךָ֥ אַל־יֶחְסָֽר
Biarlah selalu putih pakaianmu dan jangan tidak ada minyak di atas kepalamu.

Apakah artinya ini?

Kemudian kita lihat di awal Penciptaan bahwa manusia diciptakan telanjang tanpa pakaian dan mereka tidak merasa malu.

Bereshit (Kejadian) 2:25
 וַיִּֽהְי֤וּ שְׁנֵיהֶם֙ עֲרוּמִּ֔ים הָֽאָדָ֖ם וְאִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְלֹ֖א יִתְבֹּשָֽׁשׁוּ
Mereka keduanya telanjang, manusia dan isterinya itu, tetapi mereka tidak merasa malu.

Mengapa merdeka tidak merasa malu, walaupun mereka telanjang? Lalu mengapa setelah mereka berdosa tiba-tiba mereka merasa malu karena mereka telanjang? Apa yang terjadi di sini?

Bereshit (Kejadian) 3:10
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֶת־קֹלְךָ֥ שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי בַּגָּ֑ן וָאִירָ֛א כִּֽי־עֵירֹ֥ם אָנֹ֖כִי וָאֵחָבֵֽא
Ia menjawab: "Ketika aku mendengar, bahwa Engkau ada dalam taman ini, aku menjadi takut, karena aku telanjang; sebab itu aku bersembunyi."

Kemudian di Bereshit (Kejadian) 3:21 kita menemukan:

Bereshit (Kejadian) 3:21
וַיַּעַשׂ֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְאָדָ֧ם וּלְאִשְׁתּ֛וֹ כָּתְנ֥וֹת ע֖וֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם
Dan ADONAI Elohim membuat pakaian dari kulit binatang untuk manusia dan untuk isterinya itu, lalu mengenakannya kepada mereka.

Kata Ibrani וַיַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם ini tanya ditemukan di Vayikra (Imamat) 8:13 yaitu saat pelantikan Imam Besar.

Vayikra (Imamat) 8:13
וַיַּקְרֵ֨ב מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁ֤ם כֻּתֳּנֹת֙ וַיַּחְגֹּ֤ר אֹתָם֙ אַבְנֵ֔ט וַיַּחֲבֹ֥שׁ לָהֶ֖ם מִגְבָּע֑וֹת כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה
Moshe menyuruh anak-anak Aharon mendekat, lalu dikenakannyalah kemeja kepada mereka, diikatkannya ikat pinggang dan dililitkannya destar, seperti yang diperintahkan ADONAI kepada Moshe.

Apa artinya?

Baal HaTurim menjelaskan bahwa sama seperti Imam Besar Aharon dikenakan pakaian Imam Besakian juga Adam, saat sebelum berdosa Adam mengenakan pakaian spiritual Imam Besar.

Perhatikan kata kulit di Bereshit (Kejadian) 3:21 yaitu ע֖וֹר OHR. Kata ini memiliki bunny yang sama dengan kata אור OHR yaitu terang.  

Zohar parashat Bereshit 36b menjelaskan bahwa seperti kulit adalah pakaian untuk tubuh manusia, demikian juga terang HaShem adalah pakaian untuk jiwa kita.

Itulah sebabnya Yeshua mengatakan agar kita selalu tetap menjaga pakaian untuk jiwa kita, agar tetap putih (seperti raja Shlomo katakan).

PARASHAT TERUMAH - TABERNAKEL, ALAM SEMESTA DAN TUBUH MANUSIA

PARASHAT TERUMAH - TABERNAKEL, ALAM SEMESTA DAN TUBUH MANUSIA
Andre Widodo
© ORI

Shalom chaverim,

1 Korintus 6:19  

Atau tidak tahukah kamu, bahwa tubuhmu adalah bait Roh Kudus yang diam di dalam kamu, Roh Kudus yang kamu peroleh dari Elohim, dan bahwa kamu bukan milik kamu sendiri?

Dari mana Rabbi Shaul mendapatkan konsep bahwa tubuh adalah bait Roh Kudus?

JAWAB:

Di dalam pembacaan parashat TERUMAH, kita membaca tentang pembangunan Kemah Suci, yaitu fondasi dari struktur bangunan Bait Suci.

Tentang pembangunan Kemah Suci ini, Midrash Tanchuma menjelaskan:

The Tabernacle was weighed equally with the whole world and with the creation of humanity, which is a small world. How is this? When the Holy Blessed One created the world, like the fetus in a woman did G-d make it. Just as the fetus of a woman begins with its belly button and grows each way to its four sides, so too G-d began to create the world from the Foundation Stone initially, and the world was based from there.

Kemudian Vilna Gaon menjelaskan:

The Holy Temple (G-d’s Sanctuary) was a microcosmic model of the entire universe.  All its edifices, storerooms, upper chambers, rooms and holy vessels were a paradigms of the Divine, representing the image, shape and form of the Holy Universes, and the structure of the components of the Divine Chariot.  As mentioned above, man is a “little world” who also encompasses within him all the elements of existence, in this sense, he too is a Sanctuary. Indeed, there are striking similarities between the layout of the Temple and human anatomy. When man sanctifies himself as required through fulfillment of the mitzvot, the Divine Presence resides within him as it resided within the Holy Temple of Jerusalem

Apa yang Rabbi Shaul ajarkan bahwa tubuh adalah bait Roh Kudus, merupakan konsep dasar bahwa tubuh manusia adalah Tabernakel dari Shechinah HaShem.

Ingat, kan bahwa manusia diciptakan segambar dan serupa HaShem di kitab Kejadian. Ini adalah esensi bahwa tubuh manusia adalah Tabernakel-Nya

Midrash Tanchuma, Vilna Gaon menjelaskan hal yang sama, bahwa tubuh manusia adalah Tabernakel-Nya

NOTE:

Midrash Tanchuma, Vilna Gaon adalah raksasa-raksasa di dalam agama Yahudi. Rabbi Tanchuma hidup di era Amoraim (200-500 Masehi). Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Shlomo (Vilna Gaon) hidup di era Acharonim (1500 Masehi - sekarang ini).

PARASHAT TOLDOT - HURUF ו VAV YANG HILANG

PARASHAT TOLDOT - HURUF ו VAV YANG HILANG
Andre Widodo
© ORI

Shalom chaverim,

HaShem menciptakan dunia pada mulanya dalam keadaan sempurna, yaitu sebelum DOSA hadir.

Ini ditandai dengan adanya 2 huruf ו VAV di dalam kata TOLDOT תולדות di Bereshit (Kejadian) 2:4.

Bereshit (Kejadian) 2:4
 אלה *תולדות* השׁמים והארץ בהבראם ביום עשׂות יהוה אלהים ארץ ושׁמים׃
_Demikianlah *riwayat* langit dan bumi pada waktu diciptakan. Ketika ADONAI Elohim menjadikan bumi dan langit_

Setelah DOSA hadir di dunia, maka ada 1 huruf ו VAV yang hilang dari kata *תולדות TOLDOT* menjadi *תולדת TOLDOT*.

Bereshit (Kejadian) 5:1
זה ספר *תולדת* אדם ביום ברא אלהים אדם בדמות אלהים עשׂה אתו׃
_Inilah daftar *keturunan* Adam. Pada waktu manusia itu diciptakan oleh Elohim, dibuat-Nyalah dia menurut rupa Elohim;_

Di dalam pembacaan parashat TOLDOT di Bereshit (Kejadian) 25:19 juga ditandai dengan hilangnya 1 huruf ו VAV di kata *תולדת TOLDOT* di dalam keturunan Itzhak.

Bereshit (Kejadian) 25:19
ואלה *תולדת* יצחק בן־אברהם אברהם הוליד את־יצחק׃
Inilah riwayat *keturunan* Itzhak, anak Avraham. Avraham memperanakkan Itzhak.

Bahkan ketika membahas keturunan Ishmael, ada 2 huruf ו VAV yang hilang dari

Bereshit (Kejadian) 25:12
ואלה *תלדת* ישׁמעאל בן־אברהם אשׁר ילדה הגר המצרית שׁפחת שׂרה לאברהם׃
_Inilah *keturunan* Ishmael, anak Avraham, yang telah dilahirkan baginya oleh Hagar, perempuan Mesir, hamba Sarah itu._

Tetapi ketika di Kitab Ruth membahas tentang keturunan dari MESIAS, maka 2 huruf ו VAV ini muncul kembali.

Ruth 4:18
ואלה *תולדות* פרץ פרץ הוליד את־חצרון׃
Inilah *keturunan* Peretz: Peretz memperanakkan Hezron,

*PERTANYAAN*:
Mengapa TOLDOT ditulis sebagai תולדות pada awalnya?

Mengapa setelah manusia berdosa TOLDOT ditulis dengan 1 huruf ו VAV תולדת?

Mengapa pada keturunan Ishmael malah sama sekali hilang 2 huruf ו VAV תלדת?

Apakah Moshe (Musa) salah menuliskan Torah?

Atau ada pesan tersembunyi yang ingin disampaikan dalam bahasa Ibrani?

Mengapa 2 huruf ו VAV muncul kembali di Ruth 4:18 ketika membahas tentang MESIAS?

*JAWAB*:
Misteri 2 huruf ו VAV yang hilang dan lalu muncul kembali ini hanya bisa dijelaskan melalui MIDRASH para Rabbi yaitu BERESHIT RABBAH.

Para Rabbi menjelaskan di BERESHIT RABBAH 12:6

_Rabbi Berekiah berkata atas Nama Rabbi Shmuel Ben Nachman: "Dunia pada awalnya diciptakan dalam keadaan sempurna, ditandai dengan 2 huruf ו VAV di Kejadian 2:4. Ketika Adam dan Chava berdosa, 1 huruf ו VAV hilang untuk menjelaskan bahwa manusia tidak akan dapat kembali kepada kesempurnaan sebelum DOSA ada, sampai nanti keturunan dari Peretz di Ruth 4:18 (yaitu MESIAS - lihat Mattityahu 1:3) datang. Itu sebabnya di dalam Ruth 4:18 kita menemukan 2 huruf ו VAV kembali._

PARASHAT METZORA - THE ESSENCE OF RITUAL IMPURITY

PARASHAT METZORA - THE ESSENCE OF RITUAL IMPURITY

One of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the Torah are contained in the words "tumah and taharah." Translated as “unclean” and “clean,” or “impure” and “pure,” "tumah and taharah"—and by extension the laws of Niddah and Family Purity— often evoke a negative response. Why, it is asked, must a woman be stigmatized as tameh, “impure”? Why should she be made to feel inferior about the natural process of her body? It might be said that, at bottom, these objections arise from a fundamental misunderstanding. Tumah and taharah are, above all, spiritual and not physical concepts. The laws of Tumah, Niddah, and Mikvah belong to the category of commandments in the Torah known as "chukkim"—"Divine decrees”, for which no reason is given. They are not logically comprehensible, like the laws against robbery or murder, or those commandments that serve as memorials to events in our national past such as Passover and Sukkot. The laws of tumah and taharah are supra rational, “above” reason. And it is precisely because they are of such high spiritual level, beyond what intellect can comprehend, that they affect an elevated part of the soul, a part of the soul that transcends reason entirely. But even if the human mind can’t understand these Divine decrees logically, we can nevertheless try to understand them spiritually and search for their inner meaning and significance. In this endeavor, the teachings of Chassidic philosophy are of invaluable aid, for the study of Chassidut reveals the inner aspect of Torah, its “soul,” and can guide us through realms where unaided human intellect cannot reach. Chassidism strives for the direct perception of G-Dliness underlying everything, and illuminates the spiritual sources of all physical phenomena.

TUMAH AS THE ABSENCE OF HOLINESS

Chassidic teaching explains that, in essence, tumah, “spiritual impurity,” is definable as the “absence of holiness.” Holiness is called “life,” “vitality”; it is that which is united with and emanates from the source of all life, the Creator. Chasidic philosophy further elucidates that true union with G-D, true holiness, means that one’s own independent existence is in a state of bittul, “nullification” to G-D. On the other hand, that which is distant or separated from its source is called “death” and “impurity.” According to Torah law, death is the principal cause of all tumah; the highest magnitude of tumah comes from contact with a dead body. The forces of evil are, in Kabbalistic and Chassidic terminology, the "sitra achra", the “other side.” They are what is “outside,” what is far from G-D’s presence and holiness. They flourish in the realm where He is most concealed and least felt, where there is least holiness. In a place where G-D is least felt, there is naturally more room for “opposition” to Him. And hence, spiritually speaking, what is most evil and most impure in a person is, above all, the assertion of self: one pushes G-D’s presence away and creates a void, a vacuum where His presence should be. That is the deeper meaning, according to Chassidic teaching, for the phrase “to cause a chilul HaShem,” to desecrate G-D’s Name: one should not make a chalal (void), a place empty of His presence. Holiness is synonymous with "bittul": it has no sense of any true existence independent of G-D. That is why, our Sages tell us, arrogance is equivalent to idolatry, for idolatry, in essence, means that something is regarded as independent of the Creator and asserts itself in place of Him. Hence, if we strip the words “pure” and “impure” of their physical connotations, and perceive their true spiritual meaning, we see that what they really signify is the presence or absence of holiness.

AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN TWO TYPES OF TUMAH

At this point we must ask: Why must tumah exist at all? What purpose can it have in G-D’s creation? “The Almighty has created one thing opposite the other,” the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us, and as Chassidic teaching interprets it, everything in the realm of holiness has its counterpart in the realm of unholiness. On the one hand, these opposing realms are created so that we may have “free choice” in our behavior. On a deeper level, as Chassidism explains, when we reject the evil and choose the good and, moreover, when we further transform the evil itself into good, we effect an elevation not only in ourselves but in the entire world, bringing it closer to its ultimate perfection. Hence, the ultimate purpose of tumah, the “other side,” is for us to achieve higher levels. As the well known Chassidic saying has it: “Every descent is for the purpose of a greater ascent,” and all concealments of G-D make way for a greater revelation. When the soul comes down to this world, for example, to be vested in a material body, it undergoes an incomparable descent from its previous purely spiritual existence. The purpose of this descent, though, is that the soul may rise even higher in its apprehension of G-D and attain a more elevated rank than it had before it descended to this world. It can attain this elevation only through the vehicle of the body, through serving G-D in this lower physical world. On the one hand there is concealment and impurity in this lowly material world; on the other hand, only through its struggles here can the soul rise higher. We must distinguish, then, between two types of tumah, two types of “descent.” There is the tumah that we ourselves create when we intentionally push G-D’s presence away and create a void; and there is the tumah that G-D creates as part of nature. This distinction is crucial to our understanding of Niddah (laws pertaining to menstruation). The tumah, the impurity that attaches to a sin, is a void we create and by which we degrade ourselves. The tumah of niddah, however, is a built-in part of a woman’s natural monthly cycle. Her “descent” from a peak level of potential holiness (i.e., where a life is possible) does not mean that she is, G-D forbid, “sinful” or “degraded,” “inferior” or “stigmatized.” On the contrary, precisely because there is such holiness involved in a woman’s possession of the G-Dly power to create, as if ex nihilo, a new life within her body, there is the possibility for greater tumah—but also a great elevation. 

Let us try to understand further the idea that the more holiness, the more opportunity there is for the forces of impurity to enter. This is no contradiction to what was stated earlier—that the forces of the “other side” can flourish in the absence of holiness. The forces of evil are also called "kelipot," “husks” or “shells,” not only because they cover over and conceal the inner sparks of holiness that gives life to all things, but also because—like the husks or peels of a fruit— they can only derive whatever life they have from this inner spark, the truly living part. When separated from the inner part, they have no more sustenance and “die.”Hence, an excess of holiness can provide “room” for the extraneous forces to derive sustenance, just as, for example, if a barrel is filled to the top, some water will spill over and water weeds as well. In this light we can further understand the explanation of the Kotzker Rebbe Z"L that tumah can set in only where holiness has been and gone. We can connect this with our understanding of the kind of tumah that is part of niddah. The Torah says that when a woman gives birth, she is in a state of niddah for a variable amount of time: If the child is male, she will be tameh for seven days and if female, fourteen days. Why should there be tumah at childbirth? The Kotzker Rebbe Z"L explains that tumah can set in only when holiness departs. As the Talmud tells us, G-D is directly involved with every childbirth and does not delegate any powers to His “messengers.” Thus, there is a very great level of holiness at birth; the birth of a child involves one of the most sublime powers of G-D, the ability to create ex nihilo—something from nothing. After birth, this intense holiness, this powerful force of G-D, “departs” and there is greater potential for tumah. One might conjecture further that the reason the birth of a female involves a longer period of niddah is that a female contains within her the G-Dly power to create yet another new life from “nothing.” Because of this higher potential for holiness, there can be more tumah. The same is true of a woman’s monthly cycle: every month, this great potential for holiness, for a woman to engage in the sublime power of creation, reaches a peak in her body (an “ascent”). When the potential is not fulfilled and the holiness departs, the now-lifeless remnants are removed from the body. And therefore this “descent” is susceptible to tumah. It is precisely because of the high level of godliness involved in the procreative process that tumah can occur at all. But here again this “descent” into niddah is for the purpose of a higher ascent, through purification in the mikvah and a new cycle of building up to a higher level of holiness the next month. The mikvah—as will be presently explained—enables one to ascend even higher than the previous month. In this sense the mikvah and the monthly cycle of a woman may be compared to Shabbat and the weekly cycle of every Jew. The alternation of the holy day of Shabbat with the mundane days of the week is the same cycle of ascent and descent—reenacted every seven days. The six mundane days lead up to Shabbat, on which the world becomes elevated, purified, ascends to its source. Every Jew then receives an “extra soul,” which he again loses as the Shabbat departs, and he must “go down” again into the struggles of the coming week. Nevertheless, it is these very struggles to purify ourselves and the world that we confront during the six days that become elevated on the Shabbat and enable us to ascend higher and higher every week, in constant progression. Or, let us take another cycle: the daily alternation of sleeping and waking. According to Torah law, every person upon awakening should wash his hands, to remove the “impure spirit” that adheres to them during sleep. In sleep, there is a “departure of holiness” from the body-the soul, it is said, “ascends to its source” above. Again, this “natural law” allows for impurity to set in. Our hands are tameh upon awakening, to be sure, but they are not “evil.” The same is true of tumah during a woman’s monthly “natural low.” It is the result of a departure of holiness but not a state of degradation, inferiority, or shame. The Lubavitcher Rebbe Z"L, offers an even more profound understanding of the inner nature of these “lows,” these descents. Since, he says, the descent is in fact a necessary preparation for the ascent, and its ultimate purpose is the ascent, the descent is nothing other than a part of the ascent itself. The Rebbe explains why the Torah, in speaking of all the journeys of the Jews in the desert, also describes the places where they only rested as “journeys.” Since the resting was a preparation for the journey that followed, the resting places are in fact part of the journey onward. Or as in our previous example: sleep gives strength to elevate oneself even more the following day, and is thus part of that ascent itself—though it appears to be a lower state for the body. And on a broader level, the same is true, the Rebbe explains, of the exile of the Jewish people among the nations. If the exile were only for the purpose of punishing us for our sins, it should have lessened with time. Instead, it grows worse from day to day. (The concealment and darkness, however, are a preparation for—and their ultimate purpose is—a great revelation, the great light that will come in the era of Moshiach; and so the closer we approach that great light, the thicker the darkness becomes.) The inner purpose of the exile is that through refining ourselves and the world, we will ultimately attain a higher level of holiness and unity with G-D than existed even during the times of the First Temple.

Shabbat Shalom!

PURIM - ESTHER 9:27

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=esther+9%3A26-27&version=OJB

Esther 9:26-27

26 Wherefore they called these days (yamim) PURIM [פורים] after the shem (name) of the PUR [פור]. Therefore for all the words of this iggeret (letter), and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had happened unto them,

27 The Yehudi (the Jews) established, and took upon them, and upon their zero (seed), and upon all such as JOINED THEMSELVES UNTO THEM [ועל כל-הנלוים עליהם], so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time shank v’shanah (every year);

What does the word "JOINED THEMSELVES UNTO THEM [ועל כל-הנלוים עליהם]" mean?

Rashi says:
"These were the proselytes who were destined to convert."

CAN THE DEATH OF A TZADDIK BRING ATONEMENT?

CAN THE DEATH OF A TZADDIK BRING ATONEMENT?
Andre Widodo
© ORI

Shalom,

Can the death of a tzaddik (righteous person) bring atonement? Can the death of Yeshua MiNatzeret bring atonement?

What does chazal (Sages) say?

INDONESIAN:
Dapatkah kematian seorang tzaddik memberikan pendamaian dengan HaShem? Dapatkah kematian Yeshua dari Natzeret, seorang tzaddik, membawa pendamaian dengan HaShem?

Apa kata chazal (Sages) tentang hal ini?

Talmud Bavli, Mo'ed Katan 28a
"Said R' Ammi, 'Wherefore is the account of Miriam's death
placed next to the [laws of the] red heifer? To inform you that even as the red heifer afforded atonement [by the ritual use of its ashes],
so does the death of tie righteous afford atonement [for the living they have left behind].'

R' Eleazar said, 'Wherefore is [the account of] Aharon's death closely followed by [the account of the disposal of] the priestly vestments? [To inform you] that just as the priest's vestments were
[means] to effect atonement, so is the death of the righteous [conducive to procuring] atonement.'"

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.