So many lessons in Vayikra, “and God called,” the first word. First the lesson in form, the alef in the word Vayikra, “and God called” is writ small in every scroll. Not only does God call with a silent letter (the alef is silent), God calls with a tiny alef. Silent and small, when God comes calling we are paying attention in extra measures just in case we are not reading the signs correctly. 

Our Torah wisdom is brought down silent and (somewhat) hidden. You could miss it at the beginning of the Book of Leviticus if not paying better attention.

[Prayer] O holy God, when you call me speak louder please. I may not hear the sound of the silent alef, I might miss the smallness of the alef — the sound of affection.

I am listening for the right words the true words.

Let the pure come and occupy themselves with the pure. Amen.

The pure are our children, we introduce them to Torah-wisdom with this Book of Leviticus in many ways the most abstract of our Books of Torah. Not much narrative in this Book, it’s in the language of pure and impure, coming close and drifting away, clean and unclean, offerings of smoke and flesh on altars of fire.

The Book of Vayikra speaks: Let the future understand us. When we brought our offerings on these altars with smoke and incense burning flesh oil mixed with meal, when we invited God to sit at our table — before we became abstract — let the future understand we knew what we were doing.

Moses our teacher is a lot like that alef, so like it that he was too humble to write out the word in full. God called out to him, with Moses transcribing when he got to the alef he wrote it small. He was too humble to write it out in full, without that alef it can be read God and Moses they happened upon each other. They bumped into each other so to speak. Moses was too humble to claim God called out to me.

It can be read another way too, this word that begins Leviticus “and God called.” The alef called, the alef that is concealed within the soul of each human being. Silent smallish humble and subtle, the alef called, “come home” the alef whispers.

Another way we can read this opening word, think of the form of the alef. You can draw an alef from a vuv and two yuds, the vuv the straight up-and-down letter in form, in content vav means “and.”  The vav in form straight up-and-down connects the upper world to the lower world, the spiritual to the material, There to here, and the yud (yad is a hand in the form of the letter yud) represents a hand, two hands, one reaching above the other supporting from below (underneath the everlasting arms, see Deuteronomy 33:27). 

Who or what is that alef suspended between upper and lower, between spirit and material, between aspiration and foundation? Who is that alef in form? You are human being, you are both upper world and lower world, spirit and stuff, reaching above and supported below, you are that in form, and in content in meaning – you are “and.” You are an “and” person.  

The holy conjunction “and,” a connector, you might have been an “or” person which would be more difficult, unless your kind of or is ‘Or meaning light. You are that too, ‘Or, a light (to the nations, Isaiah 49:6). 

Now we have to live up to it.

Rabbi  James Stone Goodman serves Central Reform Congregation and is a past president of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Foundation, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.