Mar 19/05 — Shabbat Vayikra

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

A Rabbi, who became famous in life for his teachings and mainly his humility, dies and goes to Heaven. There he is received by … the prophet Eliahu! But the Rabbi tells Eliahu that, unfortunately, he cannot enter in this way. After the Rabbi’s comment, Eliahu thinks: “Oh, what a person, what a humble guy. Now I understand why he is so famous on earth. I am too little to receive him.” Then he calls for Avraham Avinu to receive the Rabbi, but again he refuses to enter. Avraham Avinu asks him for forgiveness because he feels he is not the right person to receive such a wonderful soul. So Avraham brings Moses to receive and welcome the Rabbi, but again the Rabbi refuses to enter. Finally, after watching this moving scene, God comes forth to receive the Rabbi personally, but the Rabbi refuses again saying that this is not the right way to enter Heaven. Then God, a little surprised at his reaction asks: “Look, I sent you Eliahu, Avraham, Moses, and now I came to welcome you. How much more is necessary for you?” And the Rabbi replies: “Where are the photographers?”

In this week’s Parashah, we find a central topic: How to worship God and become closer to Him.

In the first word of the Parashah, we find something very curious: the last letter of the first word is tinier than the other letters of the Torah. The Parashah begins saying “Vayikra El Moshe”, “And God called Moses.” Don’t you think it is a great honour being called by God? Can you imagine your reaction if your cellular telephone rings and God is trying to speak to you? How would you react? Interviews with the CBC? Front page of the National Post?

Do you know how Moses reacted? A beautiful Midrash says that when God dictated the Torah to Moses and He ordered him to write “Vayikra El Moshe”, Moses felt very uncomfortable accepting the fact that God chose him. But as he could not disobey and write something different, he wrote the last letter of the word tinier, in such a way that seemed to say: “Vayikar”, “and God met Moses by coincidence.”

Moses didn’t take pride in his unparalleled proximity to God, but rather he developed a higher level of humility. He knew that the only way of coming closer to God was through humility. And it is not coincidence that immediately after this teaching of humility, we find the laws of the sacrifices, the “korvanot” — from the root “karov”, proximity — teaching us that we can’t reach the presence of God if there is not humility in our hearts.

A Rabbi was teaching his students to pray, and told them that when they pray they have to feel that all their body enters inside the letters of the Tefillah.

A student asked him: “Rabbi, How can I enter inside a small letter?” To that the Rabbi replied: “All who feel bigger than a simple letter, cannot come closer to God.”

For that reason, my friends, in this Parashah, when God calls to him, Moses writes this call with a small letter, teaching us from the beginning of this Book that the basis of faith and the secret of proximity to God is humility and modesty.

How wonderful it would be if we could learn not only Moshe’s laws, but also his modesty and his humility.