Vayikra[1]

1^st Mamar “Vayikra El Moshe …”

1. Vayikra El Moshe:[2]
2. The small Aleph of Vayikra versus the big Aleph of Adam:

We find something very interesting in the beginning of the Parsha, that the word Vayikra is traditionally written with a small Aleph. This is in contrast to the book of Divrei Hayamim in which we find that the word Adam is written with a large Aleph. The reason that the Aleph of Vayikra is written small is because it represents a mere ray of a G-dly revelation that was given to Moshe in order so he could enter the tabernacle, as will be explained next. In contrast to this, the reason that by Adam the Aleph was written in large letters is because prior to the sin, Adam was on such a high level that he could receive from even a great revelation of G-dliness represented in the large Alef.

1. Why Moshe could not enter the Ohel Moed and why G-d had to call him:

In the end of Parshas Pekudei it states that “the honor of G-d filled the tabernacle and hence Moshe could not enter inside the Ohel Moed.” The reason that Moshe could not enter even though throughout his life he received visitations from the divine presence is because the level of divine presence that filled the tabernacle was from a very high level known as supernal darkness and concealment. This level of G-dly revelation was too much for even Moshe to handle. This explains the opening verse of Parshas Vayikra which begins with a calling of G-d to Moshe. This calling represents G-d revealing to Moshe a much lesser revelation which he is able to handle, which is a mere ray of the revelation that was found in the tabernacle. With this revelation, Moshe would then be able to handle the greater revelation that is found in the tabernacle and hence be able to enter it.

The small Aleph: This is the inner meaning behind the small letter Aleph in the word Vayikra. In general, the letter Aleph comes from the word Pela and Alfecha Chochma which both represent a wondrous level that is above comprehension of which one exclaims amazement. The reason for this is because the letter Aleph is rooted in the Sefira of Keser which is above the level of wisdom. This level is so high that even Moshe cannot access it. It is for this purpose that the small Aleph was written, as it represents a mere ray of the attribute of Keser, which comes after many contractions of the original level. In order for Moshe to be able to enter the Ohel Moed, G-d draw down to him this ray of Keser.

1. Why the date of the holidays are dependent on the Jewish people’s sanctification:

In contrast to the Shabbos which is set to the seventh day of the week, the holidays are set according to the dates of the Jewish month. Now, while the dates themselves are set and not subject to change, such as the 15^th of Tishrei to celebrate the Sukkos holiday, nevertheless, the establishing of the date in which the new month begins is dependent on the sanctification of the Jewish people. In essence, it ends up that the Jewish people decide the exact day of the week that the Hebrew date of the holiday will fall on. It is for this reason that in the middle blessing of the Yom Tov prayer we recite the wording of, “And he sanctifies the Jewish people and the times,” as the date of the holiday is dependent on the Jewish people. Now, what is the mystical reason for why Hashem made it that the date of the Shabbos is not dependent on the Jewish people while the date of the holidays are?

The reason for this is as follows: The vast majority of the holidays fall on the weekdays which are days that are mundane of holiness. Now, how is it possible to turn a mundane weekday into a holiday? It is precisely for this purpose that it is necessary for the Jewish people to sanctify the month and establish the exact date of the holiday. The Shabbos is an intrinsic day of holiness and does not require the intervention of the Jewish people to make it holy, and hence its date is not determined by us, in contrast to the holidays. Now, how do the Jewish people accomplish the sanctification of the weekday to make it an abode for the holiday? Through sanctifying the new month. During the sanctification process, and through the fulfillment of the Mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh that it involves, the Jewish people draw down a level of holiness to the weekday that allows it to become a holiday.

In detail, this works as follows: A regular weekday corresponds to the external level of Chesed and Gevura of Atzilus while a holiday corresponds to the high level of supernal wisdom known as Chochmah Ila’ah. It is not possible for the weekday on its own to make the big leap from its external level of the supernal emotions to the internal level of divine wisdom without the help of the Jewish people. This is accomplished with the help of the Jewish people through them sanctifying the new month. Through doing so we draw a ray of the supernal wisdom onto the weekday and hence allow it to eventually become elevated as a holiday to the internal level of Chochmah Ila’ah.

How the Jewish people have such power: What still remains to be understood is how the Jewish people have this great power to access the level of supernal wisdom and actually draw down a ray from it onto the weekday. This will be explained next based on the idea that every Jew is an emissary of G-d.

1. Every Jew is an emissary of G-d and contains His power of attorney:

In Jewish law we find a concept known as Shlichus, otherwise known as an emissary who contains power of attorney to perform certain actions on behalf of the sender. For example, it is not necessary for a man to personally consecrate his wife by placing the ring on her finger, and he may appoint an emissary to do so on his behalf, and when this is done she is considered Biblically married to him just as if he did so himself. Now, our sages state that an emissary is considered likened to the person himself, Shelucho Shel Adam Kemoso. These words are not just hyperbole but contain actual legal ramifications, such as that due to this rule it is not possible to appoint a child or person who is insane to become one’s legal messenger, being that he is not similar to the sender. Based on this, it requires understanding as to how the Jewish people below in this world can act as G-d’s emissaries to draw down G-dliness from the level of supernal wisdom onto the weekdays, as stated above. Are the Jewish people similar to G-d?

The Jewish souls are rooted in supernal wisdom: The answer to the above question is that indeed the Jewish people are similar to G-d in the sense that the G-dly soul which they, and only they, contain is rooted in the level of supernal wisdom, Chochmah Ila’ah. Regarding the Jewish soul it states “and you are holy to G-d,” and this holiness refers to the supernal attribute of wisdom from where the soul derives. It is for this reason that the Jewish people have the ability to draw down a ray of divine wisdom onto the weekday of the holiday upon sanctifying in the month, which then gives that weekday the ability to be elevated to the supernal wisdom and become a holiday.

• The Divine lesson – Every Jew is a Shliach: In previous times, Chabad was mainly famous for its uniqueness within the Hasidic movement of having a great abundance of Chassidic discourses and its emphasis in serving G-d with the intellectual attributes of Chabad, with great contemplation of the mind in the service of prayer. In today’s times, things are different. The showcasing of Chabad to the world today has vastly changed from being an insular movement involved in self progress and self perfection, to a movement of public service known as Shlichus, which provides Jewish services and an open home to Jews throughout the globe. Chabad’s focus moved from inreach to outreach, to assist and influence Jews world over in the fulfillment of Mitzvah’s and study of Torah. It is a great pride for a person to be listed as an official recognized Chabad emissary and work as a personal messenger of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Such an individual is viewed as the cream of the crop of the Lubavitch movement. However, not every Jew, including not every Lubavitcher ends up becoming an official Shliach. What does that make him? A second class citizen, or a second class Lubavitcher? Is he just a fan of the Rebbe’s movement to sanctify the world and bring Mashiach or is he somehow also an active player on the Rebbe’s team? So, without diminishing the merit of the officially recognized emissaries of the Rebbe, in truth every Jew, and certainly every Lubavitcher, is not only a personal emissary of the Rebbe but is a personal emissary of G-d Himself to sanctify the world and bring the Messiah. Every Jew contains within his G-dly soul a ray of the attribute of supernal wisdom, and is hence an emissary of G-d Himself, of Chochmah – Chabad. No one is second-class and every Jew has an equal merit and responsibility to sanctify the world. The only difference is that some people are consciously involved in doing Shlichus full-time while others, such as the businessman, are only consciously involved in doing so part-time. However in truth, even the businessman is a full-time worker as he sanctifies his mundane activity for a G-dly purpose. The Rebbe repeated this teaching many times that every Jew is an emissary of G-d Himself[3] and in 1991 further stated that every single Jew is a personal emissary of the Rebbe Rayatz, the leader of the generation, to spread Torah and Judaism and the Chassidic teachings until the coming of the true and complete redemption.[4] Even if you are not an officially recognized emissary, you have personally been charged with the above mission, and have both the merit and responsibility to fulfill it.

1. Are angels also Shluchim?

In general, also angels are considered emissaries of G-d and this is the meaning of the word Malach in Hebrew, which means Shliach. In what sense are they considered emissaries? In the sense that they carry the divine revelation from above to the lower worlds. Indeed, angels don’t constantly act as emissaries of G-d and are only at times used for such services. There is thus a major difference between an angel who is in the midst of fulfilling a mission on behalf of G-d and is hence called by G-d’s actual name, versus an angel who is not in the midst of fulfilling a G-dly mission in which case he is called by a different name in accordance to his divine service. The Angels who call onto G-d “holy, holy, holy” during the morning prayers, are angels that are not in the midst of a mission of G-d and hence do not experience a residing of G-dliness on them at that time. For this reason, they state that G-d is holy and separate from them. However, the Angels who are in the midst of a G-dly mission are called by G-d’s name Himself, such as Elokim. For example, when the angel spoke to Avraham he was called by the name Elokim. The reason for this is because at the time of the fulfillment of the mission, the angel serves as a conduit to draw down the G-dly energy from the name Elokim to below.

How are angels similar to G-d? Now, earlier we stated that in order to be a legal emissary you need to carry some similarity to the sender. In which way are angels similar to G-d? The Jewish soul comes from the level of supernal wisdom, unlike angels, and hence how can angels serve as legal representatives of G-d? The answer is that angels derive from the name Elokim and are actually called the sons of Elokim in Scripture. Hence, they are able to serve as emissaries of Hashem when the revelation and G-dly energy that needs to be delivered also comes from the name of Elokim. They however cannot serve as emissaries to deliver the divine energy that derives from the other names of G-d, such as the name Havayah of Yud Kie Vav Kei. Based on this, we can understand why G-d spoke to Avraham through an angel as the verse states “and an angel of G-d spoke to Avraham,” as the message of delivery was coming from the name of Elokim and was hence able to be delivered through an angel. This is in contrast to Moshe of which the verse states “Vayikra/and He called,” without making mention of who was doing the calling. The Zohar explains that it was G-d Himself who called to Moshe and not an angel. The reason for this is because the revelation to Moshe was coming from a very high level of G-dly concealment and darkness which is not deliverable by angels.

1. In-depth Torah comprehension merits a revelation from the Ohel Moed:

The Torah is everlasting, and all of the above teachings that we learned in the first verse of Vayikra with regards to Moshe are applicable also today with the Jewish people through the study of Torah. Regarding Torah study it states in Scripture, “and I will place My words in your mouth” and “in the shadow of My hand I have covered you.” The term shadow here in the verse refers to the divine energy of Makif and is synonymous with the level of G-dly darkness and concealment referred to in the verse of Vayikra, as stated earlier. Hence we see that through Torah study one merits to receive from the level of divine darkness which is the same level that Moshe received in the calling of the verse of Vayikra. Now, how does one internalize this revelation that one receives through Torah study, as after all it is encompassing and dark and concealed from the soul? This is through proper comprehension which follows in-depth research of a subject of Torah. Just as through proper research the Torah subject becomes clear and ingrained within one’s mind, hence revealing a matter from the depths of darkness, so too, spiritually this draws down a ray from the Makif of Torah to be internalized within the soul. It is for this reason that the Torah is called light, as it shines the infinite light of G-d and has it reside below. Accordingly, it ends up that Torah study today corresponds to the Ohel Moed of Biblical times, as indeed is expressed in the statement of the sages that “from the time that the temple was destroyed G-d does not have in His world anything with exception to the four cubits of Jewish law.” The same level of G-dliness that resided on the tabernacle and temple resides within Torah study.

1. The Moshe in every Jew:

Every single generation contains an extension of the spirit of Moshe. This is expressed in the level of nullification and submission towards G-d that is found within the heart of each Jew. Moshe represented the level of Bittul, Venachnu Mah, and hence the level of Bittul found in each Jew is the extension of Moshe that is inside him. In addition, Moshe is also responsible for every Jews ability to connect his mind and comprehension to G-dliness, which is the aspect of Daas. Daas is the aspect of deep intellectual connection with the intellectual concept to the point that it becomes so much of a reality that it is similar to a physical item that one sees with his physical eye. This ability to connect with G-dliness in the form of Daas is found in every Jewish soul as a result of the nurture that the soul has from the soul of Moshe. Now, one may wonder as to why he personally does not experience this expansion of Moshe within him, as he does not feel Bittul, and does not experience a deep intellectual connection with the reality of G-dliness. Did his soul lose out from nurturing from the soul of Moshe? So the answer is is that certainly it is found even within such a Jew who doesn’t experience it, and it is simply that the animal soul conceals the effects of Moshe from being revealed.

[1] Likkutei Torah p. 1a-7a

[2] Likkutei Torah p. 1a-2a

[3] See Hayom Yom of 7^th Adar 1; Igros Kodesh Rayatz 3:294; Likkutei Sichos Vol. 8 Parshas Shlach Sicha 1 Os 14, p. 94 in Hebrew Edition; Likkutei Sichos Vol. 25 Parshas Noach Sicha of 7^th MarCheshvan p. 45 in Hebrew Edition; Likkutei Sichos Vol. 27 Parshas Behar 1^st Sicha Os 5 p. 210 in Hebrew Edition; Toras Menachem 17 p. 183; 5752 1:296

[4] Toras Menachem 5752 1:296