Parashat Hashavua: Who Called Out to Whom? | Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Beit Midrash

Sections
Parashat Hashavua

קטגוריה משנית

Torah Portion and Tanach
Vayikra

Our parasha and sefer begin with, "He called (Vayikra) out to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting." We first note that the great majority of kri’ot (callings), around 100 in the Torah and more than 200 in Tanach, mean that the recipient of the call should listen to that which is being said. The kri’ah may contain the name of a person or a place, and there are a small number of cases where it refers to reading from a Torah scroll. The content of our pasuk would have been quite the same if the calling were left out and we began with Hashem speaking to Moshe, so what does the kri’ah indicate here?
The gemara (Yoma 4b) posits that the kri’ah preceding Hashem’s speaking is the Torah’s way of teaching us good manners – a person should not speak to his friend before calling out to him. It is interesting that this lesson about relationships between man and man comes in the opening specifically of a book that deals primarily with mitzvot between man and Hashem. We are to remember that even if one has an important piece of information to relay, he should do it in a manner that shows respect and grace. Not only is content important; so is the way it is conveyed.
Rashi (to our pasuk) also relates a compliment to Moshe. Hashem related to Moshe as to one of the angels in His "entourage." We also see the element of courtesy appreciated by people: "[He used] a language of affection, language that Heavenly angels use, as it says ‘… they called one to the other’ (Yeshayahu 6:3)." This quote appears in the ma’aseh hamerkava, one of the most sublime prophetic visions. We should learn that all the more so, a person who wants to impact on others should go about it by speaking to him in the proper manner.
Rabbeinu Asher, the famous halachist known as the Rosh, taught us a related lesson from our opening pasuk. The last letter of "Vayikra" is an abnormally small aleph, because Moshe would make himself small. Indeed, the Torah refers to Moshe as the humblest person on the face of the earth (Bamidbar 12:3). Moshe’s unique trait, which distinguished him even from Aharon and Miriam, was his humility. Indeed, anyone who wants to excel in the Torah of Moshe should be armed with a nice level of this characteristic.
The Zohar (Vayeilech 285a) connects between our pasuk and "When I call out in Hashem’s Name, ascribe greatness to our G-d" (Devarim 32:3). This connection hints at the following idea. Our pasuk, the "gateway" to the Torah of sacrifices, is closely connected to the general value of learning Torah (the pasuk in Devarim is the source of the mitzva to make a beracha before learning Torah). When we cannot bring korbanot, the study of Torah, which Moshe enabled, remains open. Again, in order to succeed in Torah, we need humility and the ability to relate nicely to our counterparts. Joining and helping society at large also requires us to embrace "Its ways are the ways of pleasantness" (Mishlei 3:17).
Hashem calls to us by means of Moshe and his Torah, and we call out to Hashem by learning that same Torah. May we soon merit to have the Beit Hamikdash in our midst, where the Divine Presence will dwell and Torah will emerge.