레위기 1:1의 Musar

ויקרא אל משה ... אדם כי יקריב מכם . Rashi alludes to the rhetorical question of the sages why the Torah here used the term אדם instead of איש or something similar. They conclude that since the sequence of the words is not אדם מכם יקריב קרבן, but אדם כי יקריב מכם, that the Torah refers to an offering volunteered by man, as distinct from one that man is obligated to bring. This is why the Torah also added the word כי, which indicates something that is subject to choice. Rashi also says that the type of offering the Torah speaks of is the עולת נדבה, an animal which is burned up completely, the owner or priest not eating any part thereof, an offering which is volunteered by its owner.

Remember that if Adam had not sinned the whole concept of areas that are sanctified and areas that are not would not have existed. The whole earth would have been like גן עדן, and every place on earth would have enjoyed the status of sanctity. A return to such a situation is forecast in Jeremiah 3,16-17 where the prophet says: "In those days -declares the Lord- men shall no longer speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, nor shall it come to mind. They shall not mention it nor miss it, or make another." Rashi comments on this that this means that G–d promises that "all your entrances will be holy and I shall dwell therein as though it were the Ark of the Covenant." There similarly would not have been people specially selected to perform the service in the Sanctuary since the whole of mankind would have been a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Neither would certain times have been singled out as especially suitable for festivals or as times for atonement, etc.. Every single day would have enjoyed the same high status of holiness. Every day would have exuded the atmosphere of the Sabbath as promised for the future after the arrival of the messianic age. A סימן for you to remember this by are the words עולם, שנה, נפש, which are mentioned in the Sefer Yetzirah. This means that the holiness of a particular place and the sanctity of a particular time are tied up with the concept "year." The sanctity of a specific person as distinct from people generally is connected to the concept of נפש. Man would not have been required to bring himself close to G–d by means of an animal sacrifice; he himself would have been the sacrifice, much as is described by our sages when they tell of the archangel Michael offering the souls of the departed righteous on the Heavenly Altar (Chagiga 12). For the above-mentioned reasons this book commences with אדם; this is why the Torah writes: אדם כי יקריב, an allusion to אדם הראשון, first man. We can therefore view the whole of this book, תורת כהנים, as the תיקון האדם, the rehabilitation of Adam=mankind.

When we look at certain individuals who lived prior to the time the Tabernacle was erected, we find that נח, אדם and אברהם respectively personified the concept of עשן, i.e. שנה,עולם , and נפש. Adam represented עולם, seeing he was the product for whose sake G–d had undertaken to create the universe. Noach personified the concept of שנה, seeing that during his lifetime the world underwent cataclysmic changes. He witnessed a world which functioned; he then witnessed a world that was destroyed; finally he witnessed a world rebuilt. Our patriarch Abraham, inasmuch as he personified absolute faith in G–d, comprised within himself all the spiritual powers connected with the soul. The Torah testifies that while still in Charan he and Sarah "made" souls, created people who possessed spiritual values, i.e. a soul (Genesis 12,5). Vayikra Rabbah 1,9 comments on Leviticus 1,1 ויקרא אל משה, "He called upon Moses," that whereas G–d called upon Moses, He did not call upon Adam. This seems peculiar in view of ויקרא ה' אלוקים אל האדם, in Genesis 3, 9! Obviously G–d did call upon Adam! We must answer by stating that it is not a disgrace for the king to speak to his tenant. The Midrash goes on: G–d spoke to Moses, i.e. וידבר ה' אליו, whereas he did not speak to Noach. How are we to understand this in view of Genesis 8,15: וידבר אלוקים אל נח! We must answer that it is no disgrace for a king to speak to his herder.

Concerning the first manifestation of fondness for Moses, where the Midrash had asked why G–d did not use the term ויקר, we may answer that it is a word connected with קרי, impurity contracted through the emission of seminal fluid. If the word ויקרא reflects an added degree of fondness compared to ויקר, why did G–d employ it when speaking to Adam at a time when He asked him איכה i.e. accused him of disobedience. Surely, at a time when Adam had absorbed the pollutant of the serpent which is equivalent to טומאת קרי, such an expression of fondness would hardly have been in place!

When Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Yitzchak arrived he approached them and related to them what had happened. Rabbi Yehudah told him, “You did the right thing. Come with us and we will sit and listen to what you have to say.” The child said, “I am tired, for I have not eaten anything today.” They took out some food and gave it to him. A miracle occurred for them and they found a spring under a tree and drank from it. Then the child began, “It is written, ‘For Dovid, do not grieve over the [success of] evildoers; do not be jealous of the iniquitous’ (Tehillim 37:1). That is, do not turn to observe the deeds of the wicked, for perhaps you will not be jealous on behalf of Hashem of Hosts and you will be punished on this account. For whoever sees the deeds of the wicked and is not jealous for the honor of the Holy One Blessed is He transgresses three injunctions: 1. ‘Do not have any other gods before me’ (Shemos 20:3). 2. ‘Do not make for yourself an image nor shall you bow to them’ (ibid. 4-5). 3. ‘Do not serve them’ (ibid. 5). “Therefore a person must separate from them and direct his path away from them. For this reason I separated from the old man and directed my path away from him. And now that I have found you I will explain another verse.” So he began, “And He called (ויקרא) to Moshe” (Vayikra 1:1) — “The alef (at the of the word vayikra) is written small because this ‘calling’ was not complete. Why not? Because it took place outside the land of Israel. For completion exists only within the land.”

One must also be willing to receive Torah from any source, even from children. We find several illustrations of this in the Zohar (for example, 1:69b, 186a) but the most outstanding example is a passage in Parashas Vayechi (238b-240a): Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Yitzchak were traveling along the road. While they were walking they met a child who was obviously fatigued. “Give me bread,” he pleaded, “for I have not eaten today!” They took out some bread and gave it to him. Then a miracle occurred and they found a spring beneath a tree and drank from it. The child then began speaking, “[It states,] ‘And He called to Moshe’ (Vayikra 1:1). Why is the alef (at the end of the world Vayikra — “And He called”) written small? It is because this ‘calling’ took place outside of the land [of Israel] in the desert, in a defiled land and not in the Holy Land, for perfection can be found only in the Holy Land.” Rabbi Yehudah then said, “It would have been better for the child if he had not known so much, for I am afraid that he will not be allowed to remain in the world on this account.” Rabbi Yitzchak asked, “Why not?” “Because he may glimpse at what is not permitted,” he replied. “I am afraid that before he grows up and reaches maturity he will gaze and be punished.” The child overheard him and said, “I am not afraid of punishment at all, for when my father departed this world he prayed for me. And I know that my father’s merit will protect me.” “Who was your father?” they asked. “I am the son of Rav Hamnuna the Elder,” he answered, whereupon they took him and carried him upon their shoulders for three miles.

The foregoing enables us to understand the Zohar who comments on Leviticus 1,1: "He spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting," that G–d spoke from the interior, or depth of the Tabernacle, informing Moses that the Children of Israel would be prepared to sin and how the Temple would be destroyed as a result. This is why the Torah writes here ויקרא, without identifying who called. When the destruction of the Temple is referred to in Isaiah 22,12, the prophet quotes G–d as: ויקרא ה' אלוקים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד, "On that day The Lord G–d of Hosts summoned to weeping and lamenting." [The context of this prophecy was a day on which Yehudah mistakenly believed itself secure, able to withstand any onslaught by its enemies. Ed.]