The Word Vayikra (Vayikra)

Vayikra is a difficult sefer. It’s complicated. It’s detail oriented. It’s repetitive. And, perhaps, at the heart of it, it feels foreign because we today live in a Temple-less world and do not relate to the concept of sacrifices. If we were being honest, most of us might admit to being a little freaked out at the idea of witnessing the sacrificial ceremonies.

Today’s Dvar Torah is about Vayikra, just the first verse and, really, just the word itself. The word brings to mind the common Hebrew question of introduction: Mah koreh lach? How are you called? Of course, it’s the same thing, basically, as asking “What is your name?” And, yet, it asks something different. It asks a person to express a personal element that defines them. For instance, my name, legally, is Carolyn, but I am called Sarah Rochel. Or perhaps one is called by a fitting nickname, but that is not their actual name. It gives the person asked the opportunity to present themselves. Perhaps this is why kuf-reish-aleph is also the root of the word that means “to read.” Reading provides insight into a topic the way a person reveals themselves in how they wish to be called.

Vayikra, however, also has a third meaning – he called or he summoned - and this is the meaning of the first word of the parsha. This had additional significance for me after noting that the very first verse actually has three different words that refer to communication. “Vayikra” (and he called), vayidaber (and he spoke), and laymor (saying). He called, he spoke, he said…of these three words, vayikra seems to be the most active and the most intimate, for Moshe was brought close to God by being called. 

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch actually has a fascinating commentary on this verse: “A call came, and then God spoke to Moshe. This is probably meant to establish the speeches of God to Moshe as the Word of God coming to Moshe” (as opposed to coming from within him) …[thus enforcing that] God’s word to Moshe [was] purely and solely the speech of God. Not from within Moshe, from without, it came to him, called him out of whatever train of thought he might be in at the moment, to listen to what God wished to say to him.”

The names of the parshiot are almost always the first word of the parsha, unless the first word is not particularly significant or defining. For instance, Parsha Vaera begins “Vayidaber Elokim el Moshe Vayomer ailav Ani Hashem. Vaera…” the name of the parsha is the beginning of the second pasuk because the first pasuk was not distinctive enough, and yet this parsha, this entire sefer, is named with the word Vayikra. 

“And He called to Moshe and God spoke to him…” God calling Moshe to the Tent of Meeting to talk to him, to teach him all of the rules of the service of Hashem, is significant. Perhaps because through the avodah Bnei Yisrael is being offered a unique means of connecting to the Divine. God called to Moshe and taught him the ways in which His people can call out to God.