A Word From The Rabbi

Dear Friend,

This week we read the first portion of the third book of the Torah, Vayikra (Leviticus). The Hebrew letters of the Torah are written in three sizes: the standard, intermediate letters with which most of the Torah is written, a smaller size and a larger size. The first word of Vayikra is written with the Hebrew letter alef in the smaller size.

When Rabbi Menachem Mendel (the third Chabad Rebbe) was a young boy, his grandfather, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (founder of Chabad Chasidism) instructed the child's teacher to begin his formal Jewish education by teaching him the first chapter of the Book of Leviticus.

When little Menachem Mendel returned from school he asked his grandfather why the "alef" of vayikra was so small. Rabbi Shneur Zalman pondered the question deeply for some time and then replied:

"In the beginning of the Book of Chronicles (one of the 24 books of the Bible), Adam's name is written with a large alef. This alludes to the fact that Adam considered himself to be very important. After all, none other than G‑d Himself had created him! Adam was aware of his own significance, which was a contributing factor in the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

"By contrast, in the verse 'And [G‑d] called to Moses' ['Vayikra'], the alef is small, which alludes to Moses' humility. Even though Moses was aware of his many extraordinary talents, he did not perceive himself as being great, nor did he take pride in his abilities. It states in the Torah, 'And the man Moses was very humble.' Moses was modest and unassuming. He felt that if someone else had been blessed with the same abilities as he, the other person would have utilized them better.

"The Torah is written in intermediate-sized letters, for a Jew must always strive to be a beinoni [a Chasidic term meaning a person with complete mastery over his Evil Inclination]. By means of the Torah, every Jew can attain that level."

With this answer, Rabbi Shneur Zalman taught his grandson, and by extension all of us, an important lesson in the service of G‑d:

On the one hand, we must learn from Adam and correctly perceive our own qualities: We possess a G‑dly soul, and have inherited many positive character traits from our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

On the other hand, we must emulate Moses and not be overly proud of ourselves. For if someone else were blessed with the very same qualities it is possible that he would make use of them to an even greater degree.

Thus we must always have a sense of our own significance, yet temper our pride with humility.

Wishing you a successful week,

Rabbi Yudy Shemtov
Senior Rabbi/Executive Director