Parshas Vayikra by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - The Small Aleph of Vayikra
"The level of humility of Moshe Rabbeinu. When Moshe wrote the Torah, he did not write it from memory or via Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration). Rather, Hashem said to him: 'Write the Beis of Bereishis,' and he wrote 'Beis'. 'Now write Reish,' and he wrote 'Reish'. 'Now write Aleph,' and he wrote 'Aleph'. 'Now write Shin,' and he wrote 'Shin'. 'Now write Yud,' and he wrote 'Yud'. 'Now write Tav,' and he wrote 'Tav'. When he reached the word 'Vayikra' (And He called), Hashem told him: 'Write Vav,' and he wrote 'Vav'. 'Yud,' and he wrote 'Yud'. 'Kuf,' and he wrote 'Kuf'. 'Reish,' and he wrote 'Reish'. 'Write Aleph.' Moshe said, 'I cannot write the Aleph! Why can't you write it? What happened to you? Write Aleph! You already wrote Sefer Bereishis and Sefer Shemos for Me, and suddenly you are being stubborn... Moshe, write Aleph!' Moshe said, 'I cannot write the Aleph of Vayikra. Vayikra implies that You are calling to me [affectionately]. Am I worthy for You to speak with me?! Who am I that You should speak to me? I am zero of zeroes; I am the worst of all. I cannot write Vayikra; let it remain Vayikar—without an Aleph—as it is written regarding Bilaam, "Vayikar Hashem el Bilaam" (And Hashem happened upon Bilaam). Just as You speak with Bilaam [by chance], so You speak with me. Perhaps I am also a piece of Bilaam?..' The Baal HaTurim explains that Moshe wanted to write only 'Vayikar.' Hashem said to Moshe, 'Stop arguing, write Aleph!' Moshe said, 'Fine, I will write a tiny, tiny Aleph. I will write a miniature Aleph.' Who is Moshe Rabbeinu? What is Moshe Rabbeinu? Moshe Rabbeinu is someone who is not willing to write the Aleph! Because truly, Moshe considered himself his whole life to be like Bilaam. Even in the dispute with Korach, Moshe held that he was [in the wrong like] Korach, and Korach held that he was [righteous like] Moshe. Moshe went to Korach and asked for forgiveness: 'Perhaps I offended you?' He went to Dathan and Abiram and said, 'Perhaps I did not behave nicely, I am coming to apologize.' They told him, 'Now you come... the whole congregation is already with us.' Moshe was left without even a minyan (quorum). Truly, Moshe is permitted to think he is Bilaam because that is his level [of extreme humility]! But those who think Moshe is Bilaam, that he is some great sorcerer—Hashem have mercy—they all remain dead in the desert. The Midrash Rabbah (Vayikra 1:15) says on 'Vayikra el Moshe': From here you learn that any Torah scholar who lacks Da'as (knowledge/awareness), a carcass is better than him. What is called Da'as? What is Da'as? Da'as is called humility and lowliness. Da'as means 'I am not worthy of anything.' If a person thinks he is better than someone else, if he has even a fleeting thought that he is better than someone, then 'a carcass is better than him.' Even Moshe Rabbeinu, the master of all prophets, who took Israel out of Egypt, performed the 10 Plagues and endless miracles, split the sea, brought the Torah down from Heaven, and was in Heaven without food or drink for 120 days—he says: 'What did I do? Who am I anyway? Did I do anything at all? Hashem did it; I did nothing!' This was Moshe; this was the Da'as of Moshe. When Moshe learned Torah, he knew it was a gift from Heaven. He went up to Heaven and brought down the Torah, knowing it was a gift from Hashem. If a person lacks this Da'as, the Midrash Rabbah says a carcass is better than him. The 'Matok MiDvash' says that all the Tzaddikim made the Mishkan (Tabernacle). They rectified every detail and every limb. They performed kavanos (meditations) and yichudim (unifications) on every nail, every socket, and every point! But when they needed to assemble the parts and erect the Mishkan, no part would connect to the other. They said, 'Moshe, what is happening here?' Moshe told them, 'There is no choice. Even if you try for a million years to erect the Mishkan, you will not succeed in connecting anything.' This is why it is written, 'And Moshe erected the Mishkan'—only Moshe erected the Mishkan; no one but him could erect it. As soon as they handed him the parts, everything connected by itself! The moment they brought it to Moshe's hand, every part entered automatically! The 'Matok MiDvash' explains that the Tzaddik is above all concepts. It is not just someone who prayed a lot, prayed well, learned well, went to the mountains, and cried out to Hashem. Of course, through these things a person becomes a Tzaddik, but the concept of the Tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe is something else entirely, something beyond grasp. It does not depend on prayers or study; rather, it is something beyond all comprehension. Of course, one reaches this through Torah and prayer—first, one must know the entire Torah, pray all the prayers until the soul expires, and faint at every single word. Afterwards, a new spring opens up! A new level, a new Sefira that no person in the world can grasp! The Tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe merits this only through humility and lowliness, only through being 'Ayin' (Nothingness). Rebbe Nachman says that when a person returns in teshuvah (repentance), he receives many insults, much bloodshed [humiliation]; this one mocks him, that one laughs at him—just as it happened to Moshe Rabbeinu! Everyone laughed at him, everyone mocked him, everyone spoke about him. Yet, despite this, Moshe brings down fire from Heaven, brings down the Shechinah (Divine Presence). And truly, the end was that only Moshe Rabbeinu—in the merit of the Aleph Ze'ira (the small Aleph), in the merit that he was always small, always like an infant, always smaller than everyone else—in this merit, he lives and endures. He redeemed us from Egypt, and he will redeem us soon, speedily in our days, Amen and Amen.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Receive Torah articles and inspiration directly in your inbox