Vayikra

The Call

Adapted from Sifra, Rabbinic Midrash on Vayikra

He called [vayikra] to Moshe! God spoke to him from the tent of meeting. (Vayikra/Leviticus 1:1)

The mystic teaches: A person receives divine revelation in five stages: (1) God calls without words. (2) A person pays attention. (3) God speaks words. (4) The person meditates on the message. (5) The person is changed.

The scholar asks: How do you learn from Torah that God calls without words?

The mystic answers: Each time we see the word vayikra (he called), God first calls and then speaks.

The scholar persists: How do you know that people must take time to meditate on God's word?

So does the mystic: With only a single exception, every white space in the book of Leviticus is followed by the words vayidaber Hashem (God spoke words). Each time Moshe wrote down words from God, he had to pause and reflect before moving on to the next speech.

The scholar wonders: How do you know people are changed by God's call?

The mystic observes: Usually when the Torah uses the word vayikra to describe God calling to someone, the person's name is called twice. For example, "Moshe, Moshe!" "Avraham, Avraham!" Each person is one version of himself or herself before reflecting on the call, and another version afterwards.

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