Dear Friends,
Sometimes it is better to be a little smaller.
The little one can sneak through the hole in the fence.
The little one might get by with only a small, carry-on suitcase.
And, the little one raises questions of humility and hubris.
In a society such as in America, where the dominant ethos has been “bigger is better” – from the size of one’s house, to one’s pick-up truck, steak or bank account – a diminutive letter which opens the Book of Leviticus, begs the question: Could not smaller be superior?
Leviticus commences this week, with its opening, Hebrew word, “VaYikra,” meaning, “God called.” The word ends with an Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, the final letter in “VaYikra,” the Aleph, is written in a smaller, miniature form.
Why? We don’t know. It is possible that it was a scribal error which evolved into common, authorized practice, or there was an orthographical intent in the original which is lost. It is not known. Hence, the meaning is open to interpretation – and that is an art at which we excel!
My colleague, Rabbi Yoel Kahn from Berkeley, CA, conducted a study of interpretations of the little Aleph, and he suggests two worthy options for its exegesis.
Firstly, the little Aleph could highlight Moses’ humility. Torah calls him the humblest man ever, which is fascinating, because Moses was the only person to encounter God “face-to-face.” Yet, even with that claim, Moses neither professed it nor lorded it over others. He accepted it. And he accepted his fate to die in the wilderness. The little Aleph, therefore, reminds us in the middle of the Torah, that humility is a prized virtue. Be smaller, even when you are bigger!
Kahn’s second interpretation of the little Aleph is that Moses wisely conserved ink in the middle of the Torah, so he would have a surplus later. Clearly, the miniscule ink saved by miniaturizing one letter is hardly noticeable. Yet, the principle is profound. The world is comprised of many finite elements and resources. Squandering any one of them could be catastrophic. Consider global climate change: fresh water is lacking in parched corners of the earth, while glaciers are melting and flooding the oceans with the purest water, anywhere. Conserve what is vital. Even ink!
Thus, our little Aleph today, bears outsized possibility. Let’s allow it to prod our own balance of hubris and humility, and let it charge us to live with a little smaller footprint.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes it is better to be a little smaller.
The little one can sneak through the hole in the fence.
The little one might get by with only a small, carry-on suitcase.
And, the little one raises questions of humility and hubris.
In a society such as in America, where the dominant ethos has been “bigger is better” – from the size of one’s house, to one’s pick-up truck, steak or bank account – a diminutive letter which opens the Book of Leviticus, begs the question: Could not smaller be superior?
Leviticus commences this week, with its opening, Hebrew word, “VaYikra,” meaning, “God called.” The word ends with an Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, the final letter in “VaYikra,” the Aleph, is written in a smaller, miniature form.
Why? We don’t know. It is possible that it was a scribal error which evolved into common, authorized practice, or there was an orthographical intent in the original which is lost. It is not known. Hence, the meaning is open to interpretation – and that is an art at which we excel!
My colleague, Rabbi Yoel Kahn from Berkeley, CA, conducted a study of interpretations of the little Aleph, and he suggests two worthy options for its exegesis.
Firstly, the little Aleph could highlight Moses’ humility. Torah calls him the humblest man ever, which is fascinating, because Moses was the only person to encounter God “face-to-face.” Yet, even with that claim, Moses neither professed it nor lorded it over others. He accepted it. And he accepted his fate to die in the wilderness. The little Aleph, therefore, reminds us in the middle of the Torah, that humility is a prized virtue. Be smaller, even when you are bigger!
Kahn’s second interpretation of the little Aleph is that Moses wisely conserved ink in the middle of the Torah, so he would have a surplus later. Clearly, the miniscule ink saved by miniaturizing one letter is hardly noticeable. Yet, the principle is profound. The world is comprised of many finite elements and resources. Squandering any one of them could be catastrophic. Consider global climate change: fresh water is lacking in parched corners of the earth, while glaciers are melting and flooding the oceans with the purest water, anywhere. Conserve what is vital. Even ink!
Thus, our little Aleph today, bears outsized possibility. Let’s allow it to prod our own balance of hubris and humility, and let it charge us to live with a little smaller footprint.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
