THE DIRECT LINE
This week’s Parsha begins the third book of the Torah, the book of Vayikra. The name “Vayikra” is actually the first word of the Parsha, “Vayikra el Moshe…”. It means “And He called to Moshe and said to him…” referring to HaShem’s calling to Moshe to prepare himself for the forthcoming prophecy. The Talmud teaches us that this was the manner in which HaShem al-ways spoke to Moshe. He first called him and then began the message.
To fully appreciate the import of this fact, it is important to compare Moshe’s prophecy with that of the other prophets. Rambam, among the greatest leaders of the Jewish people, teaches us that before any prophet was able to receive prophecy he needed to put himself in to an intense state of meditation. Only after achieving a certain level of ecstasy did HaShem’s Spirit rest upon him. Although all prophecies were the message of HaShem, they were nevertheless limited to the level of preparation of the prophet and subject to his understanding.
Moshe’s prophecy was different. Moshe did not have to prepare himself for the prophetic message. HaShem simply called him and began the message. There was no input on Moshe’s part. It is for this reason that Moshe was al-ways “on call” and needed to maintain his level of spiritual purity on the highest level for the event of a “call” from Above.
This is the reason why other prophets were not required to maintain such a high level of spiritual purity since they would never receive any “calls” until they first prepared themselves.
Why was Moshe’s prophecy so distinctly different? The answer is because Moshe’s prophecy was the mode of transmission used to communicate the Torah. The Torah is the uncontested Word of HaShem in which He expressed to us the expectations He has from us. The Torah is the document upon which HaShem structured the world. The Torah is the marriage contract between Himself and His beloved people. The transmission had to entirely from Him based on nothing else but His transmission. There could be no element of human input whatsoever.
The Word of HaShem did not come from within the mind of Moshe but rather from outside of Moshe. The word of HaShem was in no way provoked by him. “Vayikra” underscores HaShem as the Speaker and Moshe purely the listener. There was no room for any input from Moshe.
The commitment that our people have to HaShem’s Torah is built upon this understanding. We recognize the To-rah as the explicit expression of HaShem where every word and every letter, every nuance and every subtlety is designed by HaShem and is there to teach us.
How fortunate we are to have HaShem’s Torah, the basis of our relationship, given to us in the most unambiguous form of transmission!
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind
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