“And He called [Vayikra] to Moshe ….” (Vayikra, 1:1) It is written in the Midrash (Tanchuma, Vayikra, 1), “How many times does the Torah warn concerning respect for the convert? Forty-eight times, corresponding to the forty-eight times ‘wellspring’ is written in the Torah.” Connected to this, it is written in the Gemara (Rosh Hashana, 21b), “Fifty gates to understanding were created in the world, and all were given to Moshe Rabeynu minus one.” Thus we find that Moshe Rabeynu had forty-nine gates, and all the rest of Israel forty-eight, as it is not in their ability to reach the level of Moshe Rabeynu, for “never will a prophet like Moshe arise again,” so therefore they can only attain the forty-eighth gate. Corresponding to this, “wellspring” is written in the Torah forty-eight times, for a wellspring represents the desire and will for words of Torah, and by means of the desire and longing of a man for words of Torah he may acquire all of the forty-eight gates. Through this we can understand the intention of forty-eight warnings in the Torah to respect the convert. The convert came to bring himself close under the wings of the Shechina (Divine Presence) because of the great desire within him. For in the root of his life he is not cleaving to God, as cleaving to God at the source of life is a state of being only for those born of the seed of the Patriarchs. (It is solely from his great desire that brings him to a state of cleaving to God.) Corresponding to this there were forty-eight boards in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), and also concerning this it says in the holy Zohar (Bereshit, 125a), “each day forty-eight drops drip.” This is the meaning of the verse, “and He called [Vayikra] out to Moshe,” for calling out is the desire and longing of the heart. Since the Holy One, blessed be He, put “crying out” and longing in the heart of Moshe more than in all the rest of Israel, he therefore merited the forty-ninth gate.

“And He called to Moshe.” (Vayikra, 1:1) It is written (Yesahya, 65:24), “And it will be, that before they shall call, and I will answer, they have not yet spoken, and I will hear.” Since God answers, what is the need of speaking and asking? Calling implies desire and expectation, and He said, “before they call I will answer.” Thus before even the desire to speak comes to the heart of one who longs for God, God answers him and burns out of his heart all lusts and all desires for worldly things, thereby making room in his heart to expect and long for God’s will. After this preparation, he can then receive in his heart the desire and expectation for things other than God. And then, “they have not yet spoken and I will hear.” It was just like this when the Mishkan was completed, and it was written, “and Moshe could not enter the tent of Meeting.” Moshe thought to himself that until now the way God dealt with Israel was through the Torah, and in this he was the chosen one to receive the Torah and teach it to Israel. But now God created a new opening in His relationship with Israel, and in this way Aharon the Cohen was the chosen one. Though Moshe Rabeynu truly had a good eye upon Aharon, still he greatly desired the word of God, and would sit expectantly waiting to hear it. This is, “And He called to Moshe from the tent of Meeting.” Since Moshe had no desire for anything (except the word of God), and his name teaches of this, for Moshe means to take out, “for he was taken out of the water,” water representing desire; therefore God chose him first for Torah knowledge to be given from him. This is “before they shall call, I will answer.” Then afterwards when he longed for God to transmit that the laws of the sacrifices through him, this is “before they have even spoken, and I will hear.”

“… and God spoke to him ….” (Vayikra, 1:1) God was telling him that though it is true that the performance of the Divine service for Aharon in particular, the transmission of God’s word and mitzvot are only for him. We can understand this from how the word Vayikra is written in the Torah scroll with a small aleph, which shows how the direct reception of God’s word went to Moshe Rabeynu, and thus he would not be jealous of Aharon, for his only intention would be to hear the Divine speech. This is as it is said (Iyov, 14:15), “You will call and I will answer You, you will have a desire for the work of your hands.” “You will call” means you have chosen me and given me yearning. “And I will answer You” means that then I am responsible for the materialization of your word in order to be drawn after Your will. “You will have a desire for the work of your hands,” means that since you (Moshe) have a desire for the completion of the work of your hands, therefore I (God) will ask you to do so. The explanation of, “and it will be that before they will call and I will answer them, even before they speak I will hear them,” (Yeshiyahu, 65:24, see previous selection) has to do with two ways in which God may answer prayer, and both of them are not good. The first is explained in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 25b), where one is immediately answered even before he wants to pray, as is explained there. The second is only being answered after much pleading.¹ Therefore first it is said, “before they call I will answer them,” and only after, “even before they speak,” for then I will hear with complete desire. This is as it is said in the Gemara (ibid.), “they said, ‘let the wind blow,’ and the wind blew. They said, ‘let the rain fall,’ and the rain fell.”

footnotes: ¹ For a complete explanation of this, see the first selection in Parshat Shlach L’cha.

“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, a man who offers of you a sacrifice to Hashem—of the cattle, of the heard, of the flock you shall you offer your sacrifice.” (Vayikra, 1:2) The verse is not formulated “a man of you who offers a sacrifice” but “a man who offers of you.” This is in order to teach that when one offers a sacrifice to God, he should not do it with the desire for elevation to be higher than his fellow. Rather he should enter himself into the state of being equal with all of Israel.

“… you shall offer your sacrifice.” (Vayikra, 1:2) “You shall offer,” that every one of Israel who truly discourses in the Torah for the sake of Heaven will merit a wise son or sagacious student. This is also the meaning of the verse (Malachi, 3:16), “then those who fear God will speak, one to his friend, and God will listen, and hear (understand), and write a book of memory before Him, for those who fear God and contemplate His name.” The “book of memory” of the Holy One, blessed be He, is when the word is engraved in the heart of Israel. This occurs when one truly cares enough for his friends that he also wants to effuse to them the good he has merited from God. This is “then those who fear God will speak, one to his friend, and God will listen, and hear [or understand],” to turn and fulfill His will with all he has been given from the Holy One, blessed be He, in order to engrave it within the hearts of Israel.

“Each of your Mincha [meal] offerings you shall season with salt, you shall not cease the salt of the covenant with your God from your Mincha offerings, you shall salt all your sacrifices.” (Vayikra, 2:13) This is the opposite of good, for it will not foster expansion and growth of good, as a salted land does not produce. Yet it is something that can be combined with good, and that can add meaning to good (as salt adds flavor to food). In this way, the Hebrew word for a ship’s pilot, malach (sailor), is the same word for mixed, memulach, as he “mixes” the water in the act of steering the ship. (See the verses of the incense, Shemot 30:35, where Rashi explains, memulach, salted, as meaning mixed.) Concerning this it says, “each of your Mincha [meal] offerings you shall season with salt,” meaning that a man must deeply connect himself to God and not separate himself through anything of this world, but rather refine his connection as much as possible with good understanding and consciousness. This concerns the actions of Amatsiya king of Yehuda, who, after slaying 10,000 Edomites in battle, and then driving 10,000 Edomite captives over a cliff, went and served the idols of Edom. Afterwards he sent a message to Yoash, king of Israel, saying, “let us see each other face to face” (Divrei haYamim 2, 25:17). Edom is the foremost of the klipot (forces of evil), greater in stature than that of all the other nations. This is mentioned in the Gemara of Avoda Zara (2b), where it describes how when God calls all the nations before Him, raising a Torah scroll and proclaiming, “let all the nations that occupied themselves in this come forward,” then Edom will come directly after Israel because of its importance. Right after this klipa, Israel begins. At present, Israel is not permitted to rule over them, but only in the future, as will be explained in its place. Amatsiya’s killing 20,000 Edomites signifies the ten levels in this klipah, one above the other. Twenty thousand hints at this, meaning ten levels from below to above, and above to below. Amatsiya thought that since he had vanquished them so strongly that surely with every subsequent action he would not remove his heart from God, and no evil force would have the strength to overpower him, as it will be in the future. Therefore he experimented with serving Gods of Edom and sent to Yoash, king of Israel, “let us see each other face to face.” In this he was saying, “even though I have done something that seems evil, nonetheless I am still more deeply connected to God than you are.” Since this was not God’s will, he was punished and Yoash king of Israel captured him. And yet, it says there (verse 25), that Amatsiya lived fifteen years after the death of Yoash, which hints that in the fifteen levels existing within Israel Amatsiya was greater than Yoash, and his sin was only according to the border of man’s understanding. For those who understand the matters of the Kingdom of the House of David, know that all the kings of Yehuda are greatly beloved by God, and all their actions cannot be understood according to their surface meaning. One who understands Yeshayahu (7:3), “And God said to Yeshayahu, please go out towards Ahaz,” sees that “please” is a polite form of request, as with a father who had done evil to his son and estranged him, the father will try to appease him. This is as Achaz said (Yeshayahu, 7:12), “and Achaz said, I will not ask nor will I tempt God,” like a son trying to free himself from sin before his father. Also with Menashe, who was born with a sense of the fear of God so overwhelming that the mortal mind cannot stand it, and so all the kings had great fear, though it was not in a state where it could be controlled. His entire sin was because he wanted to remove from himself this state of the fear of God, and in every instance the fear of God only became more clear to him. The exception is David haMelech, who was born with the attribute of love, and this was the primary attribute for which he was recognized, as is known.