For there to be a true dialogue,
we need to “contract”
and listen to our fellow men
This week we start reading the third book of the Torah, the book of Va-yikra. The parashah begins with the words: “The Lord called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying…” (Va-yikra 1:1). It is interesting that in the Sefer Torah, the letter “aleph” of the word Va-yikra appears smaller than the rest of the text.
What does this difference mean? We have several explanations. One is that, despite the fact that the Mishkan (Tabernacle) had been built and that, according to the Torah, the Shechinah (divine presence) resided in this sanctuary, there cannot be a real summons from God to Moses unless they stand in the Holy Land, in the Land of Israel. This commentary understands the small aleph as a symbol, meaning that the relationship between God and Moses cannot be complete if it does not occur on the Land of the people of Israel.
According to Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Asher (Baal HaTurim), Moses did not want the word Va-yikra to appear in the Torah, but Va-yikar (without the aleph), thus meaning that the encounter between God and Moses was by sheer chance, and that there was no intention whatsoever on God’s part to call him. God ordered that the word Va-yikra be written, meaning that God actually summoned Moses, and that it was not by chance. Moses, being a humble man, could not bear it, so he included the aleph, although in very small caps.
A third explanation maintains that God called Moses with the purpose of speaking to him, and this aleph symbolizes the attitude adopted by God during the conversation. God made a Tzimtzum of Himself, that is, he contracted His presence so that Moses could have a place in the dialogue. Somehow, the text wants to teach us the best way to relate to people. We know that communication is a very complex phenomenon among human beings. The following quote reflects a little bit of such difficulty:
A man feels that his wife doesn’t understand him. What can this mean? It could mean that he thinks that she doesn’t understand that he feels abandoned. Or perhaps he thinks that she does not understand that he loves her. Or else it could be that he thinks that she thinks that he is small-minded, when he just wants to be cautious; that he is cruel, when he just wants to seem strong; that he is selfish, when he just wants to avoid being used as a doormat.
His wife may feel that he thinks that she thinks that he is selfish, when all she wants is for him to be less reserved. She may think that he thinks that she thinks that he is cruel, because she feels that he always understands whatever she says as an accusation. She may think that he thinks he understands her, when she in truth thinks that he has not even begun to see her as a real person, and so on. (Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson, on “Pragmatics of Human Communication”, 91).
This story may seem funny, but it shows a reality that we live every day. As human beings, we cannot live without communication, but it is difficult for us to engage in dialogue and make ourselves understood. Either we do not speak and make thousands of conjectures, or we speak but do not listen. It often happens that when we are face to face with someone, we try to speak at, rather than “with” our neighbor, but in truth such action turns into a monologue. We find it hard to “contract” ourselves, as God did, and really listen to what our neighbor is trying to tell us.
Although it is difficult to really speak with people, when we manage to do it we are able to build strong ties of love, which sustain us and allow us to feel loved.
May the message of this week’s parashah help us learn how to contract our pride and vanity, and be able to give a space to our neighbor, thus creating true, strong and sincere relationships of love and friendship.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Daniela Szuster
|
|
This Parashah commentary was done by the Union of Jewish Congregations of Latin America and the Caribbean, and may be reproduced quoting its source.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Torah commentary, send an e-mail to: ujcl.communications.department@gmail.com.
If you wish to dedicate the commentary to the memory of a loved one, or in honor of some family event, contact us at: ujcl.communications.department@gmail.com
Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama.
Translated by Inés Baum and proofread by Ellen Zindler, from B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica.
|
