Daphna Levin-Kahn – Acting Head of Jewish Life and Head of Jewish Studies 7-12

Calling: Your name – Vayikra (Leviticus), Chapter 1, ויקרא

This Shabbat, we begin the next book of the Torah; the middle book, known as Vayikra.

The names of each parashah, weekly portion of the Torah, come from the first meaningful or relevant word in the first verse of that Torah portion that in some way communicates the overall idea or topic of the parashah itself.

The first verse of this parashah seems somewhat repetitive:

א .וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר י-י אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹֽר׃

(1) And God called (“Vayikra”) to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying.

Rashi explains that when the term “Vayikra” is used, it is a term of endearment or affection, as expressed by the ministering angels when addressing each other, as it is said (Isaiah 6:3) “And one called unto another [and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts]”. This type of ‘calling’ singles out the person we are calling by demonstrating the love we have for them, such as the (often amusing) nicknames we have for our children, partners or siblings.

Others, as Rabbi Kamins mentioned in assembly this week, suggest that at this point of the Torah narrative, Moshe believes his job is done; he has brought the People out of Egypt, they have received the Torah and they have just completed and dedicated the Mishkan, the mobile desert temple. But, no! God calls him back to his leadership task, “Moshe; your job is not done yet, there is much yet to teach the B’nei Yisrael….” And the book of Vayikra is filled with those teachings.

We find this word, this ‘calling’, with one of the earliest callings in the Torah, when God brings Adam to see or meet each animal in turn, “to see what he (Adam) would call them”

(ב:יט) – וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ הָֽאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה הוּא שְׁמוֹ׃

“And whatever Adam called each living creature, that would be its name.” (Genesis 2:19)

This ‘calling’ is an identification of the deep essence of each living being as recognised by Adam, the first Human to give “names” to creatures. So perhaps in this parashah, “Vayikra”, God is calling to Moshe’s essence – to his life’s purpose as leader, his “calling”.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l explained this further. He connects Rashi’s concept of a term of affection as being, “called to a mission in love”. “This is the source of one of the key ideas of Western thought, the concept of a vocation or a calling, i.e. choosing a career or way of life not just because you want to do it, nor because it offers certain benefits, but because you feel summoned to it. You feel this is your meaning and mission in life. This is what you were placed on earth to do.

Why does the word Vayikra appear here, at the beginning of the third and central book of the Torah? Because the book of Vayikra is about sacrifices, and a vocation is about sacrifices. We are willing to make sacrifices when we feel they are part of the mission we are called upon to do.

Each of us is unique. Even genetically identical twins are different. There are things only we can do, we who are what we are, in this time, this place and these circumstances. For each of us God has a task: work to perform, a kindness to show, a gift to give, love to share, loneliness to ease, pain to heal, or broken lives to help mend. Determining what that task is, hearing Vayikra, God’s call, is one of the great spiritual challenges for each of us.”

Rabbi Sacks ended his thoughts with a beautiful motto for life: When what we want to do meets what needs to be done, in that space is where we find our calling; our soul’s “Vayikra”.

Shabbat Shalom