Sunday, 19 March 2023

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayikra , which is also the name of the Third Book of the Torah and teaches largely about the task of the Levite Kohanim and so is also known as the Book of Leviticus . The Haftorah for this Sedra is Yeshayahu Isaiah 43 : 21 - 44 : 23 , which makes reference to the Offerings which is the task of the Kohanim - The Priests and this fits with our Sedra of Vayikra - Leviticus , for This Third Book of the Torah deals largely with the Commandments to the Kohanim . This Book was also referred to as The Book of the Priests Sefer Kohanim . When HaShem Told Moshe to write this part of the Torah of Vayikra , Moshe , the most humble of men , felt uncomfortable to write the word " Vayikra , " for he felt himself unworthy , as later on in the Torah in Bamidbar Numbers 23 : 4 , Moshe knew That When HaShem Would Communicate With Bilaam , HaShem Only Wrote There , the word " Vayikar , " - " Happened Upon " and here in the Book of Vayikra , HaShem Wrote Out the full word " Vayikra , " Thus Paying Moshe much more respect then Bilaam , who was also to be a prophet of the nations . For Moshe , HaShem Actually Directly Called Moshe , but in the case of Bilaam , where the word is written without an Alef - " Vayikar Elokim , " ( Bamidbar Numbers 23 : 4 ) , HaShem Just Happened By Circumstance On Bilaam , thus showing Bilaam That HaShem Would Not Really Want To Speak To Bilaam , But Did So out of necessity . So Moshe felt that he did not deserve more honour than others and Bilaam and so , Moshe told HaShem that he would prefer not to write out the full word . HaShem , Appreciating Moshe's utmost humility , Decided on a compromise . This compromise was that Moshe would write the word " Vayikra , " but with the last letter Alef made smaller so that it would look a bit like the word " Vayikar , " ( for a Torah Scroll is written without vowels ) , but the Alef would still be there and the fact that it is a smaller letter in size compared to the other letters around it , would always show Moshe's beautiful humility and request . And this is the way the Alef letter appears in every single Torah since it Was Given to Moshe . How Beautiful Is HaShem And How Beautiful Is HaShem's Love For us all and how beautiful is Moshe And HaShem's Love For him . The small Alef can also be viewed in another way . The letter Alef is the first letter In HaShem's Name ' Elokim ' and so , HaShem Making the letter Alef smaller , also shows How Much And How Deep Was HaShem's Love For beloved Moshe , That Even HaShem Himself , Being So Taken By Moshe's humility , That HaShem Himself , Who Is The Most Humble Of All , Hiding Himself Completely From View , Giving us Beautiful Things Every Day Without Showing Himself For a thank you , Giving Completely Selflessly , HaShem Still Felt Humbled With Moshe And So HaShem Wrote His Letter That Heads One Of HaShem's Names , Smaller . This can also be viewed in another way . The fact that the letter Alef was made smaller , makes the word " Vayikra , " appear to be almost two different words , the words , ' Vayikar Elokim ' which means , ' And he ( Moshe ) called on HaShem and happened on HaShem , ' by his humility . Such is the Tzaddik . When HaShem Is Closely Connected With a Tzaddik , Both HaShem and the Tzaddik Feel The subconscious Connection With Each Other all the time and by the Tzaddik's very Righteous Life , is totally and permanently connected with HaShem Our Creator and thus , in every action that the Tzaddik does , he is literally calling HaShem In Closeness . This Closeness With HaShem , is what the Book of Vayikra is deeply about . By the very action of The " Korbanos " - " Offerings " , the Levite is doing his duty of bringing HaShem Closer To us . The word " Vayikra " has within it the word ' Karov ' which means ' To come close ' And This Is Exactly What HaShem Wants and what happens when we make right with HaShem . For making right with HaShem , opens the sweet threads that closely connect us with HaShem And HaShem Turns His Presence To us again . When we make an Aveirah , Chas Ve Shalom , we make distance between HaShem and us , almost as a child might do if they are constantly recalcitrant and troublesome and disobedient to their dear Parents . The action of the " Korbanos " - " Offerings " , which is also a word within the word " Vayikra , " thus is an Offering to bring close our remorse and thus ' Karov ' - " Come close again to HaShem . The Very Act Of HaShem Calling us , Is Surely HaShem's Deep Desire To return us To the status quo that was at the beginning , When HaShem Made Ten Pronouncements In Creating Creation , That Was , According To HaShem's Wish , to go into The Eternal Shabbos , had the Averiah of Adam Ve Chava never happened . HaShem's Deep Desire Is for us to continue from that point Just After HaShem Created Creation and so enter into Eternity in Gan Eiden . This Is HaShem's Wish When HaShem Calls us to Listen to Him . To Return us To the continuation of those Ten Pronouncements that would then have led into the Eternal Shabbos . This Deep Desire Of HaShem can even be seen in the very fact That HaShem Wrote the word " Vayikra " with a small Alef , To Make it appear to be the word ' Vayikar , " which has a Gematrical value of 316 and if we add those three numbers ( 3 + 1 + 6 ) together , we get 10 , The Ten Pronouncements By HaShem Through Which HaShem Created Creation . With the Alef added to this concept , It Is HaShem , Represented By the Alef , Who Has The Sweet And Deep Desire To Return us To the track we were on at the beginning , after Creation , when we were headed into the Eternal Shabbos in Shamayim . So in this Book of Vayikra , HaShem Teaches About the different Korbanos that are to be brought and they are not all for the sake of Aveirahs , for some of them can be Olah Offerings - Elevation Offerings as a means to elevate ourselves ; Mincha Meal Offerings , usually of finely ground flower , oil and frankincense ; a voluntary offering , with all its different types for different reasons ; the Shlamim - Peace Offering , by those wishing to express their deep love for HaShem ; a voluntary offering ; and the Chatas Sin Offering , to be brought for a Sin . Torah Teaches that no Chatas Offering may be brought for an intentional sin . This teaches That HaShem Does Not Accept a sacrifice of atonement for a sin that is intentional . Torah then mentions the Asham Offering - The Guilt Offering , for an Aveirah that may possibly but not assuredly have been committed and the person , not being totally sure that the Aveirah was committed , brings a Guilt Offering in the meantime , among other reasons for this Korban . HaShem , In This Parsha Of The Torah , Reminds us Also Of The Covenant That HaShem Made With the lower waters . This Covenant Was Made At Creation , When HaShem Split the lower waters from the upper ones and the lower waters felt that they would not be as close to HaShem as the upper ones and felt also that they would never have the opportunity to rise on level to the upper realms and come close to HaShem , thus wanting to come closer to HaShem , but they felt that they would have to remain lower . It was then that the lower waters tried to overflow and rise up above their position and they tried to overcome the Land And It Was Then That HaShem Had To Create a barrier for the sea so that it would not be able to overcome the Land . It Was Then That HaShem Put a barrier for the Sea . HaShem Appreciated their wish to be closer to Him And So , Made a Covenant With the lower waters , that the Salt within them , need be put on every meal offering , so that a part of the lower waters ( which contains salt ) , would be able to also climb to HaShem . We also used to , on the Festival of Succos do the Drawing of the Water Ceremony for the duration of Succos , ' Brith Beit Ha Shoevah ' where water would be poured on the Altar and great celebrations would take place . So the lower waters too , would get their opportunity too , to climb to HaShem . Thus Does HaShem's Torah Write In Vayikra Leviticus 2 : 13 That we are to salt every meal-offering with salt and not discontinue the salt of G-D's Covenant ( That HaShem Made At Creation ) , thus offering " Melach " - " Salt " on our every offering . We continue with this idea today in our times , when we dip our Hamotzi Rolls into Salt on every Shabbos , keeping HaShem's Covenant That HaShem Made With the lower waters at the beginning of Creation . The word for " Salt " is " Melach , " which has the same root letters as the word " Malach " - " Angel " and the word " Melech " - " King , " For HaShem Is King And His Angels Serve Him without question and so should we all acknowledge HaShem As The One and Only True Creator And King Of Creation and so should we always obey HaShem Without question Just As HaShem's Malachim Angels obey HaShem without question and so should we honour HaShem , The King of kings and keep The Covenant That HaShem Made With the lower waters and so , use " Melach " - " Salt " on offerings we offer to HaShem . No wonder when we truly repent with tears , begging for atonement , the tears come with salt . True repentance Is HaShem's Way , The Way HaShem Asks Of us In HaShem's Holy Torah and no other way . So when we have our Seudahs , our Table is like the Altar and on it , we must have Salt . Within the word " Vayikra , " is the word ' Karah . ' HaShem " Karah " - " Calls " us all the time . The word " Karah " here in the word " Vayikra , " is preceded by a Hebrew letter ' Yud ' - Which Is Also A letter Of HaShem's Name and in tense format , the ' Yud ' has the word " Vayikra " refer to a tense format that says " And HaShem Called or Calls , " For It Is HaShem , Every Second Of Creation , Who Is Constantly Calling Out To us . In the previous Sedra , The Tabernacle was completed And Now HaShem Calls Out To us . The fact that the Tabernacle had to be completed first with all its construction and only then could the Kohanim serve And HaShem Call , shows us that we all need to prepare ourselves and get ourselves ready through effort and obedience to HaShem And Then HaShem Will Call Out To us . But first we need to prepare . This stage we are in since Creation , is the preparation stage . We notice that as each day goes by , we are coming closer to a head in Creation and so , this is the time that we need to do our best to prepare ourselves For HaShem to " Vayikra " - " Call " To us . HaShem Is Already Calling To us . HaShem Has Been Calling To us Since The Beginning . We just don't listen . The Words And Voice Of HaShem That Went Out To us On Har Sinai , Is Still Going Through the centuries , with no echo , for nothing can possibly contain or halt HaShem's Powerful Voice ( thus there is no echo in HaShem's Voice ) . All we need to do is listen for It . HaShem's Voice Has Been Traveling Ever Since Then And Will Continue Eternally . We just need to listen and obey and allow HaShem's ' Karov ' - ' Closeness ' in . Then HaShem Can Dwell Within each and every one of us . Things now are getting closer to the End of Days and so we really need to take stock of our lives and what we have become and work to better ourselves through this period that is trying and testing each and every one of us . This time is not for nothing . This time is an opportunity to grow and better ourselves , making The Right Holy Choices , following HaShem's Way Only . Let us not waste it . Let us not waste a single moment , For HaShem Gives us each moment to make the best of each moment , in our obedience to HaShem , by making each moment Holy . Let us give up on false beliefs . Let us follow Torah True . Let us stop Loshoning and Slandering each other and hurting each other . Let us all become more Pure and Holy and respect HaShem's Torah Laws of Purity . Let us all respect and honour HaShem And His Holy Torah . Let us all follow HaShem Only and rid ourselves of ways forbidden By HaShem . Let us put our own needs aside and put HaShem First . Let us all use The Breath That HaShem Gives us For Life , For Holy Purposes That Serve HaShem Only . Let us all open ourselves to HaShem , So HaShem Will Radiate From Within us all and then will we make this World and all of Creation A Place Where HaShem Can Dwell Among us in ' Karov ' - ' Closeness . ' Let us All call out to HaShem And HaShem Will " Vayikra " - " Call " Out To us In Ever Deepest Love . Let us all be , As HaShem Wants us all to be And As HaShem Wants HaShem's Creation to be . Let us all " Vayikra " - " Call out " to HaShem with sweet love And Then HaShem Will " Vayikra , " Call Out To us to come close to Him and spend Eternity With HaShem In Gan Eiden Shamayim With HaShem's Love . I wish Most Beloved HaShem With Deepest And Ever Eternal Beautiful Sweetest Love , A Deeply Close Shabbos Kodesh With Beautiful Eternal Love And Beautiful Eternal Closeness and to all of my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Very Deeply Holy Shabbos Kodesh with love and Closeness With HaShem HaKadosh Baruch Hu HaShem The Holy One Blessed Be He .

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