Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Vayikra
Hashem called to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying:
ויקרא אל משה וידבר ה’ אליו מאהל מועד לאמר
Why is there a very small Alef א in the word ויקרא? Baal Haturim explains: The small Alef teaches us that Moshe, when writing the Torah and in his humility, originally intended to write in a similar manner “vayikar ויקר, which means this was a “Meeting by chance“,rather than ויקרא which means that Hashem called upon Moshe especially.
However, Hashem did not agree and told him to keep the letter Alef as vayikra. So humble was Moshe that he indeed wrote it as commanded, but in small font.
I was wondering. Is this whole story not going to glorify Moshe Rabeinu even more? And was Moshe Rabeinu not aware that making this would actually increase his standing rather than decrease it???
Perhaps, I have this thought because I am not totally free of גאוה – or arrogance. But a person, who is totally free of arrogance, does not think of “how will people see what I do” – he is just acting out of unique humility…
Warm regards and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld