Throughout the South it is common to greet people by saying “HEY”. We even go so far as to request that person A give regards to person B on our behalf when A sees B; ‘Just tell him hey’. It is affectionate, respectful and ‘Haimish’ (down home).
Tell him I said “hey” conveys a desire to be attended to; a desire that someone else knows we are calling out to her or him.
This week’s Torah reading is Vayikra and begins the 3rd volume of the Torah. English speakers know the word Leviticus which is a Latinized term referring to laws and practices associated with the tribe of Levi. Leviticus garners this name from the main content of the volume. But, the Hebrew term Vayikra has nothing to do with Levi. It means ‘And he called’. No pronoun or subject is specified but context and logic indicate that God called out to Moses. It’s a curious term because it is remarkably different from the hundreds of times in the Torah that verbs of ‘speech’ and ‘talk’ are used to describe God’s interactions with Moses.
How are we to understand this term of calling out to Moshe?
One of our foremost Torah commentaries, RASHI, is intrigued by this word. He examines many usages of the term ‘to call’ and concludes that it bespeaks affection when initiating communication. Imagine God’s call to Moses as one of affection and love. God affectionately called out to Moses in the same manner as we wish to address and be addressed. Whenever we just say ‘hey’ in our daily lives we are emulating God as God called out to Moses.
Imagine if God were to call out to you or me and just say ‘Hey”. How would we feel? I wonder how we could help to make that happen. Perhaps the first step would be to open our ears to God’s call. We might need to climb a ladder, becoming ever-more attuned to hearing someone else’s call. It would require patience, empathy and diligence when listening. Come to think of it these steppingstones to hearing God’s call are the requisite elements for maintaining affectionate communication between people.
That’s how we can begin our study of the third volume of Torah. Openness to hearing the voice of someone else and being called is not something to be lost in translation.
Shabbat Shalom.
*Guitar Shabbat with Yehudah on the Bima tomorrow evening from 6:00-7:00 p.m.with Oneg to follow. Come celebrate Shabbat!
** Purim on Weds. March 23. Free pizza to those in costume 5:30-6:15p.m. ($4 per person to those not in costume).
**Megillah reading and Hamantaschen 6:15-7:15 p.m.
Prizes for best costume and MOST CREATIVE Grogger !
***Israeli movie Sunday March 27, 6:30 p.m. - Kazablan- a comedic musical somewhat in the spirit of West Side Story. $5 at the door. Bring a friend or two to the Shul for the movie. Let’s laugh together!
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