17 Mar VAYIKRA: HASHEM’S CALL

The first word in
Parashas Vayikra
is Vayikra, “And
[Hashem] called…”
where the alef is
small. The Yismach
Yisrael zt’l explains
that this hints that
even the small
and seemingly
insignificant matters
in life are Hashem’s
calling. He wants to
arouse us, awaken us,
and draw us close to

Him.
Alef is comprised of three letters. A
yud on top, a yud below, and a vov that
connects them. The Baal HaTanya zt’l
taught that the yud above alludes to
Hashem, the yud below is this world, and
the vov that connects them indicates that
we must connect everything that happens
below, to Hashem above. We must know
that everything comes from Hashem,
and everything that happens is Hashem’s
calling to us.
The Ropshitzer Rav zt’l once watched

a daredevil jump off the roof of a three-
story house and land, standing on his feet.

Everyone was astonished. The Ropshitzer
Rav asked him how he did it. The daredevil
showed him a skinny, transparent rope
that hung from the roof to the ground. The
daredevil simply slid down the rope to the
ground. He didn’t really jump off the roof.
The Ropshitzer Rav commented that when
one knows that everything that happens
below is connected to Above, he will never
get hurt. Even when he goes through hard
times, he knows that it’s all connected and
planned from Above.
It states, “Hashem is King, Hashem was
King, and Hashem will be King forever.”
We wonder about the order of the phrase,
which is first present, then past, and
future. Why is this phrase not written in
chronological order of past, present, then
future?
Perhaps, because believing that Hashem
is the king at the present moment is the
primary and the most challenging test.
People find it easier to proclaim that
Hashem was king and that He will be king,
but it is hard for them to say that Hashem
is king right now and that everything is

happening according to His plan. Where
one goes and the issues he deals with are
all the calling and the decision of Hashem.
A mashal is told about a king who was
looking for a confidante, someone he could
confide in and tell him his deepest secrets.
Somebody applied for the position. His
resume described him as a law-abiding
citizen, and he guaranteed the king could
trust him with his deepest secrets. So, the
king appointed a committee to test his
loyalty. They asked him, “If the king asks
you for your home, will you be willing to
give your house away?”
“I am willing to do so. I will do everything
for the king.”
“If the king asks for your fields, too, what
will you do?”
“I will celebrate my good fortune to serve
the king whom I love, and I will give all my
fields to the king.”
He seemed to be the perfect candidate.
How many people are so loyal to the king?
But the committee had to test him once
more to see him carry out his word.
So, the committee members asked, “We

know you have a chicken. The king wants
your chicken.”
“No, I’m sorry. I won’t give that away to
the king,” he replied.
Hearing that, he was informed that he was
unfit for the position.
Back home, his family asked him, “You
were willing to give away your house and
your fields; why were you so stubborn and
unwilling to give away your chicken?”
He replied, “I don’t own a house, and I
don’t own fields, therefore, I didn’t mind
giving them away. But I do own a chicken,
and I would never give that away…”
The nimshal is that people are ready to give
Hashem their past and future because the
past and the future aren’t with them right
now. What’s difficult is to recognize that
even what’s happening now is also from
Hashem.