VaYikra

The laws of kohanim,

VaYikra,

Is the heart of the Torah.

The word korban means

To come close

By offering Hashem

Our animal souls

To channel lifeforce energies

To holiness

Through G-d’s decrees.

Writing “VaYikra,”

Moshe opposed, 

Thought it showed

Hashem giving him

Too much kavod;

The smaller alef,

The compromise,

For Moshe was small

In his own eyes.

At the burning bush

He first heard

Hashem’s call;

Moshe thought himself unworthy,

Thought himself too small.

But when the need arose

To defend his flock,

He showed chutzpah and daring,

Pulling out all the stops.

David was just a shepherd

In the fields, on his own

He became the sweetest singer

Ever known.

Gave his flock tender care

Like no one else;

When beasts tried to kill his sheep,

He was a lion himself.

Goliath thought young David

A foolhardy knave

For G-d and Israel’s honor;

The boy stood proud and brave.

When crowned king,

Through the crowds

With his retinue,

David confessed to them:

I am as amazed as you!

Like the moon, both

Humble and majestic,

Man’s greatness

In this world, a cyclic dynamic

Broken and diminished;

Light concealed

Amongst the downcast,

G-d’s true greatness

Is revealed.

The alef is silent,

The spirit makes no sound

For, amongst the lowly

HaKadosh Baruch Hu is found.

Written backwards, alef

Spells “peleh” –

Wonder inexplicable,

Within all of existence

Hashem loves the humble.

Moshe Rabbeinu’s

Heart was broken;

He rejoiced in his mission,

But, by the same token,

In Moshe’s great humility

He believed another

Could have done

Better than him.

By Sharon Marcus