A Soulful Journey

Rabbi Berel Wein offers a meaningful explanation of the small alef i n the Torah reading of the first word in Leviticus, Vayikra.  He says that the small  alef teaches us that God spoke very softly. Only Moses could hear God, not the Israelites. In the same way, Elijah at Mount Sinai finds that God is not in the strong wind, the earthquake or the fire. Instead, God speaks to him with a “still, small voice.” So the One speaks today.   Listen.

A wealthy Hasid came to his rebbe and said, “I will provide for your family if you will teach my boy the alef-bet.”   T he Hasid was a bright young man and he knew that his son should gain something beyond an understanding of money.    The rebbe answered the young Hasid, “To support my family you know what is needed.   But to teach your son you would first have to know what an alef is.   An alef is a yud on top and a yud below, with a line that crosses the middle.   That is an alef.   The yud on top is the neshama and the yud beneath is the body.   The line is awe of the Creator that unites them.   That,”  he rebbe concluded, “is yiddishkeit.”   - Rabbi Nathan Zelizer