Parsha Vayikra
March 21, 2026/3 Nissan 5786
This week's parsha of Vayikra starts out with G-d calling to Moses on a more personal level. Moses is so modest that he writes the “aleph” in “vayikra” (meaning “and he called”) small, making the word appear more like he ran into him by coincidence (as it does for the evil prophet Balaam). Moses needs to be called to enter the Tent of Meeting. The Midrash illustrates this with a parable.
There was a king who sent his servant to build a palace for him. The servant writes dedications to the king on all the stones and beams, everywhere the name of the king demonstrating that the palace was built solely in his honor. When he is finished the king moves in and seeing the love that the servant poured into the building of the edifice, the king calls to the servant to join him inside the palace.
This is how the parsha exemplifies the love of G-d for Moses and the Israelites. The Tabernacle in fact represents the body of man in service of G-d with each component of the building representing a part of the human body, with the commandments of building the Tabernacle stated 18 times, corresponding to the 18 vertebrae of the spine. Thus, one’s entire body should be in the service of the L-rd.
Yet, with all the building and the body one thing is missing, namely, speech. Only after the king calls the servant may the servant enter the palace. Only after G-d calls Moses can he enter the Tent of Meeting. Today when we do not have the Tabernacle of Temple, our speech is all we have left. The Rabbis instituted the 18 blessings of the Shemonah Esrei (also known as The Amidah) corresponding to the same vertebrae and commandments of the Tabernacle.
While we await the coming of the Moshiach (Messiah) and restoration of the Temple, we continue to use our words to verbally recreate the house of G-d below on Earth, just as it is above in Heaven as prayers for our divine deliverance. So, when we read these passages and pray over buildings that haven’t stood for a thousand years, remember that these words can get us invited back into the palace (in a manner of speaking) and see the Temple rebuilt. May it be His will that we see our redemption speedily and in our time!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
There was a king who sent his servant to build a palace for him. The servant writes dedications to the king on all the stones and beams, everywhere the name of the king demonstrating that the palace was built solely in his honor. When he is finished the king moves in and seeing the love that the servant poured into the building of the edifice, the king calls to the servant to join him inside the palace.
This is how the parsha exemplifies the love of G-d for Moses and the Israelites. The Tabernacle in fact represents the body of man in service of G-d with each component of the building representing a part of the human body, with the commandments of building the Tabernacle stated 18 times, corresponding to the 18 vertebrae of the spine. Thus, one’s entire body should be in the service of the L-rd.
Yet, with all the building and the body one thing is missing, namely, speech. Only after the king calls the servant may the servant enter the palace. Only after G-d calls Moses can he enter the Tent of Meeting. Today when we do not have the Tabernacle of Temple, our speech is all we have left. The Rabbis instituted the 18 blessings of the Shemonah Esrei (also known as The Amidah) corresponding to the same vertebrae and commandments of the Tabernacle.
While we await the coming of the Moshiach (Messiah) and restoration of the Temple, we continue to use our words to verbally recreate the house of G-d below on Earth, just as it is above in Heaven as prayers for our divine deliverance. So, when we read these passages and pray over buildings that haven’t stood for a thousand years, remember that these words can get us invited back into the palace (in a manner of speaking) and see the Temple rebuilt. May it be His will that we see our redemption speedily and in our time!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
