RAV KOOK ON PARSHA VAYIKRA

(PLEASE LEARN THIS FOR A REFUA SHELAMA FOR THE GEDOLIM Rav Elyashiv -Yosef Sholom ben Chaya Musha, Rav Shteinman - Aaron Yehuda Leib ben Gitel Feiga, Rav Weiss - Yitzchak Tuvia ben Rikal, Rav Belsky - NAME ADDDED Chaim Yisroel ben Chana Tzirtel, Rav Yosef - Yaakov Chai ben Margalit Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, Yitzchok Izak ben Trina Rivka Harav Shlomo Leib Ben Miriam - HaRav Shlomo Brevda Harav Yeshaya Yaakov Ben Raizel - HaRav Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal Harav Meshulem Fish Ben Tziril - The Toshe Rebbe Harav Yitzchok Issac Ben Treina - HaRav Isaav Ausband for a refuah shleima b’soch kol cholei am Yisrael.)

Parshat Vayikra(LOOK AT HOW MANY VERTICAL LINES ARE ON THE SHIN OF YOUR TEFILLIN SHEL ROSH YOU WILL BE SURPRISED) With the construction of the Tabernacle complete, the holy structure began to fulfill its primary purpose: a conduit for communication between God and Moses. "I will commune with you there, speaking to you above the ark-cover" (Ex. 25:22). Before each actual communication, God would first summon Moses to the tent, with a Voice that only Moses could hear: "God called to Moses, speaking to him from the Communion Tent" (Lev. 1:1). What was the nature of this Divine call? The Miniature Aleph and the Four-Pronged Shin The word Vayikra ('He called') is written in an unusual fashion. The last letter, the aleph, is written in miniature in the Torah. Did God command Moses to write it that way? Or was this an expression of Moses' extraordinary humility — an attempt to 'hide' the aleph, so to speak, so that it would appear that God only happened ("vayikar") to speak with Moses, similar to the chance prophetic experiences of evil Balaam? We find a second unusual letter in the tefillin (phylacteries) worn on the head. Usually, the letter shin is written with three upward strokes, but the shin embossed on the left side of the tefillin has four. Some commentaries connect this peculiar shin to the Midrashic description of the Torah's transmission to Israel via black fire engraved on white fire. What does this mean? What are these black and white fires?