In an article entitled, "What Silence Conceals -- and Reveals" https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/what-silence-conceals-and-reveals/ Rabbi Rachel Barenblat explores the opening word of the book Christians call Leviticus -- Vayikra ("And God called"). She names that in the late 19th and early 20th century Hebrew schools in Eastern Europe began Torah study with this book. That is still the practice in some Jewish traditions today. It is a curious place to begin, as Leviticus has laws and practices of sacrifice that are not common now, nor were they in practice in the last two centuries.
What is more puzzling is the way the word is written in scrolls. The final letter of that first word (aleph א) is always written to be much smaller than the rest of the word. It is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but it is silent. Rabbis and others have long debated the reason for this choice. Midrash -- stories and commentary that attempt to fill in details beyond what is written in Torah, have asserted that Moses, in his humility, didn't want to have the aleph at the end. Without that letter, the word becomes vayikar ("And God happened upon"), making Moses' encounter with God more of a result of being in the right place at the right time then God's intentional choosing of Moses. Wanting to minimize his own importance, according to the midrash, Moses tried to delete the aleph, but God insisted it remain. It was not by happenstance that Moses was called. As a compromise, the letter remained, but in a small form.
Other commentaries address the importance of aleph. In the article, Barenblat writes, "One Hasidic teaching holds that it contains the entirety of Torah compressed within it. Because it’s the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it can represent the infinite, the many, within the singularity of the One. In the Torah as we’ve received it, this aleph at the end of the word Vayikra is tiny, like a seed or a spark. It’s a kernel of potential." For Barenblat, this textual curiosity about the beginning of Leviticus is an invitation to each reader and listener to look and listen for God's promise in our lives. She writes, "Just as silence can contain the promise of every possible sound, the silent aleph can contain the promise of every possible letter and word."
From a storytelling perspective, this interplay of silence and speech, of intentionality and happenstance, informs how we portray characters. The Bible is full of encounters with Holy Presence, and some responses are filled with courage (Hagar and Abram), while others are initially marked by fear (the calling of Isaiah and shepherds at the nativity). How do show humility in each of these responses?
The ASL sign for humble begins with a "b" hand with the index finger resting on the chin, then moving down below a down-turned open left hand. At the same time, the head is bowed as a sign of humility. An alternate option is just to move the right hand (same beginning position) and the head downward. (See video) In Martin L.A. Sternberg's American Sign Language Dictionary, the head movement is similar to a turtle retreating into its shell. Encounters with God call for humility, but retreat into one's self isn't necessarily what God calls from us. Perhaps that is why videos for humility don't always include bending the head.
There are several signs for call. One is a natural movement of putting a cupped hand to the side of the face with one's mouth slightly open. A second sign is connected to name, and it is used when addressed how someone is named (e.g. My name is Elizabeth, but I am called Liz by people who know me well). A third option can have holy significance. The right hand sweeps over the left hand (palm down) then moves up toward the body. Instead of looking downward, the person signing looks straight ahead or even raises the face a little bit to match the hand.
When God calls to us or to a biblical character, how do we understand it? Is it an intentional encounter, which evokes a bold and/or humble response of our whole being, including a pause to honor the aleph, or do we speak (or sign) the encounter and move on to the next word, phrase, or event?
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