The word vayikra is spelled with a small aleph, which teaches
us that every person should make himself small. At the same time that we
are humble concerning ourselves, we must be aware that every other person is
full of greatness. When we look at another human being we often don't realize
the depth and complexity of that person as the following eye opening poem,
written by a woman in a nursing home illustrates:
What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when
you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of
habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When
you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice the
things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.....
Who,
resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the
long day to fill....
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you
see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you
who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your
will.
I'm a small child of ten ...with a father and mother,
Brothers and
sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her
feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty
-- my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to
keep.
At twenty five now, I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
and a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grown
fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.
At forty, my young
sons have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me to see I don't
mourn.
At fifty once more, babies play round my knee,
Again we know
children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is
dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all
rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love that I've
known.
I'm now an old woman ...and nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make
old age look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor
depart,
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this
old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart
swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and
living life over again.
I think of the years ....all too few, gone too
fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your
eyes, nurses, open and see,
..Not a crabby old woman; look closer ...see
ME!!
D'Var Torah - Parsha Vayikra 5760
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
It is a very special thing when a child learns Torah for the first
time. There is a time honored Jewish custom of beginning childrens' Torah
study with the book of Leviticus (Vayikra). The reason is that this
section deals with the Temple offerings which are always given in purity, so
we let the young children who are pure from sin begin their Torah
study "careers" dealing with purity. Adults actually possess those same
virtues but as we get older we tend to lose touch with that wellspring of
purity because of the stresses in our lives and other external
factors. The Talmud states that even if the Torah had not been given, we
would have learned "Thou shalt not steal" by observing the ant (ants
never steal food from each other). We would have learned chastity from the
dove and modesty from the cat. How is the Talmud so confident that we
would learn all the right things from all the right animals. Maybe we
would look at the animals that are thieving, immodest, and unchaste and
learn all those bad traits. The Talmud is sure this would not happen
because each person has an internal chord that naturally responds to good
and rejects evil. It is built into us. King David (Dovid hamelech) wrote
"Ura kivodi" (Awaken my glory). Every Jew has that glory inside, we may lose
touch with it but we never lose IT. We can achieve spiritual greatness by
simply reconnecting to that splendor which G-d planted within us. It's right
there waiting for us. With Torah study, prayer and introspection we can tap
in to that inner child.