This week we read Parshat Vayikra, the parsha that opens the third book of the Torah. When I read the parsha with Rotem, my youngest daughter, we noticed something special about the first word, ‘Vayikra’. The letter Aleph at the end of the word is smaller than the other letters. We looked into it a bit and discovered it’s called ‘Aleph Zeira’.
The tradition explains that Moses, out of great humility, did not want to boast that God was calling him personally, so he simply diminished himself in the text. When I think of this small Aleph, I think of our experience as travelers. Here in Puerto Viejo, when we wake up in the morning and stand before the power of the jungle, hear the wild animals, and see the ocean - one cannot help but feel a bit like that small Aleph. Nature simply puts us in perspective.
But, being small in the face of the world doesn’t mean being disconnected. On the contrary. And this connects to the central theme of the parsha, which is entirely dedicated to the laws of sacrifices.
The word ‘korban’ (sacrifice) sounds to us today like a painful concession, something we have lost. But in Hebrew, the root of the word is K.R.B. The purpose of the sacrifice, even in the days of the Tabernacle, was not simply to give something up - but to find a way to draw closer.
When we set out on this journey - Keren, Gili, Rotem, and I - and just like each and every one of you did when you set out on your trip, we made quite a few ‘sacrifices’. We left the comfort of home, the familiar, moved away from family and friends in Israel, and packed our lives into a backpack or suitcase.
But this sacrifice, this ‘korban’, is exactly what opens the door to drawing closer to new things. It allows us to get closer to ourselves outside the daily grind, to get closer to this powerful nature that leaves us speechless, and most importantly - it allows us to get closer to people who are complete strangers to us. Just like we are sitting here now, a group of Israelis in Costa Rica, sharing a Shabbat meal, far from home but suddenly so close to each other.
So I wish for all of us to remember to maintain the humility of the small Aleph, to enjoy the perspective this journey gives us, and to know how to turn every sacrifice or ‘korban’ along the way into a real opportunity to draw closer.
Shabbat Shalom!