VaYikrah begins a new book of the Torah and is always read close to Purim. It begins with one of the rare curiosities in our tradition in that the word itself, ויקרא is always written in a Torah scroll with a small א, Aleph. Is it really there and what difference is there if it is or it isn’t?

Perhaps it really isn’t an א, an Aleph? Could it be an ע, Ayin, which is often pronounced similarly? With an א, as traditionally read, it means “And He called”, God to Moshe. קרע, with an Ayin, would mean And He tore, which, given B’nei Yisrael’s behavior at Sinai and just after, is not an impossible reading. More than once in the Torah, God threatens to destroy the Jewish People and ot make a new nation from Moshe and his descendants, presumably more compliant. And each time, Moshe, mirroring Avraham arguing to save the people of Sodom, argues to save Am Yisrael.

It could also mean that God usually needs to shout to get Moshe’s attention and it could mean that even, at least at this time, Moshe is so eager to hear these holy words that even when they come as a whisper, he hears them fully.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach