This week’s Torah portion is Vayikra, which means, “and He called.” It relates that G-d called to Moses, and taught him the laws of the sacrifices.
The Rebbe stressed countless times that the word Torah means “instruction.” Indeed, every single word of the Torah is an instruction and a directive for every individual, every day.
This is all the more relevant when it comes to the name of the parsha, for as the mystics teach, the name of something is a handle on its essence.
What is the “Torah” (read: instruction) of this word, Vayikra?
Vayikra tells me that G-d is calling to me. And you. He is calling each and every one of us, encouraging us to go ahead from strength to strength.
To break it down a bit, He actually calls in two ways:
To those who are having success at life, growing spiritually, He challenges us not to sit on our laurels, as if to say, “Don’t be satisfied with what you’ve accomplished until now. You can accomplish even more!”
Yet He also calls to those of us who are on a low spiritual level. To us He offers encouragement, saying, “Don’t give up! You have the strength to extricate yourself from wherever you may be, and to go from darkness to light.”
ע”פ תורת מנחם תשמ”ב ח”ב ע’ 1107
