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Today we begin exploring the opening of Parshat Vayikra, and especially the deeper meaning of the word Vayikra itself, which means “And He called.” This is not just a simple calling. It is an esoteric beginning to the book, where Moshe stands at the Ohel Mo’ed, the Tent of Meeting, and is called from a source that transcends even the revealed Divine Name.

The Zohar opens this discussion through Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who brings the verse:

“Ask for yourself a sign from Hashem your G-d; deepen your request, or raise it to the heights above.”

The Zohar explains that this verse is not only speaking about a sign in the ordinary sense. The Hebrew word for sign, ot, also means letter. In other words, ask for yourself a letter, a holy אות, through which Divine wisdom and energy are revealed.

Rabbi Elazar reflects on the difference between the earlier generations and the later generations. The earlier generations, especially the righteous ones, had greater spiritual sensitivity. They were able to gaze into the higher wisdom and understand how to unify the letters through which creation itself was formed. They could perceive the inner coding of existence.

This is connected to what our sages say about Betzalel, who according to the tradition was only thirteen years old when he helped build the Mishkan. Yet he possessed extraordinary wisdom. He understood how to combine the letters through which heaven and earth were made. He could perceive the hidden structure of creation itself.

Nature, in Kabbalah, is not separate from the Divine. The very word ha-teva, nature, shares the same numerical value as Elokim, one of the Divine Names. Meaning, nature itself is a garment, a code, a concealment of G-dliness. The earlier generations were more attuned to that coding. They could look into the spiritual roots and, through that, understand the physical world.

But as the generations descended, that sensitivity became more hidden. There was a spiritual diminishment. Humanity lost some of its ability to perceive the inner architecture of the worlds and the power of the letters through which all reality is sustained.

The Zohar teaches that when the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, the holy letters themselves were revealed. This was not physical, of course, but a sublime spiritual vision. The angelic beings brought down these letters, and the people were able to perceive something of this mystery.

These were the exalted angels connected to the Merkavah, the Divine Chariot, the structure through which G-d’s Presence is revealed in the worlds below. The letters surrounded them, ascending and descending in the ethereal space, rising to their source to receive vitality and returning again to draw Divine energy into creation.

This is part of the meaning of the verse that the people “saw the sounds.” They did not only hear revelation. They saw it. They perceived the letters themselves, the channels of Divine speech through which the world exists.

The Zohar also speaks of large letters and small letters. In the Torah scroll, some letters are written larger and some smaller than usual, each one hinting to a different spiritual root. The larger letters point to a more concealed and elevated source. The smaller letters come from another chamber, another level of revelation. And then there are the regular letters that make up the flow of Torah as we receive it.

All of this was given to Moshe at Sinai.

Not only the letters themselves, but also their inner expansions. For example, the letter Aleph is not just Aleph. It can be spelled out as Aleph-Lamed-Peh. And each of those letters can themselves be spelled out further. This is called milui, the filling out of the letters. And then there is even milui of the milui, the expansion within the expansion.

This hints to a profound truth: all of creation is like the unfolding of Divine speech. The world is the filling out of the letters, the inner expression of the inner expression, layer within layer, world within world.

Moshe was given the wisdom to combine these letters, and this secret was entrusted to the holy companions, the chavrayah, the friends of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. They are called friends because this wisdom is not merely studied. It is lived, shared, and entered into in fellowship and spiritual intimacy.

The Zohar then returns to the verse in Isaiah. When the prophet says, “Ask for yourself a sign,” he is really saying: ask for a letter. Attach yourself to a holy letter. Connect yourself to a channel of Divine energy.

This is a powerful idea. A single letter has the capacity to alter a name, and by changing a name, it can change mazal, energy, destiny. A letter is not just a symbol. A letter is a vessel of living spiritual force.

The Zohar brings the example of Rachav, who asked for an ot emet, a sign of truth. The Zohar explains that this especially alludes to the letter Vav, which is called the letter of truth within the holy Divine Name.

Why specifically Vav?

Because in the four-letter Name of G-d, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, the Vav represents the drawing down of the higher wisdom into the revealed world. The Yud corresponds to wisdom, Chochmah. The first Heh corresponds to understanding, Binah. The Vav channels that Divine flow downward through the emotional structure, into alignment, harmony, and truth.

This is also why truth is associated with Yaakov, the middle column, the balancing principle, the line of Tiferet. The Vav is the extension of Divine truth downward into creation.

The verse continues: “Deepen your request” and “raise it to the heights above.” The Zohar explains that these also correspond to letters of the Divine Name. The deepening below relates to Heh, and the heights above relate to Yud.

So the prophet is not simply saying, ask for a sign. He is saying: ask for a letter of the Divine Name. Ask which letter you are meant to connect to. Ask which channel of holiness is calling to your soul.

This ties beautifully into the meditative work we have been doing in the Tikkun HaNefesh classes, where we contemplate the holy letters and vowels. Each letter is alive. Each letter carries a vibration, a structure, a spiritual energy. The Zohar here reveals just how significant this truly is.

The Mishkan itself was built through these combinations of letters. Just as Betzalel understood the secret of creation, he also understood the secret of building a dwelling place for the Divine Presence in this world. The Mishkan below corresponded to a higher Mishkan above. Every vessel below had its spiritual parallel above.

This is one of the deep meanings of Kabbalah itself: everything below has a corresponding reality above. There is always a heavenly structure parallel to the earthly one.

And when the Mishkan was completed, the cloud rested upon it. All the holy chariots, all the angelic orders of the Shechinah, were present there in their corresponding forms. The Divine cloud filled the space so powerfully that Moshe could not enter.

And this raises the question the Zohar leaves us with:

If Moshe could remain on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights within the cloud of revelation, why then could he not enter the Mishkan when the cloud rested upon it?

That is where we pause for today.

Tomorrow we will continue with the Zohar’s explanation of the difference between the cloud of Sinai and the cloud of the Mishkan, and how this connects to the holy letters and the four great angelic camps of Michael, Gabriel, Nuriel, and Raphael.