We spend much of our lives, especially in our youth, aching with uncertainty as we try to find our place in the world. While we are all capable of learning and applying various skills, what we truly seek is meaning in what we do. We long to feel called to fulfill a unique role, rather than simply settling into whatever opportunities arise. This, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt’’l teaches us, is the message of the first pasuk in Sefer Vayikra: וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה׳ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר.
Rabbi Sacks points out that the two clauses ויקרא אל משה and וידבר אליו seem redundant. He explains that they serve different purposes: וידבר אליו conveys the transmission of details, instructions, and tasks, while ויקרא אל משה represents a deeper calling—a personal mission. For Rabbi Sacks, who once considered becoming an economist, lawyer, academic, or even a rabbi in the United States before dedicating his life to training rabbis in the United Kingdom, this distinction was crucial and personal.
As Rabbi Sacks beautifully writes, "For each of us, G-d has a task: Work to perform, a kindness to show, a gift to give, love to share, loneliness to ease, pain to heal, or broken lives to help mend. Discerning that task, hearing G-d’s call, is what gives life meaning and purpose. Where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where G-d wants us to be."
Rav Joseph Soloveitchik zt’’l expressed a similar idea in connection to Nisan and Pesach. He highlighted the simple, unshaped nature of water and flour, the primary ingredients of much of our diet. Unlike bread or pasta, which represent the adult perspective of having a predetermined form and a fixed identity, water and flour possess a unique flexibility, much like children who dream, explore, and continuously search for their purpose. In that spirit, the Rav encouraged people to sit down during Pesach with a pen and paper, reorient their perspective to one of youthful possibility, and write about the life they would create if given the chance.
There is much we can learn from the children and students in our lives. As we read Parshat Vayikra and enter the month of Nisan, we must notice, admire, and embrace their sense of curiosity, opportunity, and belief in a world they can shape. In doing so, I hope we each discover our own ויקרא, the calling that brings us meaning, fulfillment, and energy. May we experience both personal and national redemption, fulfilling our missions on individual and communal levels with the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash and the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days. |