וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וגו' (א, א)
And Hashem called to Moshe and He spoke to him from the Ohel Moed. (1:1)
The Small Aleph:
The word “Vayikrah” is written with a small “aleph”. The Baal Haturim writes that the reason the aleph is small is because Moshe was so humble that he wanted to write “Vayakar” (without an aleph at the end), which indicates that Hashem happened to meet him, rather than deliberately called him. This word is used for when Hashem speaks to a person in a dream (such as when He spoke to Bilaam in Bamidbor 23:4), as opposed to when He spoke openly to Moshe.
Hashem, however, told Moshe to write the word “Vayikrah”, with an aleph. In his humility, Moshe wrote the aleph smaller than the other letters.
Thus, this Parshah teaches us the value of modesty, which is a middah that is greatly beloved by Hashem, and the degradation of haughtiness, which is despised by Hashem.
Anavah Leads to Living with the Shechinah:
Sefer Divrei Shmuel adds that the letter aleph also can mean “aluf”, leader. Accordingly, the small aleph hints to the fact that Hashem, the leader of the world, dwells together with a person who is small in his own eyes.
This idea is stated in the verse (Yeshaya 57:15): “With the lofty and the holy ones I dwell.” We thus see from this pasuk that one can merit living together with the Shechinah if he is humble and lowly of spirit.
Making a Small Opening:
Sefer Zera Kodesh explains why the letter aleph of the word Vayikroh is small by noting that “aleph” can be an acronym for “pischu li achosi” – “open for me my sister” (Shir Hashirim 5:2). This is a hint to Chazal’s statement (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5:2): “Open for me an opening the size of the eye of a needle...”
Therefore, the aleph is written small as a hint that one only needs to make a small opening in order to connect to Hashem.
