The Hint of the Miniature Aleph

And the Lord called (vaYikra) to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tenting of meeting, saying:                                            Leviticus 1:1

The aleph, which is the final letter of the initial word (in Hebrew) of our verse is written in a Sefer Torah as an “aleph ze’ira,” a miniature aleph.

Rashi on our verse comments that “vaYikra” is an expression of affection and precedes all of God’s oral communication with Moses, but when God communicates with prophets of the nations of the world (i.e., gentiles) it is in a casual way and a manner of uncleanness (tumah), denoted by the word “vaYikar” (the letters of “vaYikra,” minus the aleph, as we find in connection with God’s communication with Balaam [Numbers 32:4]).

Perhaps the aleph ze’ira conveys the hint that the difference between purity and impurity can be very slight and subtle, a fact of which we must be aware if we want to reach the ideal level of communication with God.