With the Mishkan (Tabernacle) completed, it began to fulfill its primary goal: a conduit for communication between God and Moses. "I will commune with you there, speaking to you above the ark-cover." (Exodus 25:22) Before each actual communication, however, God would first summon Moses to the tent, with a voice that only Moses could hear. "God called to Moses, speaking to him from the Communion Tent." (Leviticus 1:1)
What was the nature of this divine summons?
The word vayikra ("He called") is written in a peculiar fashion, with a miniature letter alef. Did God command Moses to write it that way? Or was this an expression of Moses' extraordinary humility - an attempt to hide the alef, so that it would appear that God happened to speak with Moses ("vayikar"), in the same way that the Torah describes the chance prophetic experiences of evil Balaam?
Another unusual letter is the letter shin that resides on the left side of the tefillin (phylacteries) worn on the head. Usually, the letter shin is written with three 'heads', but the shin on tefillin contains four. Some commentaries connect this peculiar shin to the Midrashic description of the Torah's transmission to Israel through black fire engraved on white fire. What does this mean? What is the significance of the black and white fires?
We usually think of the Torah as being just the letters themselves, written in black ink. Yet, the Talmud states that every letter in a Torah scroll must be completely surrounded by parchment ("mukaf g'vil"). (Menachot 29a) In other words, the white parchment around the letters is also an integral part of the Torah. The white space is in fact a higher form of Torah. It is analogous to the white fire of Sinai, a sublime, hidden Torah that cannot be read in the usual manner.
There is a delicate balance between black and white in the Torah. The poetic portions of the Torah are written in a special fashion, like a wall constructed from layers of black and white bricks. These poetic sections are the loftiest parts of the Torah. Consequently, they have more open space between phrases; they contain a greater measure of the esoteric white fire. If a scribe were to write other sections of the Torah in this poetic style, the Torah scroll would be invalid. After the Torah was revealed and restricted to our limited world, it must be written with the appropriate ratio of black to white.
What about the four-headed shin on tefillin? The motif of tefillin is highly connected to the level of Torah after its revelation into the finite world. "All of the peoples of the land shall see that the name of God is called upon you, and they shall be in awe of you." (Deut. 28:10, Menachot 35b) The mitzvah of tefillin corresponds to the realm of black fire, and they are marked with the unusual shin bearing an extra measure of black.
We can deepen our understanding of the white and black fires by considering another example of white space in the Torah. Extra space is left open between sections of the Torah. The sages explained that these separations allowed Moses to reflect upon and absorb the previous lesson. In other words, the white fire corresponds to the loftier realm of thought and contemplation. The black fire of the letters, on the other hand, is the revelation of intellect into the more concrete level of speech - a contraction and limitation of abstract thought.
The distinction between white and black fire also sheds light on God's call to Moses before speaking with him. The voice summoning Moses to enter the tent was in fact the divine call from Sinai, an infinite call that never ceased. The summons would reach Moses as he stood outside the tent, before being constrained within the four walls of the Mishkan. This voice was not a revelation of Torah, but an overture to its revelation. It belonged to the esoteric white fire of Torah, before its revelation and constriction into our world.
Therefore, Moses made the alef smaller. As part of the realm of white fire, the summons required an extra measure of white space over black ink. Moses' humility led him to write the word with a miniature alef: a limitation in respect to the revealed Torah of black fire, but an increase in his knowledge of the hidden Torah of white fire.
[Based on Shmuot HaRaiya IV]
What was the nature of this divine summons?
The word vayikra ("He called") is written in a peculiar fashion, with a miniature letter alef. Did God command Moses to write it that way? Or was this an expression of Moses' extraordinary humility - an attempt to hide the alef, so that it would appear that God happened to speak with Moses ("vayikar"), in the same way that the Torah describes the chance prophetic experiences of evil Balaam?
Another unusual letter is the letter shin that resides on the left side of the tefillin (phylacteries) worn on the head. Usually, the letter shin is written with three 'heads', but the shin on tefillin contains four. Some commentaries connect this peculiar shin to the Midrashic description of the Torah's transmission to Israel through black fire engraved on white fire. What does this mean? What is the significance of the black and white fires?
We usually think of the Torah as being just the letters themselves, written in black ink. Yet, the Talmud states that every letter in a Torah scroll must be completely surrounded by parchment ("mukaf g'vil"). (Menachot 29a) In other words, the white parchment around the letters is also an integral part of the Torah. The white space is in fact a higher form of Torah. It is analogous to the white fire of Sinai, a sublime, hidden Torah that cannot be read in the usual manner.
There is a delicate balance between black and white in the Torah. The poetic portions of the Torah are written in a special fashion, like a wall constructed from layers of black and white bricks. These poetic sections are the loftiest parts of the Torah. Consequently, they have more open space between phrases; they contain a greater measure of the esoteric white fire. If a scribe were to write other sections of the Torah in this poetic style, the Torah scroll would be invalid. After the Torah was revealed and restricted to our limited world, it must be written with the appropriate ratio of black to white.
What about the four-headed shin on tefillin? The motif of tefillin is highly connected to the level of Torah after its revelation into the finite world. "All of the peoples of the land shall see that the name of God is called upon you, and they shall be in awe of you." (Deut. 28:10, Menachot 35b) The mitzvah of tefillin corresponds to the realm of black fire, and they are marked with the unusual shin bearing an extra measure of black.
We can deepen our understanding of the white and black fires by considering another example of white space in the Torah. Extra space is left open between sections of the Torah. The sages explained that these separations allowed Moses to reflect upon and absorb the previous lesson. In other words, the white fire corresponds to the loftier realm of thought and contemplation. The black fire of the letters, on the other hand, is the revelation of intellect into the more concrete level of speech - a contraction and limitation of abstract thought.
The distinction between white and black fire also sheds light on God's call to Moses before speaking with him. The voice summoning Moses to enter the tent was in fact the divine call from Sinai, an infinite call that never ceased. The summons would reach Moses as he stood outside the tent, before being constrained within the four walls of the Mishkan. This voice was not a revelation of Torah, but an overture to its revelation. It belonged to the esoteric white fire of Torah, before its revelation and constriction into our world.
Therefore, Moses made the alef smaller. As part of the realm of white fire, the summons required an extra measure of white space over black ink. Moses' humility led him to write the word with a miniature alef: a limitation in respect to the revealed Torah of black fire, but an increase in his knowledge of the hidden Torah of white fire.
[Based on Shmuot HaRaiya IV]