Who Called to Moses?

The Book of Vayikra begins, "And He (we presume that the subject is God) called to Moses...." (Leviticus 1:1) But the Hebrew text does not identify who called. Surely it would have been easier if the verse had said, "And the Lord

Moses became aware that someone was calling him.

 called to Moses...." Yet, the text goes on, "And the Lord spoke to him...." So why leave out the name of God in the first phrase?

Possibly what happened was that Moses became aware that someone was calling him, but only afterwards recognised the voice and realised that he was being addressed by God.

Other people - maybe all of us - have the same experience. We are preoccupied with something and become aware, at first dimly, that someone is talking to us. Then we recognise the voice and come back to reality.

Someone I visited in hospital told me that this happened to him after an operation. He was in the recovery room and had not yet completely come round after the anaesthetic, but he dimly heard someone calling him and he struggled to emerge from his semi-consciousness to find that the nursing staff were trying to rouse him.

In the case of Moses - long before anaesthetics - it was not that he was coming round from an operation, but he may have been concentrating on how to handle a particular leadership task. Or he may have been meditating and almost oblivious to his surroundings. When God knew Moses was responding to the call, He could then continue with the message of the moment.

Unwitting Good and Evil

Rashi's commentary on this week's reading introduces us to a fascinating doctrine.

There is a verse that says, "If a person sins but does not know it, he is guilty and bears his iniquity." (Leviticus 5:17) Rashi's chidush (his novel idea) is that just as a person is punished if he sins unwittingly, so is he rewarded if he does a good deed unwittingly (as usual with Rashi, the doctrine derives from much earlier rabbinic sources, but such is Rashi's greatness that without him we may not have known it).

An example given by Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah of this unwitting mitzvah concept is a person who is harvesting his field and forgets a sheaf. The Torah prescribes (Deuteronomy 24:19) that the stranger, the orphan, etc. may enter and take the forgotten sheaf. This is part of the Jewish code of social welfare and ensures that no-one will be

Just as a person is punished if he sins unwittingly, so is he rewarded if he does a good deed unwittingly.

without means of support. We are assured that the Holy One, blessed be He, has a special blessing for the farmer, yet the farmer was unaware that he had done a mitzvah. Had he consciously decided to do the mitzvah, we could not have said that he had forgotten the sheaf. Where would the forgetfulness have been if he knew what he was doing? The result of his unwitting good deed is that he enjoys a Divine blessing.

One should never do a mitzvah for the sake of a reward, but if the reward comes, it is still a reward. It is always best to do a mitzvah because you want to, but if the mitzvah happens regardless, it is still a mitzvah.

There is a Biblical verse, "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days." (Kohelet 11:1) The conventional interpretation is that if you invest wisely, then you will eventually gain a profit. However, the Soncino edition of Kohelet adds (page 181), "The traditional Jewish interpretation is accepted by many moderns, that the exhortation is to practise goodness and kindness, from which a reward may unexpectedly and after a long interval be reaped." In the sense of the Rashi commentary which we have quoted, the verse may be read as saying, 'Make good deeds a habit and sometimes you will find yourself doing them even without realising it; and even if you were not looking for a reward, you will still earn one.'