Vayikra and the Small Aleph

(א) וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב מִכֶּ֛ם קָרְבָּ֖ן לַֽיהוָ֑ה מִן־הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה מִן־הַבָּקָר֙ וּמִן־הַצֹּ֔אן תַּקְרִ֖יבוּ אֶת־קָרְבַּנְכֶֽם׃ (ג) אִם־עֹלָ֤ה קָרְבָּנוֹ֙ מִן־הַבָּקָ֔ר זָכָ֥ר תָּמִ֖ים יַקְרִיבֶ֑נּוּ אֶל־פֶּ֝תַח אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ יַקְרִ֣יב אֹת֔וֹ לִרְצֹנ֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ (ד) וְסָמַ֣ךְ יָד֔וֹ עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הָעֹלָ֑ה וְנִרְצָ֥ה ל֖וֹ לְכַפֵּ֥ר עָלָֽיו׃

Leviticus 1:1-4

(1) The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people, and say to them: When any of you presents an offering of cattle to the LORD, he shall choose his offering from the herd or from the flock. (3) If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall make his offering a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, for acceptance in his behalf before the LORD. (4) He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, that it may be acceptable in his behalf, in expiation for him.

Who is calling?

שני לוחות הברית, ויקרא, תורה אור ע״ז

Shney Luchot HaBrit, Vayikra, Torah Ohr 77

The foregoing enables us to understand the Zohar who comments on Leviticus 1,1: "He spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting," that G'd spoke from the interior, or depth of the Tabernacle, informing Moses that the Children of Israel would be prepared to sin and how the Temple would be destroyed as a result. This is why the Torah writes here ויקרא, without identifying who called.

Why is this verb being used?

רש"י על ויקרא א׳:א׳:א׳

ויקרא אל משה. לְכָל דִּבְּרוֹת וּלְכָל אֲמִירוֹת וּלְכָל צִוּוּיִים קָדְמָה קְרִיאָה, לְשׁוֹן חִבָּה, לָשׁוֹן שֶׁמַּלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מִשְׁתַּמְּשִׁין בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל זֶה (ישעיהו ו'), אֲבָל לִנְבִיאֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם נִגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶן בִּלְשׁוֹן עֲרָאִי וְטֻמְאָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל בִּלְעָם (במדבר כ"ג):

Rashi on Leviticus 1:1:1

ויקרא אל משה AND [THE LORD] CALLED UNTO MOSES — All oral communications of the Lord to Moses whether they are introduced by דבר daber or by אמר amar or by צו tzav were preceded by a call (to prepare him for the forthcoming address) (Sifra).

[Vayikra] is a way of expressing affection, the mode used by the ministering angels when addressing each other, as it is said (Isaiah 6:3) “And one called vayikra unto another [and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts]”.

To the prophets of the nations of the world, however, God revealed [Godself] in a manner which Scripture describes by an expression ordinarily used for denoting events of a casual character and of uncleanness, as it is said, (Numbers 23:4) “and God happened to meet (ויקר, vayikar) Balaam” (the term ויקר vayikar, from the root ,קרה karah, is connected with מִקְרֶה mik'reh which denotes “chance”, “occurrence”, and has also the meaning of “uncleanness”, by analogy with Deuteronomy 23:11) (cf. Bereishit Rabbah 52; Leviticus Rabbah 1).

Why is there a small aleph? (Moses)

קיצור בעל הטורים על ויקרא א׳:א׳:א׳

א' דויקרא זעירא שמשה לא רצה לכתוב אלא ויקר כדרך שנא' בבלעם כאלו לא נראה לו השם אלא במקרה ואמר לו הקב''ה לכתוב גם באל''ף וכתבה קטנה. ויקרא אל משה.

Kitzur Ba'al HaTurim on Leviticus 1:1:1

The aleph of vayikra is small, since Moses wanted to write vayikar (he happened), as it is said of Bilaam, as if God had only happened upon him accidentally. God told him to write an aleph, so he wrote it small.

Why is there a small aleph? (Israelites)

Sefat Emet on Vayikra, 1901

The aleph in vayikra is small. Moses received the whole Torah during his 40 days & nights in heaven. If so, why were these sections spoken in the tent of meeting, below? The Israelites weren't ready to receive the Torah that Moses received in heaven, which is in the aspect of "large aleph." And this teaching was in constricted consciousness compared with the level of Moses, because to him [fear of God] is a small thing. And this is the meaning of "He said...to say." This was learning to speak to the Israelites. This is the meaning of "because of you God is speaking with me:" in the way and path that the Israelites will be able to receive. This itself is the idea of the sacrifices, as it is written "Happy [is the one who] you favor and draw near." Favor is the aspect of Moses His favorite. The Israelites were ready at the giving of Torah, when they were chosen to be "His people, a portion of Him." They themselves were really the Torah, as it is written "Torah, God, and Israel are all one." But when we fell from this level, we needed to draw ourselves near with sacrifices. And this is something which exists in fact.

What does this mean for us today?

We have to be a mix between Moses and the Israelites.
We need to be like Moses and be humble in our interactions with and connections to God. We use the small aleph as a reminder that what we are to receive in the book of Leviticus is heavy, but we can handle it if we look at it humbly and recognize our role in the whole of the people of Israel.
We need to be like the Israelites who are learning how to connect with what God has given us and continues to give us. While we do not have sacrifices anymore, we use prayers as a way to still maintain that relationship with God. It is not always easy, not always set, and this, in and of itself, is allowing us to build that interaction with God.