Parshas Vayikrah 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
ויקרא אל משה וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד לאמר ... (א-א)
Citing the Medrash, Rashi writes: “קְרִיאָה is an expression of affection, the [same] expression employed by the ministering angels [when addressing each other],” One might have thought that not only did Hashem precede all His statements (דיבורים) with a קריאה by first calling out to Moshe, but all the pauses between each statement as well (הפסקות). Thus, the posuk says "ויקרא ... וידבר", to teach us that only before each statement would He call out first, and not before each pause.
Now, why would one think that Hashem would call out before each pause or break? What is the significance of a break? The important part was Hashem’s words before and after it, not the break itself!
However, Rashi himself subsequently explains that the pauses had a very significant purpose, and that was so Moshe should have time to contemplate between each statement. In other words, the breaks were not simply a lack of speaking, a pause and nothing else. Rather, the breaks themselves were part of the actual teaching that preceded it, to review, to contemplate, and to prepare for the coming statement. Thus, the dibburim and hafsakos both formed together one uninterrupted session of learning.
The time of bein hazmanim fast approaches. It, too, is a time of hafsaka between the dibburim of Torah of the zman preceding it and the zman that follows. But just as when Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu, it was not deemed a hafsaka - any sort of pause - at all. It was a hemshech, a continuation of the previous zman, albeit with a different form and schedule. But it is a hemshech, a time to review, to contemplate and consolidate what one learned in the previous zman and prepare for the next one.
As the Ponovezher Rosh Yeshivah, R’ Elazar Menachem Mann Shach zt”l famously stated, it is not “bein hazmanim” - an amorphous in-between period of stagnation, but “zman habeinayim” - a zman of shteiging all its own, a bridge, not a gap, between the zmanim before and after it. Indeed, let us all truly embrace the challenge and approach this time as the opportunity it is for real growth, commitment and avodas Hashem.