The Chassidic Dimension - Vayikra

vayikra Thank you for this wonderful class.

It seems to me the name 'Vayikra' indicates the new environment a person can expect to live in, once they have been released from a situation of bondage. Exodus is the blueprint for mental emancipation; Vayikra is the stage after. By calling to Moshe first in Vayikra, G-d is showing the change in the level of respect due to a free man. Slavery exists in many forms today in the world and knowing how to release ourselves is the primary way to experience our full humanity. It could be a dominating person in our lives, traumas of our past, money or alcohol. G-d shows the free person no longer has to listen to anything their master says, G-d is demonstrating how a slave master must now treat an emancipated slave: as possessing an independent mind, with free choice whether to listen or not. the focus is not on the old slave master (G-d is playing the part, hence his name doesn't appear), the focus is on the free man – the power balance has changed. Reply