Be Humble, Be Great

In the opening of Leviticus, the Hebrew letter aleph in the opening word Vayikra appears smaller than all the other letters of the word. At the beginning of Chronicles, the Hebrew letter aleph that appears in the first word Adam is larger than the other letters in the word. The commentators attempt to connect these two occurrences and also try to explain why in Leviticus, it appears smaller, and in Chronicles, it appears larger.  

The theme in Leviticus is God beckoning Moses to converse with Him. In this case, the aleph is smaller to show Moses' humility. Despite Moses' privilege of being chosen to speak with God directly, Moses remains humble. The experience of having this personal interaction with God helps Moses achieve even greater humility. In Chronicle, the word in which the aleph appears more significant is Adam, which refers to humanity. Adam is the name of the first human being and also represents humankind. The verse begins to list the history of humankind, starting with the first man – Adam. In this case, the aleph is larger since God wants to instill within humanity a sense of pride and responsibility towards the rest of creation. Humankind must view itself as the center of the universe and the purpose of creation. Being in the center ensures humanity acts appropriately and with care towards the world in which we live.  

These two ideas, humility on the one hand and responsibility on the other, are interrelated. The more responsibility a person has, the more humble it should make him or her. The more humble a person is, the more they will realize how important a role they play in this world. Moses embodies the idea of humility with greatness together as one. God elevates him from all others and converses directly with him, and as a result, this leads him to become even more humble. We arrive at greatness through humility.  We arrive at humility through recognizing our greatness.

For further discussion: Think of a time you succeeded at a challenge, and it made you more humble and down to earth.