Vayikra—and God called to Moses. That’s what it’s supposed to say.

Yet every Torah scroll in the world has the final letter scribbled in as a seeming afterthought. Why? Because Moses thought it unseemly to write about himself that God called to him. Rather, he wanted to say, Vayikar, and it happened, by chance, that God met Moses.

The Bible’s editor and publisher won out—it indeed says God called. Still, the lesson is a valuable one. There are those who view their positions as a calling; proof perhaps that God wants them there.

And Jewish tradition has much to say about Divine intervention in the affairs of both men and nations. Still, it is perhaps best for each of us—in whatever positions of power or prestige we find ourselves—to think as Moses did: Vayikar, and it happened.

By Howie Beigelman