Envisioning the End
Naaleh.comSummary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After the sacrifices discussed in the previous parsha and the description of which animals are clean and unclean, we come to Parshiot Tazria and Metzorah which explain how a woman regains purity after giving birth, and then continues to set forth the laws of impurity and purification of the metzorah/leper. As Rashi explains, this order is logical, since man was created after the animals. Nevertheless, the medrash implies that Man may be considered as being created before the animals. If he merits, he is so designated, and if he does not merit, then we say he was created after the animals, as the Torah records chronologically. Since the Torah is always truthful, how do our Sages explain the idea that Man could be considered created prior to the animals?
Rabbi Friefeld z”l in In Search of Greatness discusses this conundrum at length. He begins the discussion citing Tehillim (139:5): "Achor vakedem tzartani vatoshas olai kapecha/Back and front You have restricted me (formed me). You have placed Your hand upon me." With this verse one can begin to plumb the nature of Man and his birth, for it is this that separates us from the animal world. What does it mean, back and front, beginning and end? What does "Hashem has placed a hand upon me" mean?
When we are born from our mothers we are straddling two worlds, continues Rabbi Friefeld basing his work on the writings of the Maharal. Our corporeal body exists in the physical world into which we were now born, but through our souls we also exist in the spiritual future world. We are indeed born as an unformed lump of clay with much potential. It is our mission in life to take this chomer, this unformed material, and shape it into that form, that tzurah, which it was meant to become. (I am reminded that when Michelangelo approached a slab of marble, he already saw within its properties the sculpture he would create. CKS) We are born through narrow straits, with challenges and limitations, but we must maintain a vision of our spiritual potential and strive toward achieving it. And Hashem has placed His hand upon me and made me accountable for my development.
How can we know what our major trait is? Onkelos, who translated and interpreted the Torah into Aramaic in the first Century C. E., interprets the nefesh chaya/living being that Adam became after Hashem breathed into him the breath of life as ruach memalelah/a speaking being. Using this interpretation, we can deduce that we are defined to a great extent by that which occupies most of our conversation, for that is what most interests us. Therefore does the verse say (Tehillim 81:110) "I am the Lord your God Who has taken you out of the Land of Egypt. Harchev picha vaamalehu/open wide your mouth and I will fill it."
What is the connection between our experience in Egypt and opening our mouths to speak? A slave has no voice of his own. He cannot develop himself nor strive for personal and spiritual fulfillment. As long as one is forced to occupy himself constantly with that which is not his essence, he is "enslaved". A musician who is forced to become a plumber and is denied the opportunity to develop his music remains enslaved and in exile to his true essence. This is not to say that one should not earn a living in order to pursue his dream. But there must be a balance. Certainly, during his free time the true musician will be speaking music, writing and playing music. If his conversation remains about pipes and drains, his spirit is in exile. Similarly, continues Rabbi Friefeld z”l, when we were enslaved in Egypt our spiritual voices were stifled. Now Hashem has taken us out of Egypt. We have the opportunity to give voice to our inner beings. If we but open our mouths and ask, Hashem will extend His hand.
Rabbi Moshe Shapiro z”l expands on this idea. During the first 2,000 years after creation, the world existed only as matter without form. While there was certainly some wisdom, there was no understanding of the true meaning and purpose of the world, except as understood by a few individuals, like Avraham Avinu. In that sense, the world was indeed tohu/unformed. People filled their lives with fleeting pleasures that disappeared immediately, having no permanence. They went through life without ever growing, without ever becoming anything permanent and valuable. The Jews in Egypt felt their enslavement all the more bitterly because, as children of Avraham Avinu, they longed to pursue spiritual goals, to create meaning and tzurah from the chomer, the matter of their lives. Through his dibur/speech, Man transforms the shapeless chomer/matter into a davar/thing of permanence. (Every child points and asks, "What dat?" to know the names of things, for the word gives it meaning and permanence.)
Similarly, writes Rabbi Shapiro, we must identify who we are, what particular trait and characteristic defines our essence, and commit to developing that trait that Hashem has gifted us with. As Rav Freifeld notes, Hashem tells us harchev picha, expand your horizons. Face your insecurities, the helpless state of kedem, of infancy. Ask Hashem to help you mold those traits so that they achieve their true form, their tzurah, so that you can express your innermost self without fear, so that you become the baal chessed or the talmid chacham or the empathetic listener of your unique nature.
Rabbi Ezrachi cites the medrash that tells us Hashem took Adam for a tour of Gan Eden. Hashem then told Adam to use all this material to make something of himself, for Hashem would hold him accountable. Each baby born is unique, with its own customized talents, character and traits. The parents have a responsibility to teach that child and help him develop his true spiritual essence. Each child is a link in that special chain that goes all the way back to Avraham Avinu, writes Rabbi Ben Zion Zaks, but each child must also be taught how his link is special, how he can contribute to building the chain forward. He goes back, but he must also focus on the future, on the spiritual world of olam haba.
We turn now to a different though related perspective on these verses and on the purpose of each person from birth on. Rabbi Pincus z”l notes that in the second blessing of the Shemoneh Esrai there are five allusions to resurrection. Rav Pincus notes that there are five aspects to a living human being, and each allusion refers to one of these aspects. He and we will focus more closely on the five stages of human development. One can certainly note different stages of physical development from infancy through strength and maturity to a general at least partial return to physical dependency. But Rav Pincus is more interested in the stages of spiritual development and the responsibility each of us has for spiritual growth and Torah observance. Here one enters the world in total purity. Through the various stages of life, of responsibility and then consequences for one's actions, one's effort must be directed to again achieving that purity with which one entered the world. While moving forward, one is striving to return back to the state of purity and connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that one was born with.
With this idea in mind, we can perhaps understand how our Sages say that Man was created before the animals. If indeed he reaches a state of purity at the end of his life, then he has achieved the purpose of creation, for the Torah was the blueprint of creation, and he has gone back to the purpose of all creation, including the creation of the animals. Rabbi Zaks z”lnotes that really the only difference between man and animals is ayin/no. Only Man has the ability to limit himself and place restraints upon himself when his desires are inappropriate for his ultimate purpose and growth. We recognize that Hashem has placed his hand upon us.
The only thing that will move a person toward growth is the desire to grow. Complacency does not work, warns Rabbi Wachtfoge z”l. It is the desire that spurs determination.
Rabbi Pincus z”l explains the process more fully. We all have ratzon/desire. The only time ratzon does not come into play is when we feel the object of our desire is unachievable, as when a peasant desires a princess. It is in this context that Hashem commands us "Thou shalt not covet," though shalt think of all things Hashem did not give you as things that are beyond your reach. But we have to believe that we can achieve this purity and this connection with Hashem. We have to believe that we can fulfill the potential of our personal traits, that the challenges Hashem has put before us are there for our personal growth. Then we can desire it and open our mouths in prayer and ask for Hashem's help, for His outstretched hand to pull us through the darkness and help us grow.
Rabbi Schlesinger notes that the Torah calls the Torah first His Torah and then his Torah. Rashi explains that while the Torah is Hashem's, it becomes the possession of all who toil in it. It is the confidence in our ability and the effort we put into the study of the Torah and in the work of perfecting our middot that frees us from our chomer, from the material state of our existence. It is this vision of the possible that enables us to take the raw matter of our lives and shape it into a form that realizes its potential. When a woman gives birth, the process may indeed be no different from the birth of animals, and in the chronology of creation, Man may indeed come last, but only Mankind can transform himself to the purity of Torah which preceded all of creation and with which he came from his mother's womb.