Parshas Tazria: What is the Difference between Humans and Apes?

“G-d spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth …” (Leviticus 12:1-2)

WHEN A WOMAN CONCEIVES: Rabbi Simlai said: Just as the fashioning of man came after all cattle, beasts, and fowl in the Torah’s account of the act of creation, so is his law explained after the law of cattle, beast, and fowl. (Rashi quoting Midrash Rabbah 14:1)

If a person is meritorious, he is told “you preceded all of creation”, however if a person is not meritorious, he is told, “even mosquitoes and earthworms preceded you on this earth.” (Midrash ibid)

The aforementioned Midrash is fraught with difficulty. We all know that the creation of Adam followed the rest of creation. How then can the Midrash claim that a meritorious person is told that he preceded all of creation? Additionally, why is the fact that mosquitoes and earthworms preceded mankind considered degrading? On the contrary, it is a compliment that G-d saved the best (Adam) for last?

Maimonides recounts a fascinating episode which occurred at a gathering of the intellectual elite of the generation. The greatest scientist and philosophers were gathered to seek out the purpose for each aspect of creation. After much thought and discussion, a purpose was discovered for each minutia of creation. Even the smallest parasites were found to benefit the world. To celebrate their findings, a gourmet banquet was prepared and all of these distinguished people ate and drank to their hearts content. Amidst their drunken stupor, one professor arose and announced that the celebration is incomplete. There is one creation unaccounted for. That is the human being. The people were thrown into a frenzy. What could be the purpose of humanity? The more that they deliberated, the more apparent it became that man just destroys the world. People pollute the environment; they decimate trees and rainforests, and they murder animals and all living organisms. To make matters worse, all of their destruction is purely selfish. A pall was cast over the celebration. At the end, they all agreed that humanity must have a higher mission in this world than the rest of creation. There is simply no way that the human is simply a more intelligent cousin of an ape. The human is an essentially different creation.

What distinguishes humanity from the animal kingdom? The Torah tells us “G-d blew into Adams nostrils a soul of life.” (Genesis 2:7) The Rabbis inform us that the breath exhaled into Adam was Divine. It follows that humanity is created from the breath of G-d, in the image of G-d. Rabbi Elazar M.M. Shach (1898-2001) explained that our purpose in the world is to connect to that Divine part of us. The secularists believe that they must study complex subjects in order to harness them for the good of humanity. That train of thought harbors animalistic philosophy. The essential idea is to only study and sow that which will benefit a person here in this world. That is selfish and atheistic. The Torah viewpoint is to channel all of the advances of technology and of the mind to further tap into our soul.

A Jew threshes his field, plants wheat, harvests, winnows, grinds, kneads, bakes, and separates Challah. That separation of Challah sanctifies and justifies the entire laborious process. Similarly, the blessing that the ritual slaughterer utters prior to an animal’s slaughter sanctifies its’ meat. It goes without saying that every blessing that an individual makes before and after eating food is a sanctification of that food. This follows for all aspects of creation. As long as sanctification is occurring, the seemingly destructive process is in fact a spiritual building.

This is the explanation of the enigmatic Midrash. Of course humanity was created last. However, a meritorious person who sanctifies every part of creation before partaking in it is considered as having preceded all of creation. Meaning, this person is the reason for all of creation, because this person put the final touch of divinity into the lower aspects of creation. The opposite also holds true. A person who maintains the secular viewpoint, is considered the last item of creation, and is the spoiler and destroyer of creation. That person adds nothing to creation, and succeeds in bringing these creatures to a G-dless end.

The Talmud tells us that the law of the human is mentioned last in the Torah in order to give us some humility. At the same time, we have the ability to be considered the beginning of creation, as long as we don’t forget our purpose here on this world.