Tazria - Fill the World With His Light

You're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari Goldwag, recorded with Hashem's never-ending assistance in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel, 5782, 2022. This week's parsha is parshas Tazria, and the Midrash, in the beginning of our parsha, has a beautiful discussion about the concept of the human being in his creation, because at the beginning of our parsha, Isha ki sazria, yaled zachar, when a woman will become pregnant, when the seed will begin to grow inside of her and produce a human being. So, in speaking about the production, the genesis of a human being, the Midrash brings us from the following pasuk. It says like this, had do de ksiv, achor vakadem sartani. The pasuk in Tehillim speaks about the fact that achor means at the end, kedem means at the beginning, you fashioned me. Pasuk is speaking about our pasuk in parshas Tazria, speaking about the fashioning of the human being inside of the mother's womb, and this pasuk in Tehillim, Psalms chapter 139, verse 5, speaks about the fashioning of the human being from beginning to end. Amar Rebbi Yochanan, Rebbi Yochanan tells us a beautiful thing, an incredible thing. Im zachar Adam rishon l'olam hazeh v'olam haba, in speaking about the fashioning of the human being, so of course the physical aspect of the human being always parallels the spiritual aspect of the human being. If we speak about a creation that's achor and kedem, we speak about a fashioning that has to do with a later time and an earlier time, so Rebbi Yochanan says that that fashioning that we're speaking about has to do with this world and it has to do with the next world. There are two times. There's an earlier time and a later time. There's the time that we inhabit right now, which is the earlier time, which is the time when we have an opportunity to serve Hashem, to create for ourselves an awesome eternal reward, and then there's the time, the olam haba, the future time, the world to come, where we reap the that which we have sown, where we reap the benefits of all the good that we have done. Had do de ksiv achor vakadem sartani, v'im lav, b'li tentin v'chashman. What does the end of that same verse say in Tehillim, in Psalms? It says, shenemar atashis alai kapecha. God placed upon him his palm. So, the word kaf, the word palm, as we see here, it brings k'di ksiv kaf ham'al harchek. Pasuk in Iyov refers to a palm that Hashem the Iyov was asking of Hashem to take away the palm. The palm is that which covers, or we'll see it has to do with the the concept of din, the k'fiya, the word kaf, which is a palm, also is related to the word k'fiya, which means to force. There's a negative connotation to this word. So, we have an opportunity, achor vakadem sartani, either we can associate ourselves with this world and the next world by fulfilling the mitzvos, by by fulfilling Hashem's commandments in this world, or on the other side, vatashis alai kapecha, it could be that if we choose to do what's wrong, so Hashem will have us have to force us, so to speak, to receive the light. We can't receive the light if we haven't chosen godliness. The only way to receive that light is to receive a din, is to receive punishment for the wrong that we've done. Very important idea, summed up in this Midrash. Amar Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman, Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman gives us another explanation of what this achor vakadem, because the word achor can mean later, achor can mean uh the other side, or the back. Achor vakadem, front and back. Says Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman, m'shoshe barah Hakadosh Baruch Hu Adam Harishon and drag nisbrai, when Hashem created the first human being, and therefore this relates to all of us, because the first human being included all of our souls. We were all included in him. He was created as a an individual with two sides, both male, excuse me, and female. Amar Rebbi Shimon bar Lakish, she she never do partzufin v'nivra. Rebbi Shimon bar Lakish says, in explanation of this statement, that he was created with two faces, and the parsha says that they faced in opposite directions. The human being was both male and female, one human being. When Hashem Hashem separated the two sides, v'asa shnayim gabim, and made two new backs for each of them. Okay, so Hashem created the human being, Adam Harishon, was both male and female, was Adam and Chava combined, but facing away from each other, then Hashem split them, and then gave each of them a new back, so they could face each other, gam zachar gam u'nkeiva. He gave a new back for each of the male and the female. Asivu lei, so they asked Rebbi Shimon bar Lakish, when he made this statement, they asked him from the following pasuk, following verse, vayikach achas m'tzal'osav. It says that Hashem took one of his bones. Tzal'osav can mean a bone. And that famous thing, Hashem took one of the bones and built from that bone Adam Harishon, so I'm sorry, built from Adam Harishon's bone, Chava. So, the question is, how could you say that it was two that they were created as one human being? Amar Rebbi Shimon bar Lakish said, Rebbi Shimon bar Lakish, the word tzal'os, which you're translating as a bone, doesn't have to mean that. It can also mean a side, or the back. K'di ksiv v'etzela mishkan, as a verse refers to a tzela, the same word, in in the context of the mishkan, the tabernacle, it refers to the side, or the back of the mishkan, as a tzela. Okay, so this achor vakadem sartani, the human being was created front and back. There was a male aspect, a female aspect. Amar Rebbi Brecha, Amar Rebbi Brecha d'Rebbi Chelbo, from Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman, Rebbi Brecha said to Rebbi Chelbo and Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman, m'shoshe barah Hakadosh Baruch Hu Adam Harishon, he gives another explanation of what achor vakadem means. We have already two, right? The first one has to do with this world and the next world. Second one has to do with male and female, and the third one has to do with the fact that he was created in a way which he filled up from one side of the world to the other side of the world, the entire creation. M'seifa almah v'seifa m'lo kol olam kulah b'riyah. Adam, perhaps we could say, was a spiritual being. You know, you're we're going to see that it's not just talking about from the spiritual aspect, but it's also talking about from a physical aspect. But let's first understand in a spiritual sense, Adam Harishon was a spiritual being on a much higher level. If you would look at Adam Harishon, you would barely be able to notice his physical body. Whereas with us, it's hard to discern the soul. For Adam Harishon, as the Ramchal speaks about, it was hard to discern his physical body. He was such a on a an exalted spiritual level, all you saw was soul. He extended, perhaps spiritually, perhaps physically, from one end of the earth until the other end of the earth, and as the Etz Yosef explains, Gan Eden, which was the location, or or the the gan, which where he was placed, was much larger than the world that we know of, the world that we exist within. So, Adam filled up the entire world from one end to the other. That's what it means, achor vakadem sartani, he was created from from one end to the other end. That's how we're understanding it. Min hamizrach l'ma'arav, minayin? How do we know that he was extended from the east to the west? Shenemar achor vakadem sartani, our verse. U'm'tzofon l'darom, minayin? How do we know that he extended from north to south? Shenemar miketzeh hashamayim v'ad kitzei hashamayim, from one edge of the heavens until the other edge of the heavens. And we find elsewhere, as the Etz Yosef points out, that the word kitzei, which means the edge, it's used to refer to the farthest reaches of the north and the farthest reaches of the south. U'minayin k'chalal olam? So, we see that he extended in all four directions. But how do we know that he also extended up to the highest heights of the heavens? Shenemar vatashis alai kapecha. The pasuk says that you placed upon me your palm. And the explanation that's brought also in the Etz Yosef is that the kipa, the word kapecha, which before we said speaks of the power, speaks of k'fiya, din, of judgment, the word kapecha is also comes from the word kipa, right? A kaf is like a yarmulke, right? A kipa, here you have it, has a certain shape. We speak of the kipas hashamayim, we speak of the the the canopy, perhaps, of the heavens. Canopy of the heavens means that Adam Harishon filled up the entire canopy, so to speak, from here till the sky. Obviously, we need to know what this means. What is the concept of an Adam Harishon, of a human being that is filling up the entire realm? Usually, we think of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, God himself, k'viyachol, as it were, l'havdil, as filling up the entire farthest reaches of all of the earth. Mal'ah ha'aretz k'vodoh, the whole world is filled with His honor. What does it mean that Adam Harishon was created in such a fashion where he filled up the entire world? Amar Rebbi Elazar, so we're going to see another explanation. Perhaps we could just say, in trying to understand that that that's the capacity of the human being. You know, bringing it to us a little bit, cuz we obviously don't fill up the entire world. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a great thing to say about, you know, it wouldn't be such a great praise of Adam Harishon if we did. But the human being's capacity, as we've spoken about in previous weeks, the human being's capacity to bring godliness into the world, to fill up the entire world with godliness, that is the potential of the human being. The human being potentially has the ability to fill up the entire skies, the entire farthest reaches, from east to west, from north to south, with godliness, with spirituality, instead of trying to fill up the world with anger and war, and and gaiva, ego, and all the things that we look around and we hear about in the news right now. But the Jewish people, in essence, will fulfill when Messiah when the Messiah arrives, we will fulfill the purpose of mankind. We will guide all of mankind to be able to fulfill this purpose, which is to fill the entire world, the entire universe. From north to west west, from north to south, east to west, and all of the entire the entire Kipa Shamaim will be filled with God's glory. And that's our potential. So important to know that, and that, of course, relates to the first point, which was that we were created here in this world after the garden for this world and for the next world to be able to fill up our lives with godliness so that we will have eternal reward. We will have eternal reward. For all time. So that indicates the fact that we have all of the three dimensions of the physical world, and we have to fill up the fourth dimension, which is time, as well. I'm a blazer after the young Harrison. Can I get you a coke or a sprite? Bless us says we're speaking about the first and the last day. I'll take that. So what is this referring to? It's referring to the It's referring to the first and last day, I believe, of creation. Let's see what this means. I'll die to the heights of the fish amino. The fish fries and kosher amino. Even before the human being was created. At the same time as the animals were being created, where it refers that to our hearts and the fish amino. The earth was to give forth the souls of the animals, all of the different creatures that will come forth from the ground. So the soul of the human being was created before the physical body of the human being. I'm a shloka sh. Rish Lakish explains after the young Harrison. The kind of young Harrison. I'll die to Rish Lakish to walk in the office up in the mine. Is there a worker in the machine? The young Harrison and the young Harrison, according to Rish Lakish, is not the first and last days of creation. Human being was created earlier and later in creation, according to a blazer. According to Rish Lakish, the human being the the potential of the human being the days of Messiah, the days of the Messiah were created in potential all the way back at the beginning of time. The very first day of creation of the Harrison up in the mine. The spirit of God, as it were, was hovering over the face of the waters. What is that a reference to? This is Rish Lakish. It's a reference to the spirit of Messiah. And again, this comes in line exactly with the concept we said, which is that the concept of the days of Messiah the the spirit of Messiah, what is that? Why is it referred to as the Harrison up in the mine, the spirit of God? Because Messiah is the one who will bring humankind to perfection, where we will be filling up the entire world, just as Adam and Eve were supposed to. We will be filling up the entire world with the honor of God. You will be able to sense everywhere you go, the human being will just be a a pure reflection, a pure window through which godliness will be shining. And that's what we're waiting for. Now, the measure tells us something which I think is part and parcel of how we can get to such a level. What I mean, I'm speaking about Messiah, we're speaking about the Messiah, we're speaking about the above. It's very hard to relate to this. It's It's something which is far in the future. It's past our lives. It's past our experience. We have Have you ever met somebody who came back from above and told you about it? I haven't. So it's hard for us to relate to it. It's hard to understand. Of course, we have a lot who tells us about it. Of course, the Torah gives us a description of what it's what it's about, what it looks like, what the you know, what the what's our purpose here in the world. But it's hard to relate to it. So the measure tells us, "Look, here's a here's a technique to get in to this idea of filling the world with God's honor. How do you get into filling the the world with God's honor?" So depends. If you can do it, great. And if you can't, here's a here's a hint. I'm so glad Adam I'm in my attic and I'm going to celebrate this. This verse speaks about how I shall fashion us before and after. So there's two aspects of the before and after, right? There's the soul of the human being, which was created earlier, perhaps before any of the other any of the other animals. But there was also the the physical aspect of the human being, which was created later. Says the measure as follows. If a person is a If a person uses his his free choice properly in order to bring godliness into the world, in order to shine God's light, to allow God's light to to shine through him, he's just a window, then then they say about such a person, "You're before all of creation." Right? Cuz the soul, the spirit of Messiah is shining through the human being. I'm a lover, but if a person makes his window closed, I'm thinking about the windows in the Dreamliners in the 787 airplanes, that it could be light outside, but some there's something in the window that darkens, so it looks like it's dark outside. Right? We have a choice. Do we make ourselves like a window that lets the light through, or do we make ourselves like a window that blocks the light? I'm a lover, I'm in my attic, I don't have children, so I don't have a car. If a person does not allow the light through, if a person makes his physical aspect stronger, makes himself opaque to the light of God in this world, so then we look at the physical aspect of the human being, and that was created last in the order of creation. The spiritual aspect of the person was created first. Physical aspect was created last. So we say to the human being, "A mosquito was created before you. A worm was created before you. You are a nothing." If that's all you become is your physical aspect, if that's all we become, so then we are nothing. A bug comes before us. A mosquito, a worm. I'm a visual brother tongue twister. I'm a lover, I'm in my mansion. I can follow a mansion. Rish Lakish gives us another way to think about to to humble ourselves, to remember. First of all, as we said, a bug was created before us. Second of all, says Rish Lakish brother tongue twister, another important aspect, he says, the human being was the last of the creations, but the human being is the first one who receives punishments, cuz we are the most responsible. Right? What where do we find this? We find this in the I believe it's the eyes of who says that when the marble came, it says it destroyed all of the human beings and the animals. You see that the human being is responsible for the destruction of himself and the world around him. I'm in an armor of kilos of a banana. When we speak about the praise of the human being, so his praise comes at the end. Shall I marry a guy with a home in America? Remus with silver kind of It's speaking about the songs that are sung for God. I have a home in America. All of the animals, they naturally their existence bespeaks godliness. But the human being I can walk here with him. Afterwards, it speaks of the kings of the land and all of the nations that praise God. Why? Why are the human beings last to praise God? Because we have an ego. Cuz we have a sense of self. We have a sense that we've done things, that it's us. The animals don't have any sense of self. They just We have a whole pair of shears speaking about the songs that the animals sing for God. The human being is the last to sing because we, in order to sing, have to break our own egos. We have to break our own belief that it's us. It is we who are accomplishing. I'm a similar guy. I'll be similar finish us off cuz she dresses all of them after the human life. I can take her out to have a human life. Rish Lakish wraps up this entire concept by telling us that when the Torah speaks about the concept of the animals, right? In last week's parsha, we spoke about the kosher animals and non-kosher animals. And then in this week's parsha, immediately following that discussion, we speak about I don't think she was raised to be a human after she kisses Ria. We speak about the animals, and then we speak about the human being. When a woman shall shall uh have a child growing inside of her, gives us what happens when the child is born, etc. If they there's an obligation to give a meal, etc. But what we see is a humbling. The measure is asking us to humble ourselves. You want to let God into the world. You want to be a channel for the light of God to shine from the north to the south, from the east to the west. Do you want to be somebody who fill who fills up? Why? Not because of yourself. Who fills up the world who fills up the world with godliness? This is how you do it. Think about the fact that animals were born before you. Think about the fact that when it comes to punishments, the human being is the first one to be punished. Think about the fact that even when we speak about the Torah, the laws that pertain to animals versus the laws that pertain to human beings, human beings come last. Why? It's because the human being naturally has this ego that needs to be subdued. That is the concept here. What are we after? What is the focus? What is the thought? Parshas Tazria and Metzora going to speak about the the the leprosy, the tzaraas, that comes upon a person because he's haughty, because he's full filled with ego. And this is the introduction to this parsha. The introduction is recognize your place. Don't get caught up. Don't become the tum the one who calls out tumme tumme, impure impure. Be a part of the tahara. Be a part of the purity of God. Be a part of bringing godliness into the world, which is what happens when we fulfill the Torah, when we subdue our egos, when we become great. So then instead of being like the animals or being lower than the animals, we become much higher because we are just reflecting God's light in the world or allowing God's light into the world through the window, which is our souls. I want to bless you and ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us. That we should be able to recognize the opportunity afforded to us every single day by our yetzer hara, by our evil inclination, and that is to to subdue to subdue the evil inclination. To remind ourselves that we were last in creation. The part of us that was first in creation, the part of us that we can lay claim to greatness is the spiritual aspect of ourselves, which is manifest the ruach Elokim merahefet. We can be one upon whom the spirit of God is hovering and being allowed into this world. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Shabbos. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.arigoldweg.com or search on iTunes, Ari Goldweg.