Last in Deed, First in Thought
By Rabbi David Polsky

The Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 14:1) notices that Tazria’s discussion of human childbirth comes only after the section on forbidden and prohibited animals found at the end of last week’s parashah. The creation narrative also puts the creation of humankind after that of all other living creatures. According to the Midrash these placements teach us an important lesson. If humankind is worthy, we can tell ourselves that we are the pinnacle of creation. Everything else was created first in order to properly prepare for our existence. As the Lekhah Dodi prayer describes the Sabbath, we are last in deed but first in thought. Should we fail to live up to God’s expectations for us, the order of creation will have a different meaning. Even the fly will have come before us. Our challenge is to act in a way tilt the meanings of the creation narrative and parashat Tazria in our favor.