Tazria

I received a lot of positive feedback from my 9T Chumash class today when I shared this Dvar Torah with them. Part of it was that they liked the ideas.  I think what they liked best was that they were addressed and mentioned in it.  In fact it is about them and you and me and all of us.

As the high school year runs its final laps the seniors relish being the most experienced students in school. These young men and women have grown profoundly through four intense years and represent the end product of a high school career. Still, it seems like seconds ago they were ninth graders - and that position was not without it’s charm. Back then they were more innocent. In September, as freshmen, they’ll again have the chance to see things from an original perspective, one that will grow and then be gone in another four years. These students and their transition are the inspiration behind this piece concerning the dynamic relationship between being first and last in the cycle of life. I dedicate these thoughts to my students, both the seniors and the other grades moving upwards.

According to Rashi the juxtaposition of the end of Shmini and the start of Tazria conveys the idea that just like in creation animals preceded people, so too in regard to laws of purity and impurity animals come first, then people. There is a similar Rashi regarding Yaakov meeting Eisav and organizing his family (Vayishlach 33:2). This is the concept of “Acharon, Acharon Chaviv. Antechambers precede grand ballrooms and similarly this world precedes the next (Avot 4:21). Shabbos follows the week. (it’s not just a day of rest, but the best day was created following all the other days). The best comes last.

On the other hand, first is best. First born gets honor and privilege. The first of the month and the first of the year are days of prestige. The first Aliyah of Torah reading is the one a Kohein is honored with.

Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin addresses the issue of first versus last as a position of honor. He asserts that when one thing precedes another and the first is a means and the second the end, then the last is clearly more important. Shabbat is more important than the days that precede it because the rest of the week is preparation for Shabbat. And this serves as a metaphor. In the words of Chazal: “He who works diligently before Shabbat will eat on Shabbat.”

Rav Zevin cites the medrash on Breishit that tells us that when we live up to our potential mankind is told by G-d that everything was created for us and that's why we were created last. But G-d reminds us when we stray, "even the gnat was created before you". While it is true that last is best, as Rashi alludes to at the start of Shmini, this is only the case if what comes last elevates and transcends what came before it. But when last misses it's spiritual calling, then it's first come first served, and whoever was physically created first is more esteemed, and last is last on the totem pole.

What really matters is how you use your position. Being first gives you a chance to thrive in a new place and in a fresh way. Being last allows you to build on what has come before. In our life we all are neither exclusively first nor last. In our lives we all have a first grade and a last, a first job and a last, a first love and a last. Each comes with its own advantage. On the one hand Chazal say that the education of a young person is comparable to writing on clean paper, which is better than writing on erased paper (Avot 4:25). Conversely, we are told that there is no one who is wiser than an experienced person is (Mili De’Avot 10b).

May high school students, in Frisch and everywhere, and all of us be blessed with the best of both being first and last.

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This post is in honor of my nephew Kovi and his kallah Nechama.  May this beginning be blessed, always.