Some years ago, there was a telephone experiment in Britain. They randomly called a hundred people and asked them to give a donation to a poor dog that needed surgery. Many of them gave generous donations. A few days later, they called again, but this time they asked for donations for an old man that needed a transplant. This time, not many people were willing to donate. There was a 50% decrease in contributors between the first calls and the second. What does this experiment mean? Does this really mean that people care about animals more than people, as it seems to have turned out?
There are many people who don’t eat animal products because the animals suffer from the process. But if we are so sensitive to cruelty, why do we still wear sports shoes? There are many factories in third world countries that have children work long hours under terrible conditions to make these shoes. Is this not considered cruelty? When do we say cruelty is not okay?
In our Parasha, we discuss the laws of the impurity that a woman receives when she gives birth. There is a difference in the laws between a woman who gives birth to a baby boy and to a woman that gives birth to a baby girl.
There is an interesting thing in this opening to the Parasha. Rashi quotes the question of the Gemara why we first discuss the laws of impurity regarding animals and only afterwards do we discuss the laws regarding human beings. Why don’t we start with human beings? Rabbi Salmai answers that just as in the creation of the world, animals were created first, and human beings were created afterwards, here too we discuss the laws of animals before humans. Adam HaRishon was created on Friday, and the animals were created on Thursday.
David HaMelech says in Tehillim “Achor VeKedem Tzartani.” What does this verse mean? The Midrash says that if someone has sufficient merit, HaShem tells him that he was created before everything. If he doesn't, however, HaShem tells him that even a mosquito, one of the lowest of creatures, was created before him. The meaning here is that if you focus on your soul and the spiritual aspects of life, you were created before everything, as the soul has a fragment of HaShem in it. However, if a person focuses more on his body and his physical desires, then he was created after all the lowest of animals. There is not much difference between him and an animal, and is even theoretically lower. Animals also follow their physical desires, but at the very least they were created for such, and have no other option.
There were people during the times of the second World War that were extremely careful not to walk on ants, but only a few years later they killed hundreds of people. People can care for animals, but they themselves can be even lower than them.
This is why we were created after the animals, and the laws of the animals come before the laws of humans. It comes to teach us that if we don’t connect ourselves to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, we could be on an even lower level than animals. However, if we connect ourselves to the Mitzvot and the Torah, we can be at a level even higher than angels.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Eliyahu Tal