Why Were Humans Created Last? Creation’s Ancient Secret Reveals Why You’re Here

Why was Adam representing all of mankind created last in the process of creation? There are two teachings, two answers that contradict each other. So the first answer is really a message of humility. We should really understand that we are created last and we shouldn't be hy. What's the message? The message is this that God created the yatush. The yatush is the gnat. The knat before you. So don't think you're so special and so important because even this little tiniest very insignificant creature called the gnat thatnat comes before you in in cre in creation. And so the fact that the gnat is before us. Wow. Where we have to realize he came before me. This gnat nothing of a thing comes before me. And it should humble me and really put me in a proper perspective of of of of where I am in the in this picture of God's world. That is the one of the teachings. Okay. The other teaching is saying the exact opposite. It's saying this that because mankind is the purpose, the true purpose and the pinnacle of God's creations, therefore he was created last in order that everything should be prepared and ready for Adam and Eve when they were created. So like if you're having a party, so first you prepare the party. For example, let's a beautiful wedding. I just a wedding last night, a very very nice wedding. So you have a lot of planning, a lot of preparation, a lot of discussion and then you have to execute by this setting everything up and you're going to get flowers and you guys why do I need flowers? You need flowers, why do I need the musician, three musicians, five photographers, three videographers these days, you're going to put a lot of work and effort into preparing this wonderful wedding. When does all this become a wedding? It's the moment the bride and groom walk onto the scene is now we have a wedding. Till then we don't have a wedding and the purpose of creation was for mankind to come onto the scene and do his thing so to speak. And it's and this is not creation until we arrive. And so God prepared everything in advance to be ready for us to take his creation and do what we're supposed to with it. And therefore we were created last because we're the most important essential element of creation. The reason why the nat is called an ins insignificant tiny creature is because uh it it's misi. It it takes in and doesn't give out. And what that essentially means in its most basic level is it it takes in and it doesn't go it doesn't excrete. Now that's what the gamarra says. A creation by God that only takes and doesn't give back is the most insignificant creature that that can exist in this world. Specifically when we're speaking about Adam, mankind. So we that have discernment and have intellect and were essentially created to emulate our creator, right? We were created in the divine image and our job in life is to be as godlike as we can. And so a person that comes into this world and takes and never gives back is the most insignificant creature that exists in the world. And that's what the sages are telling us right now that this gnat that God created he created in a way that when we look at it again when we look at it we see it it it has to take because you and nothing can live without taking and we don't see it ex giving back anything back to the the world so to speak and again it doesn't mean charity because it's a but the message is this everything in this world was created for us to look at and learn from that knat is supposed to teach me if I emulate that knat I'm worse than it. I'm even lower than it. And I become the most insignificant creature in the world because even it has an advantage over me because it in taking and not giving back ultimately is fulfilling the will of its creator. When the gnat doesn't give anything back, it's because God created it that way to be that creature that takes and doesn't give back. But I I was created to be like God. What is God? God is a giver. God created all of this and all of us in order to give of his goodness to love and to give. That's what everything boils down to when it's all said and done is love and giving. And that's what God is in essence. And that's what we're meant to be in emulating him. And so when I come into this world and I take and not give back, I'm the worst thing that exists because I'm perverting my purpose. I'm going against what I was created to be. And therefore, I'm I'm one I'm even lower than that. That's the message. How do we fulfill our true purpose in creation? What did God create us to be like? Right? You know, there was a campaign, I don't know, 20, 25 years ago. I want to be like Mike. Who do you think they were talking about? >> Michael Jordan. >> Yes. Yes. I want to be like Michael Jordan. That was the campaign that they made to sell whatever they were selling in his name. Okay. So, that was the campaign. I want to be like Mike. So the question is this and it's a very important question we're going to ask right now. What are you living for? What are you living for? In other words, what do you admire? Who who are your role models in life? Who do you want to be like? Really, who do you really want to be like? Um why do I say that? Because in the end of the day, we are we are looking for something. We are looking for something in in in our lives. And the rabbis tell us that what you praise tells a lot about who you really are. Meaning look at what a person is excited about. Look at a person what a person chooses to talk about. What gets him gets him happy and excited and what he's into. What you admire, what you praise in in in in your mindset is ultimately what you give your life to on some level. Uh, I want to a reality break. We are all part of some kind of cult because whatever you live for in this little bit of a stretched interpretation of cult is your cult. Whatever you choose to give your sweat and blood and life and energy and time and your and your soul to, that is what you're that is your cult. Now, according to that definition, I'm I'm I've joined the cult of Judaism. Right? So, is there a problem with that? You know, people want to try to label Orthodox Jew as a cult. I'll say I'm not. Okay, it is a cult. But you know what? We're all have we all have to choose a cult to live with and to live by. At least my cult is a cult of truth. At least my life is based on reality and truth. And that is my cult. Your cult is based on the whims of your heart. It's based on what suits me today and then what suits you tomorrow, you'll join a new cult. So, we all have to choose what to give our life to. And the question is, what are we giving it to? What what are we meant to give it to? Even better way to put it, God created us for a purpose. What is our true purpose, which is in more personal terms, who am I really? Who am I in the end of it all? Am I a pinball that's been dropped in a machine being bounced around, pushed around by all of the elements in that pinball game, which is a lot of motion, a lot of commotion, but but but no actual choice of my own to be going anywhere. So, it's a lot of movement getting nowhere because it's not you moving, it's you being moved. So when am I living on a level where I'm just being moved instead of being taking control of myself and moving somewhere that I choose to go to? That's a big question we all have to ask ourselves. Okay, but let's getting getting back to the point of who is my role model and what who am I trying to be like and what was I meant to be like. So in the end of the day, God created human beings in this world that they can aspire ascend to become godlike to be like Hashem. So we our all the motto of every single person in this room and every single person out there should be I want to be me. I don't want to be someone else. I want to be me. But what does it mean to be me? It means to be the mei that you were created to be. Not the perverted, distorted version that you want to create yourself, but to be the person Hashem had in mind when he made you because he's the one that made you. And how do we do that? So, Hashem shows us in the Torah how to do that. It is by emulating emulating our maker. The the sages say God is compassionate and merciful and giving and loving. We must be like that as well. God is also disciplined. God is also powerful. God fights wars when it's necessary. Abraham, the kindest person that ever lived. Don't let anyone fool you. There's no there doesn't exist in reality someone that was more kind than Abraham. You know how I know? Because Abraham represented the divine attribute of kindness as it is revealed in this world through his life mission of just doing the will of God. So Abraham is a kindness that transcends what we can understand of kindness because he wasn't just a nice guy. He wasn't just a kind guy. He was kindness. And you can't be more kind than Abraham was. Abraham. Yet when it was necessary, he went and fought a war vigorously, powerfully, and killed his enemies. Killed enemies. But why were he why were they his enemies? God forbid they weren't his enemies because he hated them. They were his enemies because they were fighting against God and they were destroying God's world. And therefore, he did what was necessary. And that's called tough love. He didn't stop loving the world when he fought that war. He did it because he loved the world. We see the same thing with Pinas. Pinas did not kill Zimry in the story in the Bible where where a Jewish leader was killed together with some woman. He didn't kill them because he hated them. He killed them because he loved the Jewish people and he loved Hashem and they were destroying us and that had to stop and that's called tough love. So when I say that God is love and kindness and mercy, it is he is that's all he really is. But it doesn't mean we have to be blind and foolish and let people step all over us. We have to also understand how to balance that. And that's why there's a lot of things we have to learn in how to properly represent and be what Hashem wants us to be. But the core of it all is is kindness. And we're going to focus on that that attribute for a moment because we spoke about the gnat last week that is a taker. The gnat doesn't it it eats but it doesn't excrete. And that represents the idea of being an ultimate taker. We on the other hand human beings were created to be the ultimate givers. And since our purpose in this world is to be a giver. So that is the encompassing energy that we must attach to. And within that idea that we are givers, we emulate God. He's a giver. He's a lover. He's a helper. So we have to be givers, helpers, and lovers. But within that bubble, we also have to understand when we have to put a boundary, protect ourselves, defend, push things away. We have to be smart about that. But that is ultimately what we're here in this world to do. So how do we be the me that we're supposed to be? How do we become the people that we're supposed to become? It's through realizing that we're here to add goodness to this world, to add light to this world. And that includes sometimes pushing things away, sometimes not. Okay? But that so that's step one. That's step one of this idea. We have to understand who we are, what we are, and where we're going. And we talked about who our role models are. And so getting back to that point before we conclude this part, who we idolize and emulate is ultimately who and what we live for. And so we have to understand are we going for the external, you know, like imagine you get a present. The box is and you're going to choose your present based on the box that the present is in. So there's an empty box, but it's the most beautiful box. Then there are less beautiful boxes with something inside of it. Choosing the empty box because it's the nicest box is a choice for nothing. Absolutely. You get nothing out of that. Serving the external, serving the box is is would be tantamount so to speak to idol worship because you serve nothing. Certainly not God and certainly not yourself. So what does it mean to to to choose the box of life, the external? It means to choose your body on its own. When you choose to worship and serve and feed and live as only a body, you've cut the real half of you off and all you are is a box with nothing inside of it. Now, that box is nice. And if all you're going to do is look at that box, you can have a you can live a life on an external level thinking that I am living the good life. money, power, delicacies, the delicious foods, hotels, resorts, mansions, CARS, BOATS, PLANES, and all all, as I say in Hebrew, and in another few moments, rocket ships. I can escape to a different planet. I don't have to escape to an island. I can escape to a different galaxy one day. [laughter] What did you accomplish with that? All you do is get lost. That's choice number one. That's the wrong choice. >> The box. >> The choice is what's in the box. And that is the soul. Who am I really? What am I really? Really? I'm a soul in a body. You can compare the body to a nice suit. A suit that you wear for 70, 80 years. How many of those years really count? How many of those years can you really do something with? You know, from from birth till about 10, I don't even know who you are. You're just a you're just a box cuz you're not developed yet. Your mind's not developed. Your heart, your soul is still working. It's finding out how to get involved. From 10 on, let's say in a modern world, like people are very, very quick to getting things. From 10 on, maybe there's a person there to really teach and connect with and and be but but then at about 50, the body starts breaking down. You get old, you get tired. Certainly 60, 70. So there's only a small amount of time that we have to actually do what we're here to do. And so what we're here to do is is be a body and soul living through life, not just a body. And when you choose the soul, so that's that's a deep idea. We have to appreciate what that means to be a soul. It doesn't mean to fly away from your body. Doesn't mean to to to leave your body because that's not being alive. Being in this world, you have to be a body and a soul. There's an option to be only a body, but there is no option to be only a soul because being only a soul is what you were in heaven before you came down into this world. But but but being only a body you can be. That's called being a gnat. How is that called being a gnat? Because let's look at the story now. A body on its own is an inanimate object. We see when a person dies the body lies flat and does not move. There is no movement from just the body. What gives that body life? What makes that body able to get up and move? It's the soul. So talk about being a taker and not a giver. We said the nat takes and doesn't give back. When the body takes the life it gets from its soul and and doesn't give anything back to that soul, that's being the lowest, most worthless, selfish creature in in existence. It means you've taken only only you've only taken life. The every breath, every moment you that's the life you got from your soul. You've taken it from the soul and then you said the heck with you. I don't I don't want to know you. Why? I'm too busy knowing myself. I'm too busy feeding my animal. That's the most selfish, worthless life a person can live is a life that's purely serving, worshiping the animal in him. He's an addict to himself. And you look around, addicts have no time for anyone else. Nothing else and anyone else but their addictions. And that's what we become. And that becomes the most ruthless, sorry, worthless. Ruthless is the next topic, worthless creature in existence. In Hashem's world, you become the worst, the lowest. Give something back. Appreciate. You got your life from the soul. Make it be give something back to it. Get live a life together with your soul. So the the kindness that the body and our personality that we we're really all just bodies here with our personalities and our mindset. The the greatest kindness we can do in this world for ourselves is to realize and give back to that entity which gave me my life is my soul. Give back to my soul by living a life that's both body and soul. Live for the soul and you don't lose out because when you live for and with your soul you get real life. You get you get the box, but now you get the wonderful package in that box. The real priceless diamond that has been sent to you is not the box. IT'S IN IT'S THE DIAMOND IN THE BOX. And that's life. That's reality. That's emulating Hashem because the soul is the divine element in this partnership. It's a part of light and and and goodness and truth. And so when you connect with your soul, you're connecting with reality and truth. That's that's how we can be kind and emulate Hashem is by by giving back to this very soul that he gave me. How does the soul emulate Hashem? So there's a verse beautiful verse in the Torah. It says ala right do not stand on the blood of your brother which idally on the blood of your brother which really means if you see your fellow person you know within the Jewish nation your fellow Jew dying don't stand back and watch him die you have to get help him help keep him alive save his life that's the literal translation of don't stand on the blood of your brother but in a deeper sense. In a deeper sense, we're taught that the s the nephesh, the the the vitality, the the really the soul dimension of the body, not the soul soul, but the but the the the the more spiritual level of my body lies within my blood. In the blood, the soul is in the blood. The nephesh really, which is the life force of the body is in the blood. Now, there's this divine soul that's there. So the puzz on this level is saying to the soul, don't just watch the body struggle and suffer in its addictions, in its prisons. Help it because that's what you were created for. You you have to be a giver as well. The soul gives to the body by helping it. So when body and soul help each other, they lift each other up, unite, and rise to an unbelievable godly level. That's what it means to be like Hashem. And that's the kindness that the soul can do for the body. So we that and that's lose the unity. And when they're each selfish, then you have separation and you have they don't have real life. You have a an addict and this imprisoned soul. And that's why the continuation of this idea that do not idle stand idly by watching your body, your your so your nephesh struggle dying a slow death 70 80 years. instead live a long life together, body and soul. And then you have something when when you're when it's all said and done. And that's when the body loves the soul and the soul loves the body back, then you've created a oneness, a harmony, and a unity between the two. And that's godlike and that's really living. With this introduction, we're going to appreciate a beautiful story. I love stories. a beautiful story in the gamarra that's going to talk about a negative side of the relationship between body and soul. We'll talk about that the odd couple of body and soul. There was a cute TV series odd couple. They both got on each other's nerves. There's a negative relationship and result from body and soul and there's a positive one. The garra this teaching from the sages only really speaks about the negative one. But you know we're going to create the positive one as well and let me share this with you. very powerful idea and what this will conclude. The the the story goes like this. There's a blind man and a lame person. Basically, there's a person that can't walk and a person that can't see. Two separate people. And they're sitting on the side of the road and the person that can't see smells this beautiful fragrance and smells from this wonderful orchard full of the the best fruits, a variety of fruits, delicacies, beautiful tasty fruits, okay? I mean, in the modern world, let's just call it a a an all you can eat buffet at the Waldorf Atoria, right? You're you're sitting outside at the bus stop and you can just smell the wonderful outdoor buffet that this the Waldolf has made and you're like, I wish I could just have some of that roast beef steak or whatever. Whatever you want, it's all there because again, I admit that the orchard bushel doesn't really get my appetite going. But but the Waldorf's all you can eat buffet, which is 500 bucks a plate. That gets my attention. So again, for the modern person, it's the Waldorf buffet and and you're sitting outside watching that buffet, just wishing you can join. And uh for the rabbitic old version, it's the it's this beautiful orchard with wonderful fruits. And there's this uh lame person, a person that really can't walk. His legs don't work. And he's sitting there and he can see and he's watching this unbelievable buffet. And he wishes he can join it, but he can't move. So what do these two partners Well, they they partner up, which is really what body and soul partner up. So these two people partner up. They have a great idea. I'll be your eyes. I'll be your eyes and you be my legs. Or who's the initiator? Maybe the body. I'll be your legs. You be my eyes. And they partner up. And that's how they can go into the buffet. That's how they can go into the orchard and take whatever they want now because they have the ability to take whatever they want. not paying for the buffet and certainly not getting permission from the owner of this orchard who is the king. So they come into the orchard or buffet. I'm going to keep coming back to that steak, medium rare. I learned the the the appreciation to appreciate a medium rare steak. My brother took me to a real steakhouse because in Israel I just eat frozen I just re defrost frozen steak and have it. I went to a real steakhouse in America when I was visiting and I got a real medium rare steak and I was sold. So, I'm in on I'm in. I'm in for the steak. Anyway, so after they're done eating to their full. So, they're back in the orchard store. They're back on the side of the road and in the other store they're back at the bus stop. The full satisfied comes the police. You can't you can't you got to pay in life. You got to pay for everything. There's no free ride in life. you don't pay this then you you you have nothing you can't then you've stolen it. So the police come and arrest those two the two guys, the blind guy and the and the guy and they take him to jail to to to court in the other story also the the the the guards of the king come and because it was the king's orchard and they grab them they bring them to be on trial and who were they on trial before? None of them the king himself. In in the modern story, some clown in a in a in a black suit, some monkey in a black suit. Okay, they'll tell him, "Oh, you didn't eat $1,000 worth of food. enjoy, go home, just don't eat more than a thousand dollars of their food, then you're good. That's that's what will happen today in California at least. But uh but basically in the real story, so you go before the king. You're you're it's not your country. You you're you're you happen to exist in the country that belongs to a a king. Somebody made this country, this world. So the king now is going to listen to your case. So the lame guy says, "King, [laughter] what can I do? I don't have legs. like please what can I do? I'm I'm helpless. The other guy says, "King, look at me. I have no eyes. What can I do? I'm helpless." So the king says, "You guys are pretty slick. You know, you were slick enough and and and and smart enough to partner up in crime and figure out how to steal all that stuff. So I'm going to put you back together and punish you because you did the crime together. So therefore, you'll be punished together." And that is the end of that wonderful story. Which means that ultimately we're coming to judgment day. And when at the end of our lives, we all come to that ultimate judgment day. If you were partners in crime, if you used your life and the power and energy that was given to you through the soul ultimately by God to to be criminals to to to destroy Hashem's world, then then then what you've done is you've you've you've become the worst thing that exists because you've been a taker and a destroyer on top of that. And then you will have to make amends for that before Hashem himself in the end of the days. Okay. So that's the story in the Gumra the I leave for us to figure out the flip side of that coin. Flip side of that story. And it goes like this. And I'll start with a teaching from Aman of Brelv says like this. He says if you think you have the power to destroy, you have the power to rule over things to take, then be a little smarter and realize then you have the power to build. If you have any real power of your own, then why use it selfishly and destroy when you could use it to build? It's a much smarter decision and choice to take what you've been given and use it in the right way. And that's the flip side of this story. When those two partners came together, partners in crime, it was a selfserving partnership. They just wanted what they wanted for themselves. They didn't want anything for each other. And that's the idea of just two people that are by each other. But then there's people that are with each other unite. Real marriage for example is is a is is a is a union of two separate entities that become one through real love which equals unity. The word love is in gamatri in Hebrew aava is 13 because 13 equals the same gamatri as the word ehad because a real love selfless love a love that's based on giving and putting the other person first equals oneness because that makes the two of you like one. And so the relationship between the body and soul when it's for crime and for destruction, it's not love. It's not aava that makes one. It's self love. It's I care only about myself which keeps you as two separate entities. And that's selfish. And so it's the power of two selfish entities instead of instead of two giving entities. And so the solution to this is to to unite body and soul not in crime, not in destruction, but in construction, in building this world, in building themselves. And that means to become givers and doers of good. And so that's the flip side of the story. We have two options in front of us. When we take the life we have and use it, use it in this world, we can accomplish tremendous, tremendous things. we can really transform this world into the most beautiful world. And that is exactly what Hashem is is waiting on us to do. Hashem could have made Jewish philosophy 101. Hashem could have made a perfect world. Saved us the entire headache. Why did he not create a perfect God's perfect? Why did he not create a perfect world? Why didn't he create us perfect? You know why? Because he wanted us to do it. So he made a world imperfect so that we can make it perfect. That's an amazing thing. Then we can become partners with God also in love. and goodness and giving and become one with God because again love is one. God loves us in the way that he wants us to be with him, one with him. So he made a world imperfect. He made us imperfect with tendencies to kind of get lost and destroy. But when we overcome all of that and we build instead, then we become partners with Hashem and we create the perfect beautiful world that becomes our world to share forever with Hashem. And that's what this is all about. And so that's the choices before us right now. We'll conclude with basically these final words of hopefully encouragement is this. You only have a short moment in time. You're here today and gone tomorrow. If we don't use this time for what it was truly created for. So then at the end, we said ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is bliss until you reach the end and you realize you were ignorant all your life. Then that's not bliss. That's that's that's pain. So if you want to avoid the real pain that comes later, face reality now. That's the that's the real message we're giving out here. And we should all take this information and energy and and ideas to to face our cycle is going to renew. We're going to face a new year, a new rash, another judgment. We should be where we need to be together with ourselves, with each other, with Hashem, and and and face that judgment and merit a good judgment, a merciful judgment, and use the coming year. We learn from the past year to use the coming year in a much better way. Uh the secular world wants to forget last year. Every New Year's Eve is a time to get drunk and forget the year before because something that miserable, who wants to remember? The real job in life is to remember the previous year. That way you make more of the next year to come.