“BACK TO THE FUTURE”

There is a fascinating Medrash in which Reish Lakish says, “Adam was the last work created on the last day of Creation, and he was the earliest work created on the first day of Creation. For Reish Lakish said, that when the Torah tells us that the Divine Presence “merachefes – hovered” on the first day of Creation, that this actually refers to the neshamah of Moshiach. As it says, “The spirit of Hashem will rest on him” (Yeshiyahu 11:2). If a person has the merits, they say to him: You preceded the malachim. If he does not have the merits, they tell him: Before you came the fly, the gnat and the worm.

This Midrash is baffling. If Moshiach was created at the same time that the world was created, why has there been such a long period of time between the creation of Moshiach and the revelation of Moshiach? Secondly, what purpose is there in creating Moshiach if the world is really not ready for him? The Maharal of Prague suggests that Moshiach and Acharis Haymim are the purpose of creation. Moshiach Tzikeinu was created at the very time of Creation to show a definitive purpose and goal to the world. As we say, shehakol bora l’chvodo, everything was created for the honor of Hashem. Moshiach, as well, was created for the honor of Hashem. In fact, every creation in the world was made for the purpose of being marbeh k’vod shomayim, to increase the honor of Heaven. Maran HaRav Shach, zt”l, says that this is relevant to every creation, regardless of our ability to attribute a positive quality to that creation’s existence.

The gemara in Sanhedrin 98b, says that the world was made for Moshiach. As we say every day in Aleinu, “Hashem will be King over the entire world – on that day Hashem will be One and His Name will be One.” We can understand that Hashem has already made the existence of Moshiach in the world from the beginning, before the mabul, before the dor haflaga, before all of the darker tekufos of Klal Yisroel, to give us hope and courage, to look towards the future, when B’nai Yisroel will be completely redeemed. Perhaps it is the yedia, or the knowledge alone that Moshiach is somewhere in the universe, that gives us the chizuk to persevere during this bitter galus.

Man, as we have said, is both earlier and later, first and last. In this world, there are many creations. Some may appear elementary, while others are far more complex. However, before any of these things are created, the atoms, elements and compounds must be present. The same is with man. Man may be created but lacking seichel, intelligence. Whereas Chazal tells us that a person can say “bishvilli nivra haolam, the world was created for me” – that man stands at the base of creation. However, he is also the most intricate and complex of all beings. The component of man which sets him apart from all of the other species on their various levels of existence, is man’s intellect and power of speech. If we take away the element of seichel from man, then there is not much of a difference between it and the fly or the gnat or the worm. So we see that man can be both first and last.

As to the question why Moshiach was created even before the malachim, the angels, we can understand that the reason that the malachim were not created on the first day was so that people would never question the unity of Hashem. Had the malachim been created from the beginning, people might be confused and think that there was a combination of efforts in creating the world. As we know, the malachim had various jobs to perform within the spheres of the universe. Some may have mistakenly come to the conclusion that there was some sort of joint effort involved in the Creation. It is for this reason that the only exception to a being coming into creation was the neshama of Moshiach. Moshiach would not only give the idea of any “dual effort”, but would rather bolster the concept of Hashem’s Oneness, that the whole world is conducted and led by Hashem, who from the very first moment of time, Hashem determined our purpose and gave us our direction in life. Moshiach was here first and on the Great Day, Moshiach will be here last.

The Medrash elaborates on this expression “the last of the creation and before the creation” as follows: If the person is worthy they say to him, “You preceded creation”. If he is not, they say to him, “Even a gnat preceded you”.

Moran HaGaon Horav Shach, zt”l, explained that when a king is to arrive in town, servants and ministers are sent in advance to ensure that the town is properly prepared, and that all is ready and in perfect order for the king. Following the servants and ministers, knights appear in order to prepare the way for the king. The king himself arrives last. Yet, no one would ever imagine that the servants, the ministers and the knights who preceded the king are more important than he is. It is exactly the opposite. Everyone recognizes the supremacy of the king, and that everyone else is there merely to serve him.

By the same token, man was created on the sixth day of Creation. He arrived in a world where all was prepared for him, as it says, “For my sake the world was created.” Despite his late appearance he is called “the first of creation” because Hashem created the world especially for him, and if he merits it, he understands the true reason for the creation of the world.

However, if he doesn’t understand this essential foundation and instead lives in an untamed fashion like the animals that preceded him, then we apply the words, “achor tzarsani – he was created last”, and he is reminded that even a gnat was created before him.