Rabbi Roodyn

Returning to our pasuk

מִפִּי עוֹלְלִים וְיֹנְקִים יִסַּדְתָּ עֹז לְמַעַן צוֹרְרֶיךָ לְהַשְׁבִּית אוֹיֵב וּמִתְנַקֵּם

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have established strength because of Your adversaries, in order to put an end to enemy and avenger.

The Malbim interprets the ‘babes and sucklings’ as being a reference to humanity in general. Despite the illusion of our power and superiority, a human infant is far less capable, far more vulnerable and takes much longer to reach adolescence than most animals.

However it is davka from the mouths of these sucklings i.e. humans, that Hashem can, as it were, establish His strength. The mouth gives us the ultimate advantage over any other species, the power of intelligent speech.  In this week’s sedra Adam is created with a נפש חיה, a living being which the Targum translates as a רוח ממללא, speaking spirit. This gift of speech is a physical manifestation of man’s lofty spiritual potential and his ability to turn this world into a dwelling place for Hashem.

Our ability to convey subtleties and nuances is not what makes us different to animals, rather it shows that we are different both physically with superior intellect and spiritually with an elevated Divine spark called a soul. Rather than acting on the basis of instinct alone, we are capable of delaying gratification and making moral decisions having weighed up the effects of our choices.

It is this thinking, speaking being called man that is the foundation of Hashem’s strength. With the creation of man, the process of maaseh bereshis comes to a close. All of the elements of creation find expression through him as if he is the foundation of the building, its main part and its root. Everything other than man, whether in his own immediate environment or in outer space are merely ancillary to the being that was created in the image of G-d.

This chapter of Tehillim augments this week’s Parsha, Bereishis by offering us an opportunity to appreciate our own place within creation, and a way of appreciation our own potential and value