Parshat Tazria- The Mindset of an Atheist
by Rabbi Lobel

(Leviticus; Chapter 12, Verse 2 - 3) “When a women conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be impure for a seven day period... On the eight day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

On this verse, Rashi quotes the Medrash Rabba - “Rebbe Simlai says, “Just as Mankind was created after all cattle, beasts, and fowl, so is this law explained after the law of cattle, beast and animal.” The Torah, in the book of Leviticus first explained the laws regarding creatures (e.g. Kosher and Non-Kosher), then it continued with the laws of man (e.g. circumcision and impurities of leprosy).

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38a) explains why Man was created after all creatures, “If his mind becomes arrogant, we will announce to him, a mosquito preceded you.”

The Talmud can only be understood if the laws of man were also explained after the laws regarding animals. Otherwise, if Man's laws were detailed first, one could have reasoned that G-d wanted to place Man in a ready-made world.

The plain meaning of the Talmud is that we could say to any arrogant individual “a mosquito preceded you”. Any individual? The Talmud does not differentiate between the pious and the sinner, the learned and the simple. Even the haughtiest individual who has severed all connections to Torah can be reached with a touch of humility.

Just as each person was created in “G-d's image” and sparks of holiness exist within each of us, so too is every person susceptible to the basic truths of the Torah. Though a person could learn arrogance and be trained to ignore “G-d's wonders”, in the depths of his heart, even the biggest atheist recognizes that G-d created this world.