The Medaber

Emor, VaYikra

What is the difference between animals and human beings? Animals eat. We eat. Animals care for their young. We kiss and cuddle our two-year-olds. Animals sleep. A lot.

So do we. (Especially teenagers.)

Similarities to teenagers notwithstanding, the Torah explains that – surprise! – animals have souls. The animal soul is called the nefesh. We are not unique in our ability to assess a situation and make quick judgement calls, to yearn for the wellbeing of our offspring, or to feel emotions like pain, curiosity, and confusion. The Torah acknowledges this in the commandment not to cause tza’ar to animals. We may not cause an animal undue pain, because they indeed feel pain just as we do.

We and animals have a lot in common – mental capacities, emotional capacities, even some communication abilities. Did you know that dolphins talk? Birds squawking up a racket in the middle of Manhattan are getting their message across to other birds. And remember Koko? Koko is a gorilla living in Maui who speaks American Sign Language. Her communication abilities are the same as a human toddler.

Yet the Torah distinguishes between animals and human beings by calling the human being a medaber. Why?

The word medaber literally means “speaker”, but implies a very different kind of communication.
 

When Every Nerve Screams, “Go!”

Torah explains that the most definitive difference between human beings and animals is that human beings can have consciously present relationships. The medaber is not just a speaker. The medaber is the one creature on this earth who forms meaningful personal relationships through speech.

Why is this unique? Because a relationship requires being aware of another and responding to them. Animals respond to nothing but their own internal programming.

For example, animals do not have free choice because all of their experiences are automatic. They feel, think, and communicate instinctively. They are incapable of going against their own nature. An elephant trainer can train an elephant to behave in certain ways, but he cannot train him out of being an elephant. There is a level of temptation to which an animal will undoubtedly succumb, regardless of how well-trained he is.

Human beings can live like animals by thoughtlessly following their instincts, and this may look fine on the outside. Socialised human animals may eat neatly, tucking starched white napkins beneath polite, manicured hands. Social animals may dress pleasantly, smile at friends on the street, and live in well-groomed houses. Social animals may attend the opera.

But the moment that tells the difference between an animal and a human being is when behaving like an animal would be a great deal easier. When every nerve ending in your body screams go – “Go tell off that person who made you mad! Go eat that cheeseburger! Go share that juicy piece of funny, malicious gossip! Go commit adultery!” – that is the moment when the human being distinguishes himself from animals.

And Torah takes it one step further. The moment you decide to overcome powerful, thoughtless instinct is the moment you actually become a human being. Up until that point you are just human potential.

Are You a Medaber?
 

What distinguishes the human soul from the souls of animals is that when you tap on the window, there is someone behind the glass. Beyond just the experiential animal nefesh, the human soul includes other elements such as the ruach, the neshama, and even higher levels of spirituality. It’s not just a computer running the “human” program. There is a “you” in you, and that “you” goes beyond your animal instincts.

Every nerve ending in your body says go, but you have a relationship with someone special – whether that special someone is another person, God, or even yourself – and that relationship means more to you than even the greatest immediate gratification. When you care so much about someone that you are willing to overcome your own greatest physical desires for them, you have said a mouthful.

It sounds like, “I love you.” In a way that no animal could ever express.