What It Means to Be Human
I was struck by this passage in Rabbi Moshe Taragin’s article in last week’s Jewish Press (“Ve’ahavta and Tzelem Elokim,” April 24):
“[Tzelem Elokim] points to a cluster of capacities that set human beings apart from the rest of the natural world. We possess emotion, bechira chofshit, moral awareness, self-reflection, creativity, language, and the ability to form deep relationships. These qualities are either absent in other creatures or appear only in limited form.”
It reminded me of these wry and perhaps provocative words written by Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert in his bestseller Stumbling on Happiness:
“Few people realize that psychologists also take a vow, promising that at some point in their professional lives they will publish a book, a chapter, or at least an article that contains this sentence: ‘The human being is the only animal that…’ […] We… know that the worse we do, the better we will be remembered. For instance, those psychologists who finished The Sentence with ‘can use language’ were particularly well remembered when chimpanzees were taught to communicate with hand signs. And when researchers discovered that chimps in the wild use sticks to extract tasty termites from their mounds (and to bash one another over the head now and then), the world suddenly remembered the full name and mailing address of every psychologist who had ever finished The Sentence with ‘uses tools.’ […]
“I have never before written The Sentence, but I’d like to do so now…. The human being is the only animal that thinks about the future. Now, let me say up front that I’ve had cats, I’ve had dogs, I’ve had gerbils, mice, goldfish…and I do recognize that nonhuman animals often act as though they have the capacity to think about the future. For example, I live in an urban neighborhood, and every autumn the squirrels in my yard…act as though they know that they will be unable to eat later unless they bury some food now. […] Shortened days trigger burying behavior with no intervening contemplation of tomorrow, and the squirrel that stashes a nut in my yard ‘knows’ about the future in approximately the same way that a falling rock ‘knows’ about the law of gravity – which is to say, not really.
“Until a chimp weeps at the thought of growing old alone, or smiles as it contemplates its summer vacation, or turns down a Fudgsicle because it already looks too fat in shorts, I will stand by my version of The Sentence. We think about the future in a way that no other animal can, does, or ever has, and this simple, ubiquitous, ordinary act is a defining feature of our humanity.”
I’ve long contemplated what distinguishes human beings from all other species, and am confident that there are many important characteristics that separate us – both because of common sense and observation, and because it seems to me axiomatic to any true understanding of the Torah and Hashem’s wishes and plans for the world (inasmuch as we can know them).
And while I hear the good professor’s reservations of the other “Sentences,” Rabbi Taragin’s list strikes me as fundamentally correct. We humans are unique and superior to all other creatures on earth in at least a half-dozen of the most important ways. Halevai we always acted with that sense of gadlus ha’adam.
Isaac Birnbaum
Bergen County, N.J.
Iran War Has Achieved Many Goals
The Jewish Press in its April 17 issue gives Israeli views on the Iran War (“Jewish Israelis Overwhelmingly Support Continued Fighting Against Hezbollah in Lebanon”). In the spirit of equal time, I would like to give an American’s view – mine – of the war.
The war against Iran started as a military campaign aimed against Iran’s nuclear, missile, and terrorist programs. But it soon devolved into an economic struggle involving oil, specifically Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz.
I think a very important outcome of this war was that it has given a wake-up call to the world’s nations to rid themselves of their dependence on Iranian oil. Not just kicking the can down the road a bit, but actually beginning to make substantive changes in the overall geopolitical climate regarding Iran, the Mideast, and the world.
First, Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is causing many countries worldwide to rethink their energy strategies. They have to start developing more non-petroleum-based energy sources like nuclear, and also replace Iranian oil with oil from other sources like the United States, and finally, to ship Mideast oil via other routes, avoiding the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz.
Second, Iran has alienated some of her Arab neighbors by firing missiles at them, prompting them to tilt more towards Israel and likely bringing about an expansion of the Abraham Accords.
Third, Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have suffered serious setbacks. The extent of these is uncertain and may not be permanent, but will give the world’s nations time to distance themselves from Iran, and to begin developing their own military capabilities, not just to depend on Israel and America.
Fourth, Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, have also suffered major setbacks, again not necessarily permanent, but at least removing for now the imminent existential threats to Israel.
Fifth, Iran has shown its military to be a paper tiger. Its air defenses were completely shredded by combined Israeli and American air strikes, leaving it completely helpless against further air assaults. Also, its navy was completely destroyed by the U.S. Navy, leaving Iran with only light attack craft suitable only for inland or coastal duties.
All these setbacks have been noted by Iran’s “axis of evil” allies, prompting them to avoid helping her, and have diminished Iran’s image as a major global power.
These are some positive developments that I see emerging from the war. You can get all the negative developments from the mainstream media.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, N.J.