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Why does Koheles say arrogant people receive the message that they are like animals who will die? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction between the Greek view of humans as rational animals versus the Torah (תורה) view of humans as souls using bodies. When illness strikes, those who define themselves as bodies feel devastated by animal-like mortality, while those who see themselves as souls understand their essence is eternal.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes Koheles 3:18, where Shlomo Hamelech addresses why arrogant, domineering people receive the message that they are like animals who will die. The question arises: why is this clarifying, since both righteous and wicked people get sick and die? The answer lies in fundamentally different definitions of human beings. Using the story of Noach's sons covering their father, Rabbi Zweig explains that Shem and Japheth received different rewards despite performing the same action. Shem reacted immediately upon hearing his father was naked, earning the eternal reward of tzitzis for his descendants. Japheth only reacted when he heard about mutilation, earning burial for his descendants in one battle. This reflects two worldviews: Shem saw nakedness as undignified because humans are souls that deserve honor, while Japheth (ancestor of the Greeks) only saw mutilation as problematic since he viewed humans as bodies.
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Koheles 3:18
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