Why is the Camel Called a Camel?

As is known, in our holy Torah, the names of many animals appear, with the largest concentration written in relation to their kosher status for consumption by Jews, mainly found in the book of Leviticus (Parshat "Shemni"). [Note: A very common linguistic error occurs where people refer to "animals" in the singular as "ba'al chai", instead of the correct singular "ba'al chayim". The pluralization requires nisuch rather than somer, such as "Beit Midrash" - "Batei Midrash", "Beit Knesset" - "Batei Knesset", "lawyer" - "lawyers", "homeowner" - "homeowners" (when the home is singular), etc.; also, when the somer appears in plural form, or has a plural structure, the change of language from singular to plural only affects the nisuch, such as "birds of heaven" - "bird of heaven", "homeowners" - "homeowner" (when the homes are plural), etc.; moreover, the phrase "ba'al chai" implies: a husband, who is alive].

The names of the animals were given to them by the first man, Adam, the handiwork of Hashem, who was granted by Hashem with supreme holiness and the spirit of divine inspiration. The Torah states that Hashem brought all the animals before Adam so he could give them names, as it says in Genesis 2:19: "And Hashem God formed from the earth every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and He brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name," a measure of the end." And although the plain meaning of the text seems to indicate that the first man gave the animals their names, there is a difficulty in the text that needs addressing [a question I heard from Rabbi Mordechai Neugershal, may he be blessed]: Why did the verse need to say, "whatever the man called a living creature - that was its name ", isn’t it obvious that when a man names his son, that is his name? Surely, the verse should have said simply, "And he named them ".

Rabbi Mordechai Neugershal, may he be blessed, resolved this question, having possibly drawn from the words of the Sforno in his Torah commentary, where he delves into the depths of the matter. He writes: A name indicates the form of the being called by that name, which is its soul, in which it actually exists. That is to say: the names that Adam gave to the animals were based on their essence and form. Therefore, the verse highlights that Adam, with his divine insight, understood the nature of each and every animal and accordingly named them based on their attributes and essence. We will provide some examples of familiar animals whose names reflect their nature:

A. Lion - "King of the Beasts," feared by all, and its name consists of the letters of *yirah* (fear) - "The lion has roared; who will not fear?" (Amos 3:8).

B. Cat - The animal that never leaves its needs exposed and conceals them, just as the garment used to conceal the needs of a baby is called a "chitool" [Note: The name "Titan" for a disposable garment used for the same purpose has no origin in holy language but is from the modern language].

C. Stork - A well-known bird that lives in large flocks and feeds on small animals, marine and terrestrial, and benefits from food sources cooperatively. The "Atur" [one of our early rabbis, who lived about 850 years ago] (Second Gate, Laws of Slaughtering, Sheet 45B) wrote: This stork does kindness with its companions. Therefore, it was called Stork, because it performs *chesed* (kindness) with its friends, as per the Torah.

D. Dog - The most loyal of animals. The commentary of the Maharsha [one of our late rabbis who lived around 400 years ago] (Sanhedrin 97a) notes: Also, because it is called "kaleb" (dog) because "its entire heart" is loyal to its master.

There are many more examples of animal names from the Torah that express the essence of their traits. Overall, this is an example [one of many] of how the wisdom of the holy Torah precedes scientific discovery by thousands of years, such as:

The number of stars in the heavens, which modern science has only discovered within the last generation due to technological advancements, estimates to be over a billion times a billion; yet, l’halacha (it has been known to our sages, as brought in the "Bavli Talmud" (Berachot 32b), which aligns precisely and entirely with the "new scientific discovery," but provides an absolute description of the structure in which galaxies are arranged [This knowledge was transmitted orally from generation to generation and was written in the Talmud over one thousand five hundred years ago].

Another demonstration of how the ancient wisdom in Torah preceded modern science by thousands of years is: The commencement of the embryo’s life in its mother’s womb - as a person [in other words: interrupting its life will be considered murder]. As scientifically, the standard for defining the time of death - is when electrical activity in the brain ceases - the moment the electrical activity in the embryo’s brain begins, while within the mother’s womb - is determined as the beginning of its biological life [Though legally, life is counted from birth]. However, due to the embryo’s minuscule size at this stage in its life, its brain’s size is even smaller, the electrical flux within the embryo's brain is virtually negligible, and the absence of technological means to measure electrical currents at such a level and while still in its mother's womb meant it wasn’t practically feasible to conduct such tests until the recent generation. Nevertheless, Science recently discovered that electrical currents begin in the embryo’s brain at forty days old. Yet, the sages of Israel have passed down the oral Torah, person to person, until it was written in the Mishnah about one thousand eight hundred years ago [by Rabbi Judah the prince and his rabbinic court], and in the Mishnah Nidda (Chapter 3, Mishnah 7), it is written, thus: The miscarried [explains Rashi: yoke] reaches the fortieth day [explains: for immersion] -she is not concerned for offspring [explains: the creation of the fetus will not be completed until all forty days], end quote. Meaning, a woman who has conceived and her fetus fell before the end of the fortieth day - the miscarriage is not considered an embryo because its creation was not complete.

Now, let's proceed to the name of the "camel":

As noted, Adam gave the "camel" its name as well. So, the question arises: What did the first man see in it to give it such a name?

Answer: The root "gml" has two meanings in the holy language: one - "giving", for example, in the sense of "acts of kindness"; and the second - "permanently stopping the nursing of the offspring" [Note: In the modern language, we find this meaning of "cessation - permanent" [i.e: absolute cessation], with regard to drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, etc.].

There is no doubt that the camel's name is not meant to express the concept of "Giving", since "giving" can have both positive and negative connotations, and thus lack clear meaning; similarly, not in the sense of "acts of kindness" because such attributes had already been used to name the stork, as mentioned earlier. Furthermore, in the term "acts of kindness", the "chesed" is the primary aspect, not the "gmilah". Therefore, we must say that the name "camel" was given because of "gmilah", in the sense of "stopping the nursing of the offspring". Then naturally, the question arises: Is it only the camel that is weaned? Don't other mammals also get weaned?

In fact, I once heard a preacher say that the camel got its name due to its trait of "being weaned" in the desert without drinking water for thirty days; however, in my humble opinion, this does not align with the lexical meaning for two reasons: A) The meaning of the word "g'milah" in the holy language refers specifically to ceasing milk nursing, as stated (1 Samuel 1:23): "And she nursed her son until she weaned him"; or within the context of fruit ripening, as noted (Numbers 17:23): "... and the almond ripened". B) In the modern language as well, as said before - the meaning of "g'milah" is "ultimate cessation" [and not temporary], and someone who reverts illustrates that they never truly abstained, just as a baby who stops nursing temporarily and then resumes, is not considered weaned until they cease nursing - forever.

So, what makes the camel’s weaning distinct from other mammals, to the extent that its name is derived from it?

With Hashem's help, it seems to say that the answer is hinted in our holy Torah, as follows:

The "camel" is one of the renowned beasts and is mentioned numerous times in our Torah. One of the mentions involves the camel, alongside other beasts, yet listed distinctly among them. This is stated in Genesis (32:14-17), when Jacob our father, peace be upon him, sent gifts to his brother Esau, as it says: "17And he lodged there that night and took from what came into his hand, a gift for Esau his brother: 15200 female goats and 20 male goats [220] 200 ewes and 20 rams [220]: 1630 camels nursing, and their young [30] 40 cows and 10 bulls [50] 20 female donkeys and 10 young donkeys [30]: 17and he delivered them into the hand of his servants, one herd per servant; and he said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me, and put gaps between the herds."

Our holy Torah recounts that Jacob our father, peace be upon him, gave Esau gifts [five herds, totaling 550 [550] animals (Tur, there) and with the shepherds - totaled 555 [555], offering a Torah hint to the number "five" against the evil eye].

The composition of the herds included: females and males, in each herd, with a different ratio, but among the camel herd, there are three distinctions: A) The camels [females] are mentioned as nursing, which is not the case in other herds. [Emphasis is placed on the nursing mothers, not on the young sucklings.] B) The male camels are referred to as their young, not simply as males. C) Unlike other herds, the nursing camels are counted together with their young, while even donkeys are listed separately from "yairim" - which are actually young donkeys - and are not mentioned as nursing. In summary: Only the female camels are noted as nursing, emphasizing that they are in the act of nursing, not the young sucklings; the males are referred to as the females' young; and the females and males are counted as one herd.

These differences indicate that our holy Torah is teaching us that the camel is different from other beasts, such that during the nursing period, it is prohibited to separate the mother camel from the suckling until his g’milah [i.e., the conclusion of the nursing period]. Jacob, our father, peace be upon him, knew this and therefore did not separate, in the camel herd, between the mothers and the young. From here we learn that due to its uniqueness, it is named "camel" after this unbroken bond between the mother and the suckling until his g’milah; this is also hinted at in the verse mentioned earlier (1 Samuel 1:23): "And she nursed her son until she weaned him", which is why it was singled out from other animals in scripture. It seems to say, there is evidence for this from a case that happened: In the village of "Beit Chilkia", there was a female camel [a female camel (plural: female camels - nun kamatz, aleph nacheh) as opposed to ne'akah, which means: a groan emanating from a pained heart (plural: groans)] who gave birth to a calf [young camel (plural: calves)]. After about seven months [before weaning], the calf was sold, and the buyer came and took it. When the camel saw this - she went wild without stopping until she broke her neck and died.

When I examined this topic among biologists at the zoological garden of the university in Tel Aviv, I was told that as far as they know, this topic has not yet been researched, and it seems to me to suggest that if this were investigated - they would reach the conclusion that, of course, the wisdom of our holy Torah has preceded science, but for now, it seems to say - the rule known to Jacob, our father, peace be upon him, about 3,500 years ago - science has not yet discovered.

And we will say: "How fortunate are we for our portion, how pleasant our lot, and how beautiful our inheritance" (Tur Orach Chaim Laws of Morning Blessings and Other Blessings, Section 46), because "Moses is true and his Torah is true" (Midrash Tanhuma, Numbers, Parashat "Korach" Section 11), and also: "Blessed is He who chose us from among all the nations and gave us His Torah" (Bavli Talmud Berachot 11b).