Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the extent of a shepherd’s responsibility if a lion is approaching the flock:

What could he have done to prevent an attack by a lion? Rabba replies: He should have faced the lion with other shepherds and with sticks to chase it away.

There is a natural principle that animal predators are fearful of humans. This is not an absolute, but unless provoked by territory concerns or extreme hunger, animals would choose less risky and more certain prey. 

The Gemara Shabbos (151a) tells us:

: תִּינוֹק בֶּן יוֹמוֹ חַי — אֵין צָרִיךְ לְשׁוֹמְרוֹ מִן הַחוּלְדָּה וּמִן הָעַכְבָּרִים. אֲבָל עוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן מֵת — צָרִיךְ לְשׁוֹמְרוֹ מִן הַחוּלְדָּה וּמִן הָעַכְבָּרִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם וְחִתְּכֶם יִהְיֶה״, כׇּל זְמַן שֶׁאָדָם חַי — אֵימָתוֹ מוּטֶּלֶת עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת, כֵּיוָן שֶׁמֵּת — בָּטְלָה אֵימָתוֹ.

It is not necessary to protect a live day-old baby from a weasel or from mice, for they run away from the baby. But if Og, the king of Bashan, is dead, it is necessary to protect even him from a weasel or from mice, as it is stated: “And the fear of you and the dread of you [ḥittekhem] shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens” (Genesis 9:2). The Gemara explains: As long as a person is alive [ḥai], he is feared by the animals. Once he dies, he is no longer feared.

אָמַר רַב פָּפָּא, נְקִיטִינַן: אַרְיֵה אַבֵּי תְּרֵי — לָא נָפֵיל. הָא קָא חָזֵינַן דְּנָפֵיל? הָהוּא כִּדְרָמֵי בַּר אַבָּא. דְּאָמַר רָמֵי בַּר אַבָּא: אֵין חַיָּה שׁוֹלֶטֶת בָּאָדָם עַד שֶׁנִּדְמָה לוֹ כִּבְהֵמָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אָדָם בִּיקָר בַּל יָלִין נִמְשַׁל כַּבְּהֵמוֹת נִדְמוּ״. אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא: אָסוּר לִישַׁן בַּבַּיִת יְחִידִי, וְכׇל הַיָּשֵׁן בַּבַּיִת יְחִידִי — אֹחַזְתּוֹ לִילִית.

Rav Pappa said: We hold that a lion does not pounce upon two people. The Gemara challenges this: But how can that be? We see that it does pounce upon two people. The Gemara answers: That statement of Rav Pappa must be in accordance with that which Rami bar Abba said: An animal does not overpower a person until he appears to it as an animal, as it is stated: “But man does not abide in honor, he is like the beasts that perish” (Psalms 49:13). However, animals do not attack people who are human in their spiritual character. 

Haamek Davar (Bereishis 49:9) goes further to assert that even a trained attack lion used by the Roman bestiari in their arenas would not assault certain people whose presence somehow aroused a sense of the image of God. Most famously, Daniel was saved from a hungry and bloodthirsty lion who refused to touch him (Daniel chapter 6), but tore his nemeses to pieces.

Along similar lines, the Gemara (Berachos 33a) tells us:

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמָקוֹם אֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה עַרְוָד, וְהָיָה מַזִּיק אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת. בָּאוּ וְהוֹדִיעוּ לוֹ לְרַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא. אָמַר לָהֶם: הַרְאוּ לִי אֶת חוֹרוֹ! הֶרְאוּהוּ אֶת חוֹרוֹ. נָתַן עֲקֵבוֹ עַל פִּי הַחוֹר, יָצָא וּנְשָׁכוֹ — וּמֵת אוֹתוֹ עַרְוָד.

With regard to the praise for one who prays and need not fear even a snake, the Sages taught: There was an incident in one place where an arvad was harming the people. They came and told Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa and asked for his help. He told them: Show me the hole of the arvad. They showed him its hole. He placed his heel over the mouth of the hole and the arvad came out and bit him, and died.

נְטָלוֹ עַל כְּתֵפוֹ וֶהֱבִיאוֹ לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ. אָמַר לָהֶם: רְאוּ בָּנַי, אֵין עַרְוָד מֵמִית, אֶלָּא הַחֵטְא מֵמִית.

Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa placed the arvad over his shoulder and brought it to the study hall. He said to those assembled there: See, my sons, it is not the arvad that kills a person, rather transgression kills a person. The arvad has no power over one who is free of transgression.

Reishis Chochma (Sha’ar Hayirah 14) extends this principle beyond animals. Any of the destructive forces in the world are subdued in the presence of a person who fears God. This person has an aura about them that makes them seem untouchable.

When humans behave as animals they are vulnerable to the satanic forces. There are agents of the devil in our modern world which seek to water down our sense of divine dignity and deny that humans are made in the image of God. They treat the human body as merely a piece of meat. We must keep in mind, the forces of evil get stronger when we do not behave in God’s image.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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