This verse highlights the activities of the wolf as occurring at two times: dawn and dusk. In the classic work on wolf biology and lore, Of Wolves And Men, Barry Lopez notes that this feature of wolf behavior is so striking as to form a basis for its symbolism:

"From classical times he had been a symbol of things in transit. He was a twilight hunter, seen at dawn and dusk." (Barry Lopez, Of Wolves And Men, p. 209)

This feature of wolf behavior relates to a halachic ruling in the Talmud:

"From when may one recite the Shema prayer in the morning? . Rabbi Meir said: From when one can distinguish between a wolf and a dog." (Talmud, Berachos 9b)

One could explain this in several ways. Simply speaking, it is referring to a level of light, enough to enable one to distinguish between the gaunt gray wolf and the stockier, brown dog. But one could also note that wolves are commonly seen at such an hour, and therefore it is appropriate to use them as a frame of reference for determining the level of light. This would also account for why this frame of reference became a way of obliquely referring to dawn:

" 'In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain' (Daniel 5:30). At what hour was he killed? Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman gave different answers. Rabbi Eleazar said: At the time when sleep is sweetest (i.e. at the beginning of night). Rabbi Shmuel said: At the time when a man can distinguish between a wolf and a dog (i.e. at dawn)." (Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:3)

Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua ben Tzvi Hirsch (1752-1780), in his famous Talmudic commentary Pnei Yehoshua, offers an additional halachic depth to the Talmud's ruling. It is written in the Shema that it should be recited "when one goes out on the trail" (u'velechtecha baderech), and it is further stated in the Talmud that one should only begin one's travels at daybreak, so that there is enough light to avoid danger. Thus, only when one can ascertain the difference between a dog and a wolf - a predator active at dawn - is it safe enough to travel. Only at that level of light should one "go out on the trail," and therefore only at that time is one obligated to recite the Shema.

But there may be still another level of meaning to the Talmud's statement that the dawn prayer of Shema should be recited when one can distinguish a wolf: that the wolf is a creature that is symbolically related to such times of half-light.

"The link between the wolf and a period of halflight-either dawn or dusk, though dawn is more widely known as the hour of the wolf. the wolf as a creature of dawn, representing an emergence from darkness into enlightenment. the association is old enough to have been the basis for the Latin idiom for dawn, inter lupem et canem, between the wolf and the dog. Darkness and savagery are symbolized in the wolf, while enlightenment and civilization are symbolized in the tame wolf, the dog." (Barry Lopez, Of Wolves And Men, p. 209)

The wolf is a symbol of transition. Behaviorally, it is active at times of transition. Taxonomically, it is a creature that, within a single species (for wolves and dogs are both Canis lupis), can be either a savage killer or man's best friend. And thus, halachically, it becomes the barometer for times of transition.

Of the two periods of half-light, Lopez writes that it is dawn that was more widely rated as the hour of the wolf. Scripture, on the other hand, places greater emphasis on dusk:

"His horses are swifter than leopards, and quicker than the wolves of dusk." (Habakuk 1:8)

"Its princes were in its midst as roaring lions, its officers were the wolves of dusk, not [leaving] a bone for the morning." (Tzephaniah 3:2-3)

"Therefore the lion from the forest has struck them, the wolf of the dusks has plundered them." (Jeremiah 5:6, according to Targum Yonasan, Mahari Kara, Radak and Malbim)

There is another possible reference in Scripture to wolves as being creatures of dusk. One of the plagues that befell Egypt, arov, is a word of unclear meaning. But some suggest that it is based on the word erev, dusk, and it refers to the creature that is known for being active at that time: the wolf.[1] It was a plague of "duskies"!

The description of the wolf as a creature of dusk may convey another concept about wolves; but in order to appreciate it, we must first explore another aspect of wolves.

II. Wolves and Ravens

Very few mammals have symbiotic relationships with other creatures. One of the few exceptions is the wolf:

"The wolf seems to have few relationships with other animals that could be termed purely social, though he apparently takes pleasure in the company of ravens. The raven, with a range almost as extensive as the wolf's, one that even includes the tundra, commonly follows hunting wolves to feed on the remains of a kill." (Barry Lopez, Of Wolves And Men, p. 67)

The raven is sometimes known as "wolf-bird," and some zoologists speculate that its relationship with wolves may be assisted by their psychological make-up:

"It appears that the wolf and the raven have reached an adjustment in their relationships such that each creature is rewarded in some way by the presence of the other and that each is fully aware of the other's capabilities. Both species are extremely social, so they must possess the psychological mechanisms necessary for forming social attachments. Perhaps in some way individuals of each species have included members of the other in their social group and have formed bonds with them." (David Mech, The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species)

In "Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds," zoologist Bernd Heinrich has suggested a basis for this association: ravens lead wolves to their prey, alert them to dangers, and are rewarded by sharing the spoils.[2]

This unusual partnership also finds expression in Scripture. The only person in Scripture named after the wolf, the Midianite chieftain Ze'ev, had a partner named Orev - Raven!

"And they captured the two chieftains of Midian, Orev and Ze'ev; and they executed Orev in the Rock of Orev, and they executed Ze'ev at the Winepress of Ze'ev, and they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Orev and Ze'ev to Gideon, across the Jordan." (Judges 7:25)[3]

Now, it may be that since wolves and ravens have a well-known association, the Midianites called their two chieftains by these names (in the Midianite language). Alternately, it may be that they had different names, but Scripture calls them by these names in order to tell us something about them, as we shall see.[4]

Aside from the social and symbiotic relationship between wolves and ravens, there is another connection between them. The Hebrew name for raven, orev, is comprised of the same letters as the word erev, dusk. Dusk, the time which is so epitomized by wolves that they are repeatedly referred to as "the wolves of dusk" and according to some are even referred to solely by the name dusky in the Egyptian plague, is the same word used as the name of the raven. The Midrash also records a view that that the Egyptian plague of arov was comprised of ravens and other such birds, while another view maintains that it was both wolves and ravens.[5]

The etymology of the name orev for raven is simple to explain in terms of the raven's black plumage, reminiscent of the onset of night. But one can also see other ways in which the raven is related to this word. Erev, dusk, is the time when day mixes with night; in fact, the word for mixture in Hebrew is ervuv.[6] Ravens are a mixture in that they are the only bird to possess two of the signs of kosher birds as well as two of the signs of non-kosher birds - a true mixture. The Midrash notes that the raven also has a tendency to mix even when mixing is forbidden:

"There were three that engaged in sexual relations while in the Ark: Ham, the raven, and the dog." (Talmud, Sanhedrin 108b)

Males and females of all species were to remain separate for the duration of their stay on the Ark, but the ravens negated this, mingling together and mating. Perhaps it is for this reason that the chieftains of Midian are called Ze'ev and Orev by the Torah. The crime of Midian was to send their girls to mix and intermingle with the Jewish People.[7] Ravens and wolves are thus both creatures that represent dusk, the mixture of light and dark, and also mixing in general - and furthermore they mix with each other, mammal with bird. The dusky ravens and wolves of dusk are both symbols of the mixing of two distinct realms. NOTES [1] Rashbam, commentary to Exodus 8:17. Rabbi Yosef Schonhak in Toldos Ha-Aretz (p. 59) claims that these wolves that plagued Egypt, along with the "wolves of dusk" referred to in Scripture, are hyenas. See too Midrash Tehillim 78 and Midrash Shemos Rabbah 11:2 with the commentary of Maharzav ad loc. [2] Bernd Heinrich, Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds, pp. 237-238. "Ravens can be attracted to wolf-howls. the wolves' howls before they go on the hunt are a signal that the birds learn to heed. Conversely, wolves may respond to certain raven vocalizations or behavior that indicate prey. The raven-wolf association may be close to a symbiosis that benefits the wolves and ravens alike. at a kill site, the birds are more suspicious and alert than wolves. the birds serve the wolves as extra eyes and ears." See too Stahler, D.R., B. Heinrich and D.W. Smith. (2002) "The Ravens' Behavioral Association with Wolves," Animal Behaviour 64:283-290. For a contrasting view which sees wolves forming packs in response to ravens stealing their kills, see Vucetich, J.A., R.O. Peterson, and T.A. Waite, "Raven scavenging favours group foraging in wolves," Animal Behaviour 67(6):1117-1126 (2004). [3] Ze'ev is always mentioned together with his partner Orev. See Judges 8:3 and Psalms 83:12. [4] Precedent for this can be found in the writings of Maharal, who says that Abel (Hevel) was not called this by his parents; rather the Torah gives that name in order to tell us certain things about him (drashah l'Shabbos HaGadol). [5] See too Midrash Tehillim 78 and Midrash Shemos Rabbah 11:2 with the commentary of Maharzav ad loc. [6] This etymology for erev is given by Ibn Ezra in Sefer Maznayim and Radak in Sefer HaShorashim. [7] See Numbers 25:6.

=============== (c) Copyright by Rabbi Natan Slifkin 2007, zoorabbi@zootorah.com. All rights reserved. This essay may be further distributed free of charge, provided that the header and footer information is preserved intact.

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