According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, just as fish were formed from water and birds from boggy earth, mammals were formed from solid earth. And among these, we find some truly remarkable beings.
Take Behemot, for example, the king of the beasts. He's a creature of such immense strength that, like Leviathan, the king of the sea, God had to prevent him from reproducing, lest the world be overwhelmed! Can you imagine? The Zohar tells us that Behemot requires the produce of a thousand mountains just for his daily food! And it's said that all the water flowing through the Jordan River in a year is just one gulp for him. So, naturally, he has his own private stream flowing directly from Paradise, called Yubal. But don’t worry, this colossal creature isn't just a glutton; Behemot is destined to be a delectable treat for the righteous in the world to come. But before they feast, they'll get to witness a mighty battle between him and Leviathan – a reward, we're told, for resisting the temptations of the gladiatorial contests of this world.
And then there's the ziz, the giant bird, often compared to the Persian Simurgh or the Arabic Rukh. These three – Leviathan, Ziz, and Behemot – represent the pinnacle of their respective realms.
But the wonders don't stop there. There's the re’em, a giant animal so large that only one pair exists, a male and a female, and they only mate once every seventy years. According to the legends, they live on opposite ends of the earth! The act of mating is fatal to the male, and the female remains pregnant for twelve years. For a year before giving birth, she can't even move! She survives only because her spittle fertilizes the earth around her, providing her with sustenance. When the twins, a male and a female, are finally born, the mother dies, making room for the new generation, destined to repeat the same cycle.
What about the "man of the mountain," the Adne Sadeh, or simply Adam? He looks just like a human being, but he's tethered to the ground by his navel-string! Sever that cord, and he dies. He feeds on the vegetation within reach of his tether, and woe betide anyone who wanders too close! You'd have to take him out from a distance with a well-aimed dart.
Even more curious is the barnacle-goose, which, according to some, grows directly from a tree! Is it an animal? Is it a plant? It’s a question that surely kept ancient scholars up at night.
And who could forget the phoenix? This bird, according to the tales, was the only one to refuse the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and was rewarded with eternal life. When it reaches a thousand years old, it shrinks and transforms, becoming small as an egg, the nucleus of a new phoenix. The phoenix is also described as the "guardian of the terrestrial sphere," intercepting the sun's fiery rays with its wings to protect the earth. Enoch, in his visions, describes phoenixes as wondrous creatures with the feet and tails of lions and the heads of crocodiles, attending the chariot of the sun.
Among reptiles, we find the salamander, born from a fire of myrtle wood kept burning for seven years through magic. Smear yourself with its blood, and you become invulnerable! And then there's the shamir, a tiny worm no bigger than a barley corn, but with the power to cut through the hardest diamonds. This was used to engrave the stones in the High Priest's breastplate and to shape the stones for the Temple, because the Torah prohibits the use of iron tools. According to the legends, the shamir was so powerful that it couldn't be stored in metal; it had to be kept in a woollen cloth, placed inside a lead basket filled with barley bran. The shamir was guarded in Paradise until Solomon needed it, and vanished with the destruction of the Temple.
And what of the tahash, a creature created solely to provide its skin for the Tabernacle? Once the Tabernacle was complete, it disappeared. It was a colorful animal, like a turkey-cock, with a horn on its forehead, and considered a clean animal.
The sea, too, holds its wonders, with sea-goats and dolphins, the latter described as half-human, even having relations with humans, hence their title "sons of the sea."
But it's not just about the creatures themselves; it's about their relationships, their struggles, and their transformations. The legends tell us that cats and mice, now enemies, were once friends. But the mouse betrayed the cat, and God punished it, decreeing that the cat would devour the mouse. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, this tale echoes the story of the moon, who lost part of her light for speaking ill of the sun. And dogs and cats, too, were once partners until a series of unfortunate events led to their eternal animosity.
Even physical characteristics, it is said, were not always as they are now. The mouse's mouth, for example, was changed during an incident in Noah's ark. The raven, too, bears the mark of Noah's curse, and the steer the kiss of Joshua. And the serpent, before the fall, was upright, intelligent, and resembled man.
The legends even delve into the cunning of animals. The fox, for example, outwitted the Angel of Death by pretending to mourn the fate of his "friend" – his own reflection in the water! When Leviathan tried to capture him, the fox tricked the fish into believing he had left his heart behind, leading to their ridicule.
These stories, filled with fantastical creatures and moral lessons, offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Jewish folklore. They remind us that even in the animal kingdom, there are tales of betrayal, redemption, and the enduring power of cunning. They make us wonder about the origins of the world as we know it, and the hidden stories behind the creatures that share it with us. So, the next time you see a cat chasing a mouse or a dog barking at a cat, remember the ancient tales, the curses, and the betrayals that shaped their destinies. Perhaps, just perhaps, you'll see the world in a whole new light.