Conversation and Identity

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  Genesis 1:26a NASB Image/likeness – According to a footnote in my Siddur, a synonym for nefesh hayah in the Mishnah (Bava Kanna 2a) is mav’eh which the Talmud derives from the root ba’ah (to ask, request, seek).  Furthermore, Onkelos renders nefesh hayah as “speaking spirit” (ruah mamlal’).  The implication is significant. Our identity is…