Emunah U’Bitachon 1:4

The Creator saw that life could not yet reach its potential unless there was a connection between man and his fellow man. A world inhabited by deaf-mutes would have lost all its value, and nothingness would have been better than that! So He made a mechanism that makes various sounds – we call it the mouth. Paralleling the mouth, He made a mechanism that vibrates from every sound, which we call the ear. And through the combination of the mouth and the ear a language by which man can communicate was created – and man became a living being – a speaking spirit¹.

But what advantage does man have – even blessed with speech and hearing – if he is still lacking knowledge? Missing understanding? He is comparable to a beast – like an ox grazing! The Creator's wish was to create man as the wisest in his world and to appoint him as prince over all creation. So the Creator planted the root of wisdom in man's brain and the seedling of knowledge in his heart, so as to be able to understand and become enlightened in everything that exists.

(Note that should there be one who possesses a sharp and incisive mind and would be capable of freeing himself from the wearisomeness of this physical life, to become exalted through his thought above all things – should he look down upon all that are alive in the lower world, he would look upon this concept – wisdom attached to man formed from earth – as a terrible enigma. He would attempt futilely to understand this secret – one that is beyond him.)

Another wondrous thing about wisdom is that although it is not physically bounded – it has no length or breadth, no youth nor age – it changes its physical manifestation in man. When a person is a child his wisdom parallels his development, and it grows with him as he matures. How wondrous are the ways of wisdom and how hidden are the paths of understanding that the chief amongst designers established in man!

1. Bereishis 2:7 and Targum Onkelos