Your fear and your dread shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps upon the ground and upon all the fish of the sea, for they have been given into your hands.
“Your fear and your dread” — It was taught: R’ Shimon ben Elazar says: A one-day-old infant who is alive needs no protection from the weasel or the mice, but Og king of Bashan when dead does need protection… As long as a person is alive, his awe is cast upon the creatures; once he dies, his awe departs.
On the daf / in context: The fear placed upon the animals is tied to the presence of life itself.
Type of Learning
Custom
What Is Learned
While a human is alive, even a newborn inspires fear in animals; that fear ceases at death.