Shalom and thank you for your question! The Hebrew word for man that is commonly used today is איש, pronounced ‘ish’.
It is interesting to take note of the fact that there are several Biblical terms for ‘man’.
Some of them are:
אנוש – Enosh
גבר- Gever
איש – Ish
אדם – Adam
These names denote various spiritual levels, according to the inner dimensions of Torah study. They refer to humanity at large in the wider context, not only the male gender.
Enosh is the lowest level. In modern spoken Hebrew it can work two ways. To be ‘Enoshi’ is on the one hand to be sensitive to one’s fellow, but on the other hand it is equivalent to the saying in English ‘I’m only human after all’, when I have made a blunder. In Chassidic teaching the level of Enosh is the lowest level. Enosh was the son of Adam and Eve’s third son. He signifies the generation when the world began to be more populous. Indeed the levels of Enosh and Gever signify the potential for fallibility, for making more serious human blunders.
Gever comes from the Hebrew root ‘להתגבר.’ ‘To overcome.’ In modern Hebrew it denotes masculinity. In the book of Jeremiah ch. 17:7 it says: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the L-rd…” using the term ‘Gever ‘. Trusting in G-d is an important tool for overcoming human frailty.
The level of Ish is a higher level of consciousness where one deals with channeling and refining one’s emotions. Interestingly, the Hebrew terms for man and wife are ‘Ish’ איש and ‘Isha’ אישה.
Man and woman. Each of these words minus one of the letters is equivalent to ‘Esh’. אש, fire. The Sages of the Talmud point out that the letters that make the difference between ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and ‘fire’ are letters from the name of G-d.This teaches us, they explain, that a husband and wife who allow G-dliness into their lives by sincerely trying to study and carry out G-d’s will, merit the Divine Presence dwelling with them. If they do not, they may have to deal with a fiery situation.
The level of Adam is the highest level, where we connect the intellect to G-d through contemplation and study of the Divine will and wisdom which are expressed in the teachings of the Torah. (For non-Jews the Seven Noahide laws are the source of Divine will and wisdom.)
The name Adam comes from the Hebrew root ‘Adameh’ – I will resemble… in the context of ‘Adameh l’Elyon’, ‘אדמה לעליון’.
Meaning ‘I will resemble the Supernal One.’
This refers to the role of man as the microcosm of G-d, who is the macrocosm. The entire universe is a part of G-d.
Adam represents the spectrum of human potential to harness the cosmic power of free choice to ultimately elevate the physical world with all of its inherent challenges and bring it to its ultimate rectification and completion. In this way G-d will feel ‘comfortable ‘ so to speak ‘dwelling ‘ in the physical world with His creations who have refined physicality. This is in fact G-d’s goal and desire.
Adam was created from earth – Adamah אדמה, this being another reason for his name.
A saying of the Sages is ‘In the place where there are no people, try to be a ‘person’ (Ish איש.) Even when we feel that those around us are not living up to their human potential, we should try to do so ourselves.
