In Avot 4:20 Rabbi Matya ben Charash teaches that one should be the "tail of lions" and not the "head of foxes". We all know that lions are supposed to be lordly and majestic, while foxes are menial and crafty. There are however many explanations of what this Rome-base rabbi meant.
One such perspective on this mishnah comes from Rabbi Yehoshua Heller's
Toledot Yehoshua. It focuses on the
relative status of Israel and the various lands into which its Jewish
inhabitants were exiled. Israel is the natural home for Torah learning and for
living one’s life in accordance with its precepts. By the time of the Roman
occupation, “Israel” as a country was however only a geopolitical synonym for Judah, the
southern kingdom based largely on the territory of Yehudah after the dispersal
and loss of the Ten Tribes following the Assyrian conquest in 722 BCE. The symbol
of Judah is the lion. Alluding to the tail of the lion, Rabbi Matya ben Charash
is effectively teaching that it is better to serve the more exalted
chachamim of Israel than
to be regarded as a
chacham among the less learned Jews who inhabit the lands of exile.
