Pirkei Avot is not short of wildlife. Apart from scorpions, snakes and three different species of worm we find four popular inhabitants of the world of simile all listed together at Avot 5:23 when Yehudah ben Teyma opens his teaching with the following comparisons:
הֱוֵי עַז
כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּֽשֶׁר, רָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת
רְצוֹן אָבִֽיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָֽיִם
Be as bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift
as a deer and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.
Why do we
need two big cats? Let’s start with the lion, which is the role-model for gevurah. This word literally means “strength”. In the
context of Avot it means a particular kind of strength: self-discipline, the
strength of character to control oneself (Avot 4:1). Yehudah ben Teyma’s lion
can therefore be seen as a metaphor for self-control.
Where
does that leave the leopard, who stands for being az (bold, brazen)? This
metaphor can also be taken as a pointer in the direction of inner strength. If gevurah
is the actual exercise of personal strength to control one’s instincts and
urges in any given situation, being az means having the strength to decide
that one wants to exercise self-control—even if it is not yet the opportunity
to do so. So the leopard must face down all the attractive options to self-discipline,
to recognise its importance and to cultivate the importance of exercising it.
It is then the task of the lion to practice it when trials and temptations come
its way.
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Based on
an idea expressed in Rabbi Reuven Melamed, Melitz Yosher al Pirkei Avot.
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