The face of the leopard

There are plenty of creatures in Avot: lions, foxes, snakes, scorpions, eagles, deer and three different species of worm. There is also the leopard, who features in the first part of Yehudah ben Teyma’s teaching at Avot 5:23:

הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּֽשֶׁר, רָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִֽיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָֽיִם. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר: עַז פָּנִים לְגֵיהִנֹּם, וּבֽוֹשֶׁת פָּנִים לְגַן עֵֽדֶן. יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, שֶׁיִּבָּנֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵֽינוּ, וְתֵן חֶלְקֵֽנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶֽךָ

Be as brazen as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.

The sentiment is fine: we should use our physical and mental resources for the service of God. But what is this business about being עַז (az), brazen? Unlike the other three attributes, which all have positive aspects to them, brazenness is usually regarded as a bad thing. Indeed, later in the same mishnah Yehudah ben Teyma observes that the brazen-faced go to Gehinnom, which is not a great place to be.

There is in reality no contradiction. People who are brazen are bad news—but people who can assume a mask of brazenness for a good purpose are demonstrating a noble quality that we should emulate.

What is it that we should stand brazenly against? There are many answers. Here are just a few.

The Sforno tells us to aim our עַז at sinners. If they ignore you the first or second time, don’t take no for an answer: just keep plugging away at them.

The Commentary attributed to Rashi reads the mishnah in the context of Torah learning: do not be timid about asking a question in order to understand something that has escaped you so far. It’s quite natural to hold back from asking a question in front of other students in case it reveals an even greater deficiency in one’s understanding, but that tendency has to be overcome. R’ Liepman Philip Prins, following the lead of the Alshich, extends this so as to apply to any mitzvah that might cause people to laugh or stare.

For the Kozhnitzer Maggid, the thing a person must brazenly face down is his or her own past, whenever it comes back to embarrass or haunt them. Someone who is on a path of teshuvah or repenting a particular wrong may have their past literally blow up in their face when having to taunts like “you came and ate happily in my house last year, so why won’t you do so now?” or “you can’t really object to doing X or Y because that’s how your parents brought you up—so why change now?” In response to such comments, it’s best to carry on brazenly doing one’s new thing and not to reply to jibes and taunts.   

What does all this have to do with the brazenness of the leopard? This splendidly handsome creature is the large cat with which humans throughout the ages have had the most contact. This is because it does not wait for its dinner to be delivered but actively searches for wherever the best food is most easily found—and that is where the flocks of sheep and herds of goats and cattle are.  Agile climbers and ruthless predators, they brazenly invade areas of human habitation when other large cats do not. And cats, unlike dogs, cannot be made to demonstrate real or apparent guilt or remorse for their actions.

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As an aside, some commentators prefer to render עַז as “bold” rather than “brazen”. Thus the Meiri regards this Mishnah as teaching that one should be bold in expending one’s strength in God’s service.

Also, “brazenness” has been regarded as a quality that is felt internally and which comes out in one’s conduct rather than one’s appearance since it is important to maintain a meek and bashful manner when dealing with others (Ruach Chaim). This explanation does not sit well with that of the Bartenura, who holds that it is specifically in the face that brazenness is shown.