[Avodah] Like A Lion

[Prof. Levine]

 From http://www.torah.org/learning/tefilah/lion.html


Like A Lion

"Arise like a lion to serve your Creator in the morning" (Shulchan Aruch 1,1).

Take a look at 
http://www.predatorconservation.com/video/lions_wakeup.htm 
It seems that lions do take their time getting up 
after they have been asleep. So, Kum k"Ari must 
not mean that one gets up very quickly!

I am sure that this is good news for all those 
who have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. :-)

Isn't it wonderful how the secular world can give 
us insight into Torah! hooray for TIDE! >:-}

In fairness, the web 
site  http://www.torah.org/learning/tefilah/lion.html explains what this means:

As Jews, we are taught that if we have the 
mindset of a lion, we will successfully overcome 
the challenge of getting ourselves out of bed in 
the morning. What is the significance of this analogy?

Over two thousand years ago, our Sages recognized 
that the urge to worship idols was too powerful 
for the Jewish people to resist, and they prayed 
that it should be removed. Hashem complied and a 
fire-like lion ascended from the Holy of Holies. 
Our Sages captured this negative inclination 
(yeitzer hara), preventing it from having further influence (Yuma 69).

 From this Talmudic story, we see that this 
negative inclination takes the form of lion. 
Strategically speaking, if we want to defeat it, 
we must also act like lions. For this reason, the 
Shulchan Aruch advises us to start our day like a 
lion (ibid. Shaarei Teshuva 1,1).

Lions are unique in the animal kingdom in that 
they are the only beasts which fear nothing. Even 
an armed man, who is more dangerous than a lion, 
does not arouse fear in this majestic creature.

When confronting the yeitzer hara, we must employ 
similar tactics. Even though the negative 
inclination is stronger than man, we must fight 
it with all our might, turning to Hashem to aid 
us in this struggle and never fearing defeat. In 
this way, we will win the battle (Taz 1,1).

Waking up in the morning is the first battle of 
the day. Generally, as soon as the alarm clock 
rings, we immediately think of many reasons why 
we should stay in bed a few minutes longer. It is 
at that moment we must become lion-like, pushing 
away the cunning arguments of the negative 
inclination and escaping from his grip – and from the lures of sleepiness.

Getting out of bed is our first challenge of the 
day. Modeh ani and the blessings of netilas 
yadayim, asher yatzar, and Elokai neshama, 
express our thanks to Hashem for aiding us to be victorious in this battle.


Yitzchok Levine
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