My excitement was mixed with some trepidation as the five-hundred pound lion walked out of its cage.
"I want to let him roll around a little first," said the trainer, "so that he can work off some energy. Then you can sit down next to him for your filming." I readily agreed.
When I did go to sit down next to the lion a short while later, the trainer gave me a warning: "Don't step on his tail. You don't want to do that."
As the videotape rolled, I found myself stumbling over my words, despite the fact that I had delivered my lecture about lions around a thousand times. Although Josef possessed the reputation of being the best-trained lion in the movie industry, he was no kitty-cat, and he made it very clear that my presence next to him was only being tolerated by virtue of his graciousness.
Apparently, the photographs present a different image.
"Oooooh, what an ooozy-woozy, softy-wofty, big pussycat!" gurgled my sister-in-law. "Didn't you just want to grab his big mane and give him a big hug?"
No, I told her, because I value my life.
But her attitude was far from unusual. Lions and other large predators have become, in the eyes of many people, big cuddly toys. I don't know if this is due to Disney or to Beanie Babies, but whatever the reason, these animals are no longer perceived as the dangerous carnivores that they are. This has had tragic consequences, such as with the Colorado animal refuge volunteer who tried to demonstrate to visitors how the Bengal tiger was actually very friendly. She lost her arm. Then there is the story of the visitor to Yellowstone who smeared Jell-O over his child's face so that he could take a great photo of black bears licking it off, with consequences too tragic to describe. (I have had a black bear lick my face, but only an extremely well trained bear, and even in that case, the trainer warned me to keep my hands behind my back at all times.)
"With me [you will be exiled] from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon until you will return, then look from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards." (Song of Songs 4:8)
This cryptic verse alludes to the fate of the Jewish people in exile from the Temple, referred to as "Lebanon" either because of the abundance of Lebanese wood used in its construction, or because it whitens (laban) the sins of Israel.
The "dens of lions" and "mountains of leopards" are explained by the Midrash to refer to the nations that oppress us in exile. Simply speaking, this is because they are as menacing and dangerous as these animals. More specific parallels are drawn between the lion's brute power and the kingdom of Babylon, and between the leopard's brazenness and the Canaanite nation.
However, an 1800 commentary entitled Shir Chadash, written by Rabbi Dov Ber Treves, head of the Beth Din in Vilna, provides an additional explanation. He relates the text to the curse stated in Deuteronomy 28:49: "God shall bring a nation against you from the end of the earth; a nation whose language you shall not understand." There is a communication barrier between us and animals, such that all our words of goodwill do not prevent them from attacking us. It is in this aspect that evil nations are compared to wild animals - they ignore our offers of goodwill and oppress us instead.
This explanation focuses on the inability and unwillingness of wild animals and evil nations to hear that which we are saying. But perhaps we can explain that these prophecies are currently being fulfilled in the mirror image. We are being attacked by those "whose language we do not understand." Rather than the wild animals not listening to what we are saying, it is we that are no longer listening to what they are saying.
Bears can weigh up to a thousand pounds and can kill a man in one swipe. As Gary Larson has pointed out, they are telling us, "C'mon! Look at these teeth! Look at these claws! Do you think we're supposed to eat just nuts and berries?" But we don't listen; we regard them as objects of entertainment. Lions and tigers possess canines several inches long. But we regard them as cuddly kitty-cats. There are dozens of cases where people were attacked by animals simply because they were unwilling to listen to the obvious warning signals that the animals were giving them.
And the same is true with the nations that oppress us. It's no longer that they cannot or will not listen to us; it's that we are simply unwilling to listen to what they are saying. Arab nations state quite clearly that they do not accept the existence of Israel and intend to destroy it, one way or another. But many of our politicians and leaders blithely ignore this, fooling themselves into thinking that terrorists are harmless and that we can all get along. It is as the verse says - "God shall bring a nation against you whose language you shall not understand."
Our redemption, states the verse in Song of Songs, takes place "from the peak of Amana." In the literal sense, this refers to a mountain in northern Israel. But in Song of Songs, the primary meaning of a verse is its allegory; and in this case, "Amana" is based on the word emunah, faith in God. Faith in the goodwill of evil nations leads to doom and destruction. It is only faith in God that returns us to the security of our relationship with Him.
(c) Copyright by Rabbi Nosson Slifkin 2005. All rights reserved.
"I want to let him roll around a little first," said the trainer, "so that he can work off some energy. Then you can sit down next to him for your filming." I readily agreed.
When I did go to sit down next to the lion a short while later, the trainer gave me a warning: "Don't step on his tail. You don't want to do that."
As the videotape rolled, I found myself stumbling over my words, despite the fact that I had delivered my lecture about lions around a thousand times. Although Josef possessed the reputation of being the best-trained lion in the movie industry, he was no kitty-cat, and he made it very clear that my presence next to him was only being tolerated by virtue of his graciousness.
Apparently, the photographs present a different image.
"Oooooh, what an ooozy-woozy, softy-wofty, big pussycat!" gurgled my sister-in-law. "Didn't you just want to grab his big mane and give him a big hug?"
No, I told her, because I value my life.
But her attitude was far from unusual. Lions and other large predators have become, in the eyes of many people, big cuddly toys. I don't know if this is due to Disney or to Beanie Babies, but whatever the reason, these animals are no longer perceived as the dangerous carnivores that they are. This has had tragic consequences, such as with the Colorado animal refuge volunteer who tried to demonstrate to visitors how the Bengal tiger was actually very friendly. She lost her arm. Then there is the story of the visitor to Yellowstone who smeared Jell-O over his child's face so that he could take a great photo of black bears licking it off, with consequences too tragic to describe. (I have had a black bear lick my face, but only an extremely well trained bear, and even in that case, the trainer warned me to keep my hands behind my back at all times.)
"With me [you will be exiled] from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon until you will return, then look from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards." (Song of Songs 4:8)
This cryptic verse alludes to the fate of the Jewish people in exile from the Temple, referred to as "Lebanon" either because of the abundance of Lebanese wood used in its construction, or because it whitens (laban) the sins of Israel.
The "dens of lions" and "mountains of leopards" are explained by the Midrash to refer to the nations that oppress us in exile. Simply speaking, this is because they are as menacing and dangerous as these animals. More specific parallels are drawn between the lion's brute power and the kingdom of Babylon, and between the leopard's brazenness and the Canaanite nation.
However, an 1800 commentary entitled Shir Chadash, written by Rabbi Dov Ber Treves, head of the Beth Din in Vilna, provides an additional explanation. He relates the text to the curse stated in Deuteronomy 28:49: "God shall bring a nation against you from the end of the earth; a nation whose language you shall not understand." There is a communication barrier between us and animals, such that all our words of goodwill do not prevent them from attacking us. It is in this aspect that evil nations are compared to wild animals - they ignore our offers of goodwill and oppress us instead.
This explanation focuses on the inability and unwillingness of wild animals and evil nations to hear that which we are saying. But perhaps we can explain that these prophecies are currently being fulfilled in the mirror image. We are being attacked by those "whose language we do not understand." Rather than the wild animals not listening to what we are saying, it is we that are no longer listening to what they are saying.
Bears can weigh up to a thousand pounds and can kill a man in one swipe. As Gary Larson has pointed out, they are telling us, "C'mon! Look at these teeth! Look at these claws! Do you think we're supposed to eat just nuts and berries?" But we don't listen; we regard them as objects of entertainment. Lions and tigers possess canines several inches long. But we regard them as cuddly kitty-cats. There are dozens of cases where people were attacked by animals simply because they were unwilling to listen to the obvious warning signals that the animals were giving them.
And the same is true with the nations that oppress us. It's no longer that they cannot or will not listen to us; it's that we are simply unwilling to listen to what they are saying. Arab nations state quite clearly that they do not accept the existence of Israel and intend to destroy it, one way or another. But many of our politicians and leaders blithely ignore this, fooling themselves into thinking that terrorists are harmless and that we can all get along. It is as the verse says - "God shall bring a nation against you whose language you shall not understand."
Our redemption, states the verse in Song of Songs, takes place "from the peak of Amana." In the literal sense, this refers to a mountain in northern Israel. But in Song of Songs, the primary meaning of a verse is its allegory; and in this case, "Amana" is based on the word emunah, faith in God. Faith in the goodwill of evil nations leads to doom and destruction. It is only faith in God that returns us to the security of our relationship with Him.
(c) Copyright by Rabbi Nosson Slifkin 2005. All rights reserved.