The Traits of an Animal

Judah ben Tema said: Be bold (az) like a leopard, and swift as an eagle, and fleet as a gazelle, and brave (gibor) as a lion, to do the will of your Father who is in heaven. He used to say: the arrogant (az panim) is headed for Gehinnom and the blushing for the garden of Eden. May it be the will, O Lord our God, that your city be rebuilt speedily in our days and set our portion in the studying of your Torah.

Using descriptive adjectives and vivid imagery, Rabbi Judah ben Tema encourages us to inject exemplary character strengths of certain animals into our service of God: Be bold like a leopard, and swift as an eagle, and fleet as a gazelle, and brave as a lion.  Rabbi Judah’s method itself is bold. On the heels of looking to role models such as Abraham, David and Jonathan, and Hillel and Shammai, for character growth, Rabbi Judah instead looks to the animal kingdom for motivation. Rabbi Judah extends Ben Zoma’s definition of wisdom, namely, the ability to learn from anyone (Pirkei Avot4:1), to the ability to learn from anything. The mental images of these animals serves as powerful prompts, persuading us to serve God with dynamism.

Collecting the different interpretations and translations of these adjectives from the commentaries, we are left with a host of spiritual and moral virtues to emulate. We should be bold and brazen like a leopard. This includes not backing down from religious rituals or Torah values when others question or mock our commitment. Alternatively. Rabbi Menachem Meiri understands this as grit and perseverance, essential traits for life-success, as Dr. Angela Duckworth has demonstrated in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  

We should be as swift as an eagle (or according to Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, a vulture), and fleet as a gazelle to run towards our religious responsibilities. Meiri looks at these two descriptions as being synonymous. They are alluding to zerizut - zest, alacrity, and enthusiasm. This cluster of character traits is found in the psychological literature to be highly associated with happiness and flourishing. In a similar vein, Rabbi Shlomo Volbe in Alei Shur writes that if one wants to work on increasing zerizut, one should work on being happy with one’s lot. Happiness is the key to being religiously energized.

Finally, we should be gibor - brave or as strong - like a lion. Rabbeinu Yonah explains that we should infuse our mental and physical energy, bringing our whole selves - our thoughts, intentions, and actions - to the performance of the commandments. This level of attention and dedication requires much psychological strength. Meiri understands gibor as the moral courage required to convince the mind and body to act when necessary, despite proclivities towards timidity. Connecting this idea to Pirkei Avot 4:1, Rashbatz understands gibor as self-control – “Ben Zoma taught: who is strong (gibor), he who conquers his inclination.”

In contrast to the previous Mishna which intimated a more subdued religious personality of Abraham (good eye, humble spirit, moderate appetite), this one, writes Rabbi Samuel de Uceda, urges a more emboldened stance. The virtuousness of these traits is context dependent. Boldness could rupture relationships and swiftness deemed impetuousness. Maimonides points to the fact that Judah ben Tema himself praises the boldness (az) of the leopard in the first half of the Mishna, and then uses the same word, az, to indicate someone headed for Gehinnom. He writes,

Even though he said, "[the] brazen-faced [are bound] for Gehinnom, he commanded brazenness in the rebuke of rebels and similar to it. And it is as if he said, "Use a little of the vices in their [correct] place for the will of God, may He be blessed, and His truth." [And it is] like the statement of the prophet (II Samuel 22:27), "and with the perverse, You are wily." However [it is] on condition that your intention is the truth; and that is [the meaning of] his saying, "to do the Will of your Father Who is in Heaven."

The religiously virtuous, needs to have the practical wisdom to apply these traits to the right situations.

Unique to Pirkei Avot this Mishna ends with a prayer for the rebuilding of the Temple. According to Meiri this may have originally been the last Mishna in Pirkei Avot, as the three subsequent Mishnayot in the fifth chapter may have been added later. Therefore, it is fitting to end the tractate with a prayer for the rebuilding of the Temple. Other commentaries suggest that we are praying to God that we should merit the rebuilding of the Temple, as direct consequence of our commitment to cultivating these virtuous traits.

Perhaps, though, it is not just a prayer, but is itself a strategy for imbuing the courage, energy, strength, and zest needed to serve God. Rabbeinu Yonah points to the verse in Isaiah (40:31), "But they who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength." The way to increase vitality is through hope in God. Prayer inspires hope and focuses us on our mission and purpose, thereby infusing the requisite mental and physical verve that will help us build towards the ultimate redemption.