One of the most majestic moments when on a Safari is seeing the male lion which Chazal refer to as “The King of the Animals.” The question often asked is what makes him the king? After all, he isn’t the strongest animal out there. Certainly an elephant is bigger and tougher. Moreover, the Tur quotes Chazal as saying that one “Should arise like a lion” which is especially true during this month of Teshuva and even more so during Aseres Yamai Teshuva. Regardless of whether you are Sfardi or Ashkenazi this is an auspicious time for connecting and returning to Hashem.
But when you watch the lion in the wild he can often be found sleeping for literally 20 hours of the day. On what basis then does he deserve the revered title of “The King of the Animals?”
A Pasuk in Mishlai reveals the secret and teaches us a lesson that we can take with us. גיבור בבהמה לא יבוש מפני כל ליש. Shlomo Hamelech calls the lion by his other name—ליש --as being the king who is ready to take on anyone. So long as there is a worthwhile cause he is ready to enter the conflict. Maybe we can even play with the words of לי יש. When the lion wakes up and is hungry, he will overcome his laziness and take on any animal in order to protect himself and his pride. The Ta z explains that this is the lesson for us as well in our Avodas Hashem. We are always battling the Yetzer Hara, first upon awakening and then throughout the day to move past our laziness and comfort zone. We must strive to handle any challenge even if it seems beyond our abilities which, according to Chazal in Kiddushin, may often be too much for us to handle. However, if Hashem sent the test our way we must be able to overcome it.
One of my favorite vorts which I saw years agoל on the beginning of this week’s Parsha is, when you go out to war against the real enemy--the Yetzer Hara-- Hashem will give him into your hand. Why? Because you went out to war. You took the first step and Hashem helps you with the rest. The Baal Tanya says that the very act of going out to war-i.e. using our most prized weapon, Tefila- is our nuclear bomb. The greatest challenge to success usually is our very selves. We believe that we are unable to proceed, especially when we feel like our sins are so grave that we have no expectations that Hashem can forgive us.
I brought up a beautiful idea from Rav Nachman that gives us much chizuk regarding this problem. Rav Nachman asks why is it is that most holidays seem to fall out in the middle of the month. Pesach and Sukkos are dead center and even Shavuos is in the first quarter of the month. Only Rosh Hashana is on the first day. One explanation for this is that since it’s the day of creation and the start of a new year it should certainly be at the beginning of the month. The truth is that the real date of creation was six days before the 25th of Elul, not on the first day. The question sounds simple but the answer is profound. The day of Rosh Hashana is on Rosh Chodesh. The Gemara in Chullin says that on Rosh Chodesh Hashem asks that we bring a Korban Chatas on his behalf as on atonement for making the moon small. Hashem set Rosh Hashana as the day of reckoning, the day when we approach Hashem prepared to restart and make amends. We should therefore be heartened to know that Hashem himself is, so to speak, engaging in Teshuva too.
by Rabbi Daniel Coren
