(impure); Shlomo called it שׂוֹנֵא (enemy); Yeshayahu called it מִכְשׁוֹל (stumbling block); Yechezkel called it אֶבֶן (stone); and Yoel called it צְפוֹנִי (hidden one). If so, there are seven names for the Yetzer Hara, but this doesn't mean it wants to take out seven mortgages with seven different names. Rather, these seven names represent its seven unique forces. In contrast, the Yetzer Tov – the good inclination – has only one name and one force! A person stands during the Yamim Noraim and says, "Ribono Shel Olam! You placed me on an uneven playing field – seven pull me down and only one pulls me up! How do You expect me to overcome this?!" This claim, however, is incorrect, because Chazal say (Kiddushin 30b) that if it weren't for Hakadosh Baruch Hu's help, one could not overcome it at all – therefore, divine assistance is needed and received. For proof of divine assistance being necessary to overcome the Yetzer Hara, we can look back to the two angels (Uza and Aza’el) who descended to this world believing they could handle the task themselves:
ִרְאוּ בְנֵי וַיִּקְחוּ לָהֶם נָשִׁים לֹהִים אֶת־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם כִּי טֹבֹת הֵנָּה וַיִּקְחוּ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בָּחָרוּ׃
The distinguished men saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose. These two angels said to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Send us down below – we can withstand all sins!" Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded: "By all means, descend!" But as soon as they descended and saw the daughters of man, they sinned! And they could not return to the heavens. They remain in Azazel until today. Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows and understands our inclinations, and therefore He has mercy on us – “Just cry out to Me, and I will save you!"
The next acronym for אלול comes from the sefer of Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira, Shaarei Arucha. He points to the Pasuk: דּוֹמֶה דוֹדִי לִצְבִי אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים – My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Elul is surrounded by the צְבִי!
After these learnings, we’ll focus on Hakadosh Baruch Hu's role in the work of the gazelle and its special connection to us in the coming days. In Sefer Shmuel II (1:18), David HaMelech eulogizes Shaul and Yehonatan with the following words:
וַיֹּאמֶר לְלַמֵּד בְּנֵי־יְהוּדָה קָשֶׁת הִנֵּה כְתוּבָה עַל־סֵפֶר הַיָּשָׁר׃ הַצְּבִי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־בָּמוֹתֶיךָ חָלָל אֵיךָ נָפְלוּ גִבּוֹרִים׃
He said, "To teach the Bnei Yehuda archery behold it is written in the Sefer HaYashar. HaTzvi Yisrael, on your heights you have been rendered a corpse. How the mighty have fallen."
Some of the twelve tribes received animal titles, such as Yehuda received the title of a lion, Yissachar – a donkey, Naftali – a gazelle, Dan – a snake, Yosef – an ox, Binyamin – a wolf, etc. The question arises: why in the above Pasuk are the descendants of Binyamin referred to as הַצְּבִי יִשְׂרָאֵל which is not his title? He should say הַזְּאֵב יִשְׂרָאֵל!
Another question that needs clarification is, the Gemara in Ketubot (112a) asks the following: What is meant by the Pasuk וְאֶתֵּן לְךָ אֶרֶץ חֶמְדָּה נַחֲלַת צְבִי – And I gave you a desirable land, the heritage of the gazelle? Why is Eretz Yisrael compared to a צְבִי? The Gemara teaches, just as a gazelle's skin does not hold its flesh, so too Eretz Yisrael does not hold its produce. Another explanation, just as a gazelle is swifter than all animals, so too Eretz Yisrael is swifter than all lands to ripen its fruits. Another Gemara (Gittin 57a) teaches:
Ulla said: I saw this place myself after its destruction, and even sixty myriads of reeds could not fit in it; yet it held sixty myriads of large cities at its time! A Sadducee said to Rabbi Chanina: You are liars, the sages! You taught that there were six hundred thousand cities in Har HaMelech, yet in reality, there isn't enough space for even six hundred thousand reeds! Rabbi Chanina replied: אֶרֶץ צְבִי – a land of the gazelle, is written about Eretz Yisrael, and we must interpret the comparison of Eretz Yisrael to a gazelle as follows: Just as a gazelle's skin does not hold its flesh once removed, as the skin contracts and can no longer contain the gazelle's flesh, so too Eretz Yisrael: when inhabited, it is spacious, and when not inhabited, it contracts.
The Mishnah in Avot (5:20) states:
יְהוּדָה בֶן תֵּימָא אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּשֶׁר, רָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם.
Yehuda ben Tema said: Be strong as a leopard, and swift as an eagle, and fleet as a gazelle, and brave as a lion, to do the will of your Father who is in heaven.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Tema chose four animals, and one of them is the gazelle. Why did he specifically choose the gazelle and not the cheetah or the leopard – are they not faster?
Another question: the Gemara (Kiddushin 82b) says:
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: I‘ve never seen a gazelle as a fig keeper, nor a lion as a porter, nor a fox as a shopkeeper, and they are sustained without distress. The lion never feels distress [when it is hungry, it goes to the field, and the first zebra it sees, it devours!] And they were created only to serve me, and I was created to serve my Creator.
Rabbotai, in the above Gemara, why was the gazelle chosen to demonstrate something never seen as a fig-keeper? I don’t think we’ve ever seen a gazelle serving as a high-tech worker or optometrist either! What connects the צְבִי to the fig-keeper?
The Rashash says, the meaning of a gazelle as a fig-keeper is because the gazelle is swift on its feet; it can run quickly around to guard them from all sides. Additionally, it can be explained based on what is found in the Midrash at the end of Shir HaShirim, also brought by Tosafot in Chullin (59b). A gazelle, even when sleeping, has one eye open, and it implies there that it sees with this open eye, and there is nothing better for a guard than this trait.
The Ye’arot Devash brings this point to our relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We find the Pasuk עֵינֵי ה' אֶל צַדִּיקִים – The eyes of Hashem are toward the righteous, along with another Pasuk of עֵין ה' אֶל יְרֵאָיו – The eye of Hashem is toward those who fear Him. This is seemingly contradictory, referring to two eyes and then one eye. The answer is, one is when they do His will, and the other when they do not do His will. It is known that one eye is a metaphor for the attribute of Din – judgment, and one eye for the attribute of Rachamim – mercy, and therefore when they do the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, He watches with both eyes, for even to the attribute of Din they are in good standing. But when they do not do His will and cannot endure the attribute of Din, He watches only with one eye, and it is the eye of Rachamim; and it is known that a gazelle when it sleeps looks with one eye, therefore it says: וּדְמֵה־לְךָ דּוֹדִי לִצְבִי בְּרַח – Flee, my beloved, and be like a gazelle; meaning, you should look only with one eye, and it is the eye of mercy. Thus, the gazelle is a metaphor for the state when we are not doing the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Further in his words, the Ye’arot Devash says that a king must be cool-headed and not angry. Why is this? Because a king has many things on his mind, and sometimes it can take him out of his calmness. The Rambam has written in Moreh Nevuchim that Moshe Rabbeinu's main sin at the rock was that he spoke to the people in anger: "Listen now, you rebels!" He should have spoken calmly, and this is a great sin for the leader of the congregation. And if Shaul had behaved this way, it is not surprising that he was punished. But in truth, Shaul behaved calmly with all the people, to the point that he had no anger at all; like a gazelle that has no anger. This is הַצְּבִי יִשְׂרָאֵל – the gazelle of Israel; the head of Israel, likened to a gazelle that had no anger at all, and therefore he should not be blamed for being angry with the people.
Therefore, when Klal Yisrael do the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, He judges them with both eyes. But when they do not act according to His will, He uses only one eye – and which eye? The right eye, which is the eye of mercy and kindness! And this is the attribute that David HaMelech found in Shaul when he said to him הַצְּבִי יִשְׂרָאֵל – "I have never seen you angry!"
The Ye’arot Devash explains that this is the Tzvi Yisrael, who dealt with Bnei Yisrael with the attribute of mercy, not with strict justice at all. Therefore, in Shir HaShirim Rabbah (1:15), it says: עֵינַיִךְ יוֹנִים – Your eyes are doves, which Rashi interprets as referring to the Sanhedrin, who are likened to doves. This is because, in addition to the wise of Klal Yisrael never forgetting what they learned, they also behaved without anger and had no bitterness or spite, like a dove who has none of these attributes. The Ye’arot Devash then closes: Fortunate is the person who is saved from anger, for anger resides in the bosom of fools, and unfortunately, this trait causes harm to a person in this world and the next.
