Leopard Layout

8/18/2019 Leopard Layout

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Leopard

נמר

Namer

Te Leopards of Israel

Te srikingly beauiul leopard is he mos widespread oall he big cas. I lives in a variey o habias in much o

Arica, he Middle Eas, and Asia. In ormer imes, leop-ards were abundan hroughou Israel, especially in hehilly and mounainous regions:

Wih me rom Lebanon, O bride, come wih me romLebanon, look rom he peak o Amana, rom he peako Senir and Hermon, rom he dens o lions, rom hemounains o leopards. (Song. :).

Te leopard o he mounains was he Anaolian leop-ard, Panthera pardus tulliana , which was ound in much ohe hilly regions o Israel. Afer he 1 Arab pogrom inSaed, leopards moved ino he desroyed own. Te Ana-olian leopard was sill recorded in he Carmel region in1, and was ound in he Galilee unil as recenly as he10s. Tese were one o he larges subspecies o leopards, weighing up o 10 pounds, and preying on wild boar, por-

cupines, hyrax, and livesock. Tey were also undoubedlydangerous o humans; leopards o his size are known o

be man-eaers in oher pars o he world, and are hunedas a resul. In he rs decade o he wenieh cenury, aleas ve leopards were killed in beween Jerusalem andBei Shemesh; one o hem badly mauled a person afer being sho. Te las specimen was killed by a shepherd

near Hania in 1. Anoher leopard subspecies ha livedin he area was he Sinai leopard, Panthera pardus jarvus. I

was huned by he Bedouin upon whose goas i preyed,and is now exinc.

oday, he Arabian leopard, Panthera pardus nimr , ishe only subspecies o leopard o be ound in Israel. I isone o he smalles subspecies o leopards, weighing onlyup o abou seveny pounds. Te Arabian leopard usuallypreys on ibex and hyrax, and rarely atacks livesock. Bui, oo, aces exincion. Some leopards o his subspeciesormerly inhabied he popular Ein Gedi area, and learned

ha an easy source o ood was o be ound in he dogsand cas o he local kibbuz. As a resul, wo emales were

מרֹאש

אמנה

מרֹאש

י תשו

אי ֹו ב ָת

ן ֹו נ ָבלמ

אתי

כלה

ן ֹו נ ָבלמ

אתי

׃ ם י ִ ֵ מנ י ֵ המ ת ֹו י ָ ֲא תֹונֹעממ ן ֹו מ ֶח ר י ִ נש

שיר השירים פרק ד


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rapped and aken ino capiviy, causing he collapse ohe leopard populaion in ha area. A sudy o leop-ard droppings, perormed in 00, showed an esimaedpopulaion size o jus ve males and hree emales o he

Arabian leopard in he Negev and Judean deser regions.Te chances o encounering a leopard in Ein Gedi odayare so slim ha, on he sign warning visiors abou leop-ards, somebody once scribbled, “Wach ou or polar bearsoo!”

Tere are also some names o places in Scripure haare derived rom he leopard. Tere was a oried ciy ohe ribe o Gad named Nimrah (leopardess), and here

was a region in Moab reerred o as Nimrim (leopards).Te almud reers o ciies named Namer and Nameri. Wih regard o names o people, Nimrod’s name may relaeo he leopard; bu alhough he lion, bear, and wol havelong been popular as Jewish names (Aryeh, Dov and Zev),he leopard has never received such an honor. Tis may

be because naming people afer animals was a Europeancusom, and leopards were absen rom Europe.

Leopards, igers, and Cheetahs

Tere is boh a srong radiion and clear evidence ha henamer o Scripure (pronounced nah-mehr ) is he leopard.Tis animal is ofen cied in Scripure as one o he greapredaors in he Land o Israel, along wih lions, bears, and

wolves, which is indeed he saus o he leopard. Te coao he namer is described as spoted; as we shall see laer,

perhaps “bloched” is a more accurae ranslaion, and hisperecly describes he leopard. Tere is also evidence orhe leopard rom cognae languages; in Akkadian and Ara-

bic, he leopard is known as nimr (plural, nimrin). Te Ara-maic name or he leopard is nimra.

However, oday here is some conusion regardinghe erm namer . Beginning in a leas he nineeenh cen-ury, and possibly earlier, he word namer was commonlyundersood o reer o he iger. Illusraions o he Mish-na’s maxim ha one should be “as bold as a namer ” some-imes depic a iger insead o a leopard. Even in Modern

Hebrew oday, he word namer is ofen used or he iger,despie he ac ha tigris is he more correc erm. How-ever, igers are naives o cenral and easern Asia and areno ound anywhere near he Land o Israel. Tey wouldno hereore be he subjec o discussion in Scripure.

Tere is one reerence o he namer in Scripure hamigh no reer o he leopard. I occurs in he conex o aprophecy describing he error o he Chaldeans:

Teir horses are ligher han nemerim. (Hab. 1:)

Te descripion o he horses ells us ha he namer isa creaure ha is renowned or being “ligh.” Te deni-

ion o his is a litle difficul o pinpoin wih accuracy. Icould mean “agile.” Leopards are cerainly very agile crea-ures, able o lighly bound up rees and pounce on heirprey. However, i more likely means “swif.” Leopards are

very as over shor disances; hey cach heir prey eiher by ambush or by salking i o wihin a close range andhen making a very shor and as rush. Bu his descrip-ion would cerainly ar beter apply o he cheeah. Techeeah, which is described more horoughly in he ol-lowing chaper, is able o run much aser han he leopard,reaching speeds o up o seveny miles an hour over shor

disances.Te name namer could no reer exclusively o cheeahs;

here are reerences o he namer ha do no mach hecheeah a all. As we shall see laer, he Mishna describeshe namer as being brazen, which can only reer o he leop-ard; cheeahs, being relaively weak animals, are wary andshy. I seems mos likely ha he erm namer is a genericerm or boh leopards and cheeahs. Te very name ohe leopard in Hebrew appears o reer o he variegaedcoloring o is coa, which would also be applicable o hecheeah. Te Mishna uses he erm hamenamer o describe

someone who sows his eld in uneven paches, which isexplained o be based on he word namer :

“Hamenamer ” – ha he sows in various places in he eld,like he appearance o he skin o a leopard, which isspoted. (Rambam, commenary o Mishna Pe’ah :)

Tis Arabian leopard is poised on a hill in he Judaean Deser

ק ֹו ח ָ ֵ מ

ו י ָ ׁ ש וּפ

ו י ָ ׁ ש פ

ופשו

ב ע

מּזאבי

חדו ו י ָ סוס

ם י ִ ֵ מנמ

קלו

׃ ל ֹו כ אל שח רשנכ ופע בֹאו

:ח פרק ח קוק

In he hisoric Rymanow synagogue, he namer isillusraed as a iger insead o a leopard


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Cheeahs and leopards are basically similar in ermso heir coloraion; alhough cheeahs have spos andleopards have blochy markings, boh would cerainly bedescribed as variegaed in heir coloraion. However, i is

ineresing o noe he wording o he amous verse hareers o he leopard’s markings:

Can he Cushie change his skin, or he leopard his bloches (chavarburotav)? So oo, can you, in whomevil is ingrained, do good? (Jer. 1:)

Te word used o describe he leopard’s markings, cha-varburotav , is convenionally ranslaed as “spos,” bu hisis no a precise ranslaion. Amongs he radiional com-menaors, some ranslae chavarburotav as ketem , which

is used elsewhere o reer o a sain. Ohers relae i ohe erm chabura , “wound,” and explain ha i reers o hemark lef by a wound. Tus, his paricular verse seems ospecically reer o he bruise-like bloching o he leopardraher han he more perec circular spos ha a cheeahpossesses.

Te Greek Leopard One o he mos inriguing appearances o he leopard inScripure is in a propheic vision o Daniel:

Daniel old he ollowing: “In my vision a nigh, I sawhe our winds o heaven sirring up he grea sea. Fourmighy beass, each differen rom he oher, emergedrom he sea. . . . Te rs was like a lion . . . and behold,anoher beas, a second one, similar o a bear. . . . Afer-

wards I beheld, and here was anoher, similar o a leop-

t ere an t e p , n it

e , o i o iv ....

: –

׃

י ה מ יב ל יט ה כלו ל ם תו ת ם א תיו ג ר ר ב ב מ ָ ֹו ר ֹו ע י ִ ׁ ּ וכ ךֹ פ

ירמיה יג:כג


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על עֹוף די א בע גפין כנמר לה י אח ארו ת י ֵ ֲה ה ח דנה אתר ב

ן לחי תא שלטן יהיב לה׃ י ִ ׁ שא גביה א בעה

דני ל ו:ו

ard, which had upon is back our wings o a bird; he beas also had our heads; and dominion was given oi.” (Dan. :–)

In classical Jewish hough, he our beass in Daniel’s vision represen he our exiles o which he Jewish peo-ple have been subjeced. Te leopard was he parallelo Yavan – Ancien Greece. Te our wings on is back

symbolize he rapid expansion o he Greek empire o allour corners o he world; alernaively, hey represenhe division o he empire afer Alexander’s deah inoour regions. Te our heads o he leopard reer o heour generals beween whom he empire was divided afer

Alexander’s deah: Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus, andPolemy.

Bu wha is he inheren similariy o leopards o Ancien Greece? Is i jus ha he leopard was he hirdgreaes predaor in biblical Israel, and Greece was hehird oppressive empire? Tere may also be symbolic

similariies beween leopards and Ancien Greece. Onepossible explanaion or his is ha leopards are srikingly

beauiul animals. Greece, oo, was renowned or is aes-heic values; and he orah isel speaks o beauy beingpromised o Japeh, one o whose descendans was Yavan.

Anoher explanaion is ha, as we have seen earlier, Scrip-ure highlighs he namer (wheher leopard or cheeah)or is swifness. Tis may represen he amazingly rapidexpansion o Alexander’s empire. Bu, as we shall now see,here may be a more undamenal reason why he leopardrepresens Ancien Greece.

Te Brazen Leopard

Te Mishna describes he undamenal characer rais o various animals, including he leopard:

Yehuda b. eima said: Be as brazen as a leopard, as lighas a vulure, as swif as a gazelle, and as powerul as alion o ulll he will o your Faher in Heaven. (Mishna

Avot :0)

Te erm used here or “brazen” is he word az, which

generally means “srengh.” However, leopards are no hesronges o animals, and hus i mus relae o inner raherhan ouer srengh. Some ranslae he Mishna’s use o heerm as “energeic,” bu i is usually undersood as reer-ring o “boldness,” “brazenness,” or “chutzpa.” Leopardsare ofen described as “ boldly marked,” bu heir boldnessis no limied o heir coloraion; i is heir undamenalnaure. In he words o he ormer curaor o he Hai-Barnaure reserve in Israel, Bill Clark: “Tey don’ have hespeed o a cheeah, nor can hey claim he brue orce o

a lion. Insead, hey rely on heir wis. Tey’re smar, and,pound or pound, hey’re he scrappies o he big cas. . . .

No oher predaor conrons is vicims wih such rampag-ing ury.” Famous lion huner Colonel John Paterson,

who laer became a heroic commander o Jews in Pales-ine, records ha a leopard once broke ino his shed andkilled his enire ock o hiry sheep and goas. I had nodesire or capabiliy o eaing so many animals; he atack

was an ac o brazen aggression.Tis brazenness, in Hebrew azut, o he leopard is men-

ioned on several occasions in rabbinic lieraure. We shallexplore some o hese reerences laer, bu or now we shallcie jus one such insance. Te Midrash expounds he

verse ha we menioned earlier, “Wih me rom Lebanon,O bride . . . rom he dens o lions, rom he mounains oleopards” (Song. :) as reerring o a variey o peopleand naions in our hisory:

“From he mounains o leopards” – Tese are heCanaanies. Jus as he leopard is brazen, so oo heCanaanies were brazen. Tis is as i is writen, “No aman was lef in Ai or in Beh-El who did no go ou aferIsrael” (Josh. :1). (Shir HaShirim Rabba :)

Te brazen aggression o he leopard also explains why

his animal was chosen as a symbol o Ancien Greece.

Tis -year-old mosaic o a leopard is fom heancien Maon synagogue a Nirim in Israel.


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Alexander o Macedon began his reign by killing all poen-ial rivals o he hrone. Under his miliary direcion, heGreek Empire expanded is conquess wih unparallelederociy.

Te word az also carries he connoaion o deance.Te brazen deance o he leopard is presened by Mah-aral o Prague as symbolizing he clash beween AncienGreece and he naion o Israel. Alhough he early Hel-lenisic kingdom o Polemaic Egyp, and he Syrian Seleu-cid dynasy o King Aniochus , were relaively oleran

vis-à-vis Judaism, his was no o las. Te olerance owardhe Jews ended wih Aniochus Epiphanes, who pro-mulgaed various decrees agains he pracice o Judaismalong wih cruel measures. Te Greeks deled he emple,and hey orced he Jewish people o discard heir orahliesyle:

“I saw in my vision . . . anoher, like a leopard” (Dan. :1,) – his reers o Greece, which se up decrees and old

Israel: “Wrie on he horn o an ox ha you have noshare in he World o Come!” (Vayikra Rabba 1:)

Good and Brazen

Te evil naure o azut was no limied o he Greeks; i issomehing ha is a danger or all o us. Brazenness sandsa odds wih a person’s sense o shame, which is supposedo keep him rom sin. Ye no characer rai is entirely goodor bad. All rais can be used eiher way, and azut is noexcepion.

Yehuda b. eima said: Be as brazen as a leopard, as lighas a vulure, as swif as a gazelle, and as powerul as a

lion o ulll he will o your Faher in Heaven. (Mishna Avot :0)

An example o his posiive applicaion o brazennessis discussed in he almud, discussing a person who is oopoor o afford delicacies or Shabba:

Te School o R. Eliyahu augh: Even hough R. Akiva

says ha i is beter o make one’s Shabba like a week-day raher han o receive chariy, one should do some-hing small in one’s home o honor Shabba. Wha is

“somehing small”? Rav Pappa said: I is sh ried in isown oil wih our. Tis is as R. Yehuda b. eima augh:Be as brazen as a leopard . . . o ulll he will o yourFaher in Heaven. ( Pesachim 11a)

Rashi explains ha he almud is urging a person osrenghen himsel in he commandmen o honor Shab-

ba beyond his naural abiliy. He should brazenly purchase

somehing beyond his means, albei somehing small, inhonor o Shabba. Tis is analogous o he leopard, which boldly exceeds is limiaions in is willingness o ackleanimals much larger han isel.

Te brazenness o he leopard is explained by he our-eenh-cenury halakhic auhoriy Rabbi Yaakov ben Ashero reer o he need or a person no o be inimidaed byhose who would dissuade him rom doing he righ hing:

I species our areas in he service o he Creaor, blessed is He, and i begins wih “Be as brazen as heleopard,” or i is a grea principle in he service o heCreaor. For here are imes when a person desires odo a mizva, bu he rerains rom doing i, because hereare people who are mocking him. Tereore, i insrucsha a person should be brazenaced agains all hose

who mock him, and he should no rerain rom doinghe mizva. (Tur , Orach Chayim 1)

Jus as he leopard is no inimidaed, so oo a personshould no be inimidaed. Tis, oo, is explained o relaeo he batle beween he Greeks and he Hasmoneans. Inmysical Jewish hough, vicory does no jus mean mili-

ary or even ideological conques; i means ha one akeshe enemy’s evil rai and uses i or he good. Ten onehas ruly conquered he enemy, which is really he enemy

wihin.

Te Greeks used brazenness in a negaive way. Bu heHasmoneans ook he rai o brazenness and used i orhe good. Te leopard sands unaraid o creaures haouweigh i or ounumber i. Likewise, even hough heHasmoneans were ar ounumbered by he giganic Greekarmy, hey brazenly sood rm and ough back.

capion needed


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“Be as brazen as a leopard…to ulllthe will o your Father in Heaven.”

(Mishna Avot :) t


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Leopard Indelity

Te word “leopard” is a combinaion o he words “leo,” which reers o he lion, and “ pard ,” which reers o hepanher (based on he Greek párdos and Lain pardus). I

was believed ha he leopard was a hybrid o he lion wihhe panher, and his is how he leopard received is name.

Bu wha exacly is a panher? Te Midrash reers o a“panher” ha was sen amongs he Egypians, bu i is di-cul o know which animal is being reerenced:

“He sen he swarms amongs hem o devour hem” (Ps.:) – . . . R. Chama and R. Yehoshua boh say ha i was a ype o wild beas, called panther , ha he HolyOne brough. ( Midrash Tehillim )

Te Midrash is borrowing he Greek erm pánhēr.oday, he name “panher” is ofen a source o conusion;i usually reers o he American cougar, while he erm

“black panher” is ofen used o describe a black leopardor black jaguar, which are wo enirely differen species.In aniquiy, he erm “panher” is likewise o unclearmeaning (hough i could no reer o he cougar or jaguar,

which are boh American species). I appears ha in aniq-uiy, he disincions beween lions, leopards, and cheeah

were no necessarily he same as hose o modern zoology.Tis relaes a leas in par o a belie ha hybridizaion wasan ordinary occurrence wih hese creaures.

I is no only wih he Greeks and Romans ha heleopard was hough o be a produc o crossbreeding. wo

prominen feenh-cenury rabbinic auhoriies wrieha he leopard is a produc o such indeliy:

Te leopard is born rom a wild boar and a lioness. For when lions come ino hea, he lioness pokes her headino he ores hickes and roars o summon a mae,and he boar hears her voice and cohabis wih her; heoffspring o his pair is he leopard. (Rabbi OvadiahMiBarenura, commenary o Pirkei Avot :0; alsoRabbi Shimon ben zemach Duran, Magen Avot :)

Ye as Rabbi Samuel Srashun (Rashash) already noed

in he nineeenh cenury, his is problemaic rom a sci-enic sandpoin. I is possible o crossbreed some ani-mals, such as wolves and dogs, because hey are genei-cally closely relaed. Likewise, one can crossbreed horses,donkeys, and zebras because all o hese are closely relaed(alhough he offspring are mosly serile). Bu i is impos-sible o crossbreed pigs and lions, because hey are genei-cally very differen rom each oher. Ramban likewisenoes ha i is inconceivable or animals ha are very di-eren o produce offspring.

However, ohers see a meaphor in hese rabbinic reer-ences o he leopard being a hybrid o he lion and boar.Rabbi zaddok HaKohen o Lublin inerpres his expla-naion allegorically, wriing ha he lion, which ofen sym-

bolizes Babylon, here represens he almudic knowledgeo he Jewish academies in Babylon. Te boar represenshe wisdom o he Edomie Empire, Rome. Te leopardhereore represens Greece, which caused he adulera-ion o he wisdom o orah wih he wisdom o Rome.

Alhough, in a biological sense, leopards do no origi-nae rom inerspecies hybridizaion, hey do seem o havea propensiy or inerbreeding wih oher big cas. KoshienZoo in Japan bred a leopard o a lioness, which subse-quenly gave birh o a liter o “leopons.” Te Hagenbeckierpark in Hamburg maed a puma wih a leopardess,producing “pumapards,” and a iger wih a leopardess, pro-ducing a “igard.” A aciliy in he US rs maed a jaguar

wih a leopardess, giving birh o a single emale “jagulep,” which was in urn maed by a male lion, producing a litero “lijaguleps”!

Nor are such hybrids necessarily limied o aricialcircumsances. A rare spoted lion, known as he marozi ,is hough by many o be an example o naural cross-

breeding beween he lion and he leopard, alhough oherexplanaions have been offered. And in he early 100s,Indian naives regularly spoke o an animal hey knewas he doglas , which was claimed o be a naural hybrid

beween he leopard and he iger. Alhough i was neveresablished ha hybridizaion was he cause, here wererepors o some large leopards in he area wih sriping onheir abdomens.

Wheher in ancien ideas abou is ancesry, is crossbreeding abiliy wih oher big cas, or mysical imagery,he leopard is a symbol o hybridizaion and indeliy. Tis

A rare phoograph o a leopon (a hybrid o a leopard wih a lioness)


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is a heme ound in Jewish sources. Te almud reers oleopard-like behavior when describing a dark period in hehisory o he Jewish people:

Te Lord said, “I said ha Israel should be considered beore Me as he cherubs, and hey se hemselves asa leopard. Anoher version: R. Avahu said, Te Lordsaid, “Even hough hey pu hemselves as a leopard,hey are considered beore Me as he cherubs.” ( Kid-dushin 0a)

God waned he Jewish people o be as cherubs, whichrepresen innocence and deliy. Bu insead, he Jewishpeople “se hemselves as a leopard.” Wha does his mean?

Some explain ha jus as he leopard is ull o dark spos,so oo were he Jewish people spoted wih sinners. BuRashi explains ha he Jews were disloyal o God in hesame way ha a leopard is disloyal o is parner.

Tis may be anoher reason why he leopard represenshe Greek empire in Daniel’s prophecy and in Jewish mys-ical hough. Te Jews’ preerence or keeping apar rom

oher naions led o resenmen and persecuion. TeGreeks did no wan o kill he Jewish naion, bu here wasa creeping Hellenizing inuence upon he Jewish religion.

Judaism was under he hrea o hybridizaion, symbolized by he leopard.

Te indeliy o he leopard is also inherenly linked bysome o he leopard’s brazenness. Te progeny o orbiddenrelaionships, such as a moher and son, broher and siser,ec., is known as a mamzer. According o he Mishna, hisperson will also possess cerain characer rais: “A mamzer is brazen” ( Masekhet Kalla ). Laer, we shall reurn o

his Mishna’s linkage o he mamzer wih brazenness.Te Jews were hreaened by Ancien Greece wihhybridizaion, wih merging ino Hellenisic culure. Tey

won by remaining separae, by reaining heir ideniy as Jews. Tis is par o he symbolism o he olive oil ha is liin he menora:

Oher liquids mix ogeher, bu olive oil remains sepa-rae. So, oo, Israel is separae rom oher naions. (She-mot Rabba :1)

An aris’s rendiion o he legendary marozi, believed by someo be a naurally-occuring hybrid o a leopard wih a lion

Can the Leopard’s Spots Disappear?

A lion has spos a birh, which quickly ade. So does heFlorida panher. Bu a leopard never, ever, changes isspos:

Can he Cushie change his skin, or he leopard hisspos? So oo, can you, in whom evil is ingrained, do

good? ( Jer. 1:) Ye alhough a leopard canno change is spos, i does

have a way o making hem effecively disappear. Wih mel-anisic (black) leopards, which are a color variey o nor-mal leopards, he spos are sill presen, bu hey are moslyobscured by he dark color o he res o he animal’s coa.Irregulariies no longer sand ou when he enire arearesembles hem. Homileically, i we recall he idea hahe leopard symbolizes hybridizaion wih oher culures,and ha a leopard’s spos represen a person being “spo-

ed” wih sin, here is an analogy here. Aduleraions oorah ha begin wih hybridizaions wih oher culures,and small disorions o religion, can end up losing any andall resemblance o Judaism.

: י ה מ יב ל יט ה כלו ל ו ם ת ת ם א תיו ג ר ר ב ב מ ָ ֹו ר ֹו ע י ִ ׁ ּ וכ ךֹ פ

ירמיה יג:כג


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0

Olive oil represens he singulariy o Jewish ideniy.

Raher han succumb o Greek culure, a signican num- ber o Jews remained rue o he orah. Te Writen orah was ranslaed ino Greek and solen rom Israel; bu wihhe Oral orah, hey reained heir uniqueness. Te hiry-six lighs ha are li in oal over Chanukka also represenhe hiry-six racaes o he Babylonian almud wih

which he Jews resised Hellenism. Chanukka hereby alsosymbolizes vicory over he leopard, symbol o Greece andhybridizaion.

Brazenness in orah As we menioned earlier, brazenness does have is posiiveapplicaions. One o hese relaes o orah sudy:

I was augh in he name o R. Meir: Why was he orahgiven o Israel? Because hey are brazen. ( Beitza b)

Some explain his o mean ha orah was given o he brazen Jews in order o emper hem and keep hem inline. Bu ohers explain precisely he opposie: ha he

Jewish peoples’ brazenness enables hem o sick i ou inplumbing he dephs and ruhs o he orah. Brazen-ness is an essenial ool or success in orah:

A bashul person canno learn. (Mishna Avot :)

Alhough a sense o shame is usually a virue, and oneo he hallmarks o he Jewish people, i is no always desir-

able in he sudy o orah. Someone who is araid o askquesions, earul o being mocked or his ignorance, willalways remain wih doubs and ignorance. A person needso be courageous enough o ask abou ha which he doesno undersand, or he will never learn.

Furhermore, when learning orah, one mus seekhe ruh. When wo people are arguing over he correcundersanding o a secion o almud, each mus be con-cerned only wih reaching he rue explanaion. A personmus never cower ino submission o accep an explana-ion he has reason o eel is incorrec.

As we noed earlier, Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher discusseshe maxim ha one should be brazen as a leopard. He pres-ens King David as he quinessenial example o he ypeo brazenness ha is required:

He begins wih “Be as brazen as he leopard,” or i is agrea principle in he service o he Creaor. . . . Similarly,he is speaking regarding embarrassmen; ha some-imes, a person is more embarrassed in ron o peoplehan he is beore he Creaor. Tereore, he warns ha aperson should be brazen in ron o hose who mock him,

and no be ashamed. In his vein, David said, “And I shallspeak o Your saues in ron o kings, and I shall no be ashamed” (Ps. 11:). Even hough he was pursuedand was eeing rom he heahens, he srenghened hisorah and sudies, even hough hey were mocking him.(Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, Tur , Orach Chayim 1)

King David spoke ha which he el o be he ruh, and was no ashamed o do so. Tis is one o he reasons why heis described as embodying he essence o he Oral orah.Tis rai o brazenness, which also enabled David o sandin comba agains he gian Goliah, was his heriage rom

his ancesors Boaz and Ruh.Boaz wished o marry Ruh, bu aced opposiion. For

Ruh was rom he naion o Moab. As such, i was houghha Boaz was prohibied rom marrying her, since heorah saes ha “an Ammonie or Moabie shall no enerino he congregaion o God” (Deu. :). Ye Boaz pro-posed ha one mus ake ino accoun he precision o he

wording; he law was specically speaking abou a Moabie,and no a Moabiess. Te almud reers o Boaz’s acions

wih paricularly inriguing erminology:

A Persian leopard, he larges subspecies


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He pounced like a leopard and explained he law . . . aMoabie, and no a Moabiess. (Y. Yevamot b)

I is no by chance ha he almud picks he leop-ard here as is meaphor; raher, i is due o he Sages’exquisie sensiiviy o he naure o he animals aroundhem. Boaz had he brazenness, azut, o he leopard wihinhim – hence he name Bo-az , “in him is brazenness.” And

Ruh hersel was he produc o an illegiimae relaion-ship – Lo’s inces wih his daugher gave rise o Moab, heancesor o Ruh. As noed earlier, he Mishna saes hahe producs o such relaionships are prone o brazenness.Tus, heir descendan David had a endency o brazenness based upon boh lines o his ancesry. He implemenedhis rai or he good, which enabled him o riumph inorah agains all opposiion.

Leopards and Goats

In a uopian prophecy o he Messianic Era, here is adescripion o some unexpeced comradery beween pred-aors and heir prey:

Te wol also shall live wih he lamb, and he leopardshall lie down wih he kid, and he cal and he younglion and he aling ogeher; and a litle child shall lead

hem. (Is. 11:)Tere is a dispue as o wheher hese verses are

inended as lieral descripion o biological changes, or ihey are a meaphor or he uure harmony o he naionsrepresened by hese animals. In any case, i is ineres-ing o noe ha laer sources consisenly presen he samepairings o animals: he lion wih catle, he wol wih helamb, and he leopard wih he goa:

“God seeks he pursued” (Eccl. :1). . . . I is even so wih offerings. Te Holy One said: Te ox is pursued

by he lion, he goa is pursued by he leopard, he lambis pursued by he wol; do no bring offerings beoreMe rom he huners, only rom he huned. (VayikraRabba :; Pesikta DeRav Kahana :)

When goas are no available, leopards readily ea oher small hooed animals

חדו נער

א י ִ מו

וכפיר

ל י בץ ע

גדי

עם

כבש נמר

עם

זאב

ר

קטֹן נהג בם׃

י :ו ישעיה

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In he saues o animals on he hrone o King Solo-mon, he same pairings were made:

On every sep here were kosher animals acing non-kosher ones. On he rs sep, an ox, and opposie, alion; on he second, a lamb acing a wol; on he hird, agoa acing a leopard. ( Midrash Aba Gurion 1)

Tese pairings can be simply explained as reerring oeach predaor’s preerred prey. Lions are he only preda-ors big enough o ake on catle, while wolves mus setleor sheep. Leopards habiually prey upon goas – no only

domesic goas, bu also wild goas (ibex), since, unlikelions and wolves, hey are agile enough o chase ibex inheir seep errain.

Bu he prey animals in hese pairs are no only he pre-erred prey o each predaor. In all hese cases, he wo arerelaed in anoher way. Boh animals in each pair represenhe same atribue. Te lion and ox boh express he raio pride. Te wol and sheep boh live in groups. And heleopard and goa are boh brazen:

Te goa is he brazen one o he domesicaed animals.( Beitza b)

A erocious leopard, ready o spring


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Te Vigilance of the Leopard

Anoher atribue o he leopard highlighed in Scripureis is vigilance:

And I am he Lord your God since he land o Egyp,and you know no god bu Me; or here is no savior

beside Me. I knew you in he wilderness, in he land

o grea drough. When hey grazed, hey became ull; when hey were ull, hey became haughy; and so heyhave orgoten Me. Tereore I will be o hem as a lion;as a leopard on he way I shall be waching (ashur ).(Hos. 1:–)

Some undersand he word ashur o reer o he nameo a place: Assyria, which is he naive home o he Ana-olian leopard. Tus, he verse is read, “as a leopard on he

way o Assyria.” Bu ohers explain he word ashur hereas deriving rom he roo shur, “o see,” as in “I shall observe

him (ashurenu), bu no rom near” (Num. :1). I husreers o he leopard’s naure o sealhily salking is prey.Tis echnique enables hem o cach a wide variey oprey, and is perhaps one he reasons ha hey are he mos

widespread member o he ca amily. Tis vigilance isreerred o elsewhere in he orah wih a specic word:

Tereore he lion rom he ores shall slay hem, and

he wol o he desers shall desroy hem, he leopard ispoised aler (namer shokeid) over heir ciies; everyone

who goes ou here shall be orn in pieces, because heirransgressions are many, and heir rebellion is grea.(Jer. :)

Tis verse reers o he leopard’s alerness and vigi-lance wih he erm shekeida. Tis is inherenly linked ohe leopard’s brazenness. I is all very well o possess herai o brazenness, bu one migh no make use o hisrai wihou he zeal o shekeida. I is no enough o jus be

able o sand up agains he hrea o an enemy – one haso acually do so. Te Hasmoneans uilized he characer-isic o brazenness only wih he bene o heir shekeida.Te combinaion o hese wo properies enabled hem odeea Ancien Greece. Te vigilance o he leopard washe key o he vicory o Chanukka. ■

ך אשור׃ אהי להם כמֹו שחל כנמר על ד

הושע יג:ז

הם כל י ֵ ָ ע לע דקֹש רמנ ם ת ישד ֹו ב ָ ֲע באז רע ה מ ֵ א םכה ןכ לע

תיהם׃ ֹו ב ֻ ׁ שמ ומצע םהיע שפ וב ף כי צא מהנה יט ֹו ּי ַה

ירמיה ה:ו

A leopard vigilanly waching over is surroundings

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Notes

Menachem Mendel me-Kameniz, Koro HaIim LiYeshurun BeErezYisrael (Vilna, ), p. b; Rabbi Yosef Schwarz, evuo HaArez , p. .

Henry risram, Te Naural Hisory o he Bible (London, ), p. .

Paer Schmiz, wriing in , cied by Yossi Leshem, “Zoologicalreasure in Jerusalem,” in Israel – Land and Naure : (Winer –),pp. –; ranslaed from eva VaArez : (March–April ).

Heinrich Mendelssohn and Yoram Yom-ov, Fauna Palaesina: Mam-

malia o Israel , p. . Numbers :. In Numbers : i is referred o as Be-Nimrah.

Isaiah : and Jeremiah :, describing he “waers of Nimrim.”

Bekhoro a.

Te leopard is also conspicuously absen from Perek Shira , he Mi-drash which records he “songs” of various creaures and elemens of henaural world.

Yosef Schonhak, in oledo HaArez , p. , idenies he namer as heiger, alhough he explains i o be a generic erm ha would also exendo he leopard (which he calls “panher”) and he Souh American jaguar.Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Hurwiz of Vilna (d. ) in Seer HaBri ::ranslaes namer as “iger,” bu he describes is coa as bloched and husappears o be describing he leopard.

See Eliezer Ben Yehuda’s dicionary.

Tis is as per he more accurae Kapach ediion, which has bahero , whereas he regular ediion has nekudo .

Radak and Mezuda David ad loc.

Mezuda ziyon and Malbim. Cf. Shabba b, which relaes he ermas used in his verse o a wound.

For an academic sudy of he symbolism of he animals in rabbinichough, see Rivka Raviv, “Shaping he Four Kingdoms in Daniel in heRabbinical Lieraure,” Jewish Sudies Inerne Journal (), pp. –(Hebrew).

Midrash Vayikra Rabba :.

Malbim o Daniel :.

Rav Saadia Gaon. Genesis :, :.

See Jasrow, A Dicionary o he almud , p. , apparenly conrasinghe unqualied erm az wih he erm az panim.

Bill Clark, High Hills and Wild Goas (Boson: Litle, Brown and Com-pany, ), p. .

Te exraordinary life of John Paterson is relaed by Denis Brian, TeSeven Lives o Colonel Paterson (Syracuse Universiy Press, ).

John Paterson, Te Man-Eaers o savo (London: Macmillan and Co.,) , p. .

Maharal, Ner Mizva p.. Te word “ brazen” also refers o somehingmade ou of brass, a srong alloy of copper. Maharal also poins ou hain anoher propheic vision, Greece was represened by copper.

Cf. Midrash Yalku Shimoni Vayikra :. Shem MiShmuel , Chanukka , sixh nigh; Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr,Or Gedalyahu , Mo’adim , Chanukka , .

George Jennison, in Animals or Show and Pleasure in Ancien Rome (Mancheser, : Mancheser Universiy Press, ), includes an ap-pendix (pp. –) dedicaed o unangling he various Greek erms for big cas. He noes: “Ancien wriers were faced wih wo grea difficul-ies in puting correc names o hese spoted cas grea and small; hey

believed in he breeding of hybrid forms in naure, and he Romans hadhe addiional difficuly of naming a foreign animal.” See oo BenjaminMoser, “Te Roman Ehnozoological radiion: Idenifying Exoic Ani-mals in Pliny’s Naural Hisory” (Universiy of Wesern Onario, ),

Elecronic Tesis and Disseraion Reposiory, Paper , pp. –.

Rashash, commenary ad loc. He describes i as “novel and bizarre,”and aside from his objecion ha he offspring would be serile, he fur-her noes ha he has no read any such hing in books of naural hisory.See oo he commens of Rashash o Chullin b. Rabbi Chanoch Henoch ben Rabbi Yosef David eielbaum (–), in Responsa Yad Cha-noch , quesions Rabbi Ovadiah’s saemen based on he almudic dicum

( Bekhoro a) ha hey could no inerbreed since heir gesaions periodsare no equal. He claims ha here is a prining error and ha Rabbi Ova-diah was acually alking abou a lion inerbreeding wih a iger or leopard.

R amban, commenary o Leviicus :.

Rabbi zaddok HaKohen, Divrei Soerim , Likuei Maamarim , SiyumHaShas, s.v. ulekach parashiyo .

Te almud is expounding a verse, “Tese are he ones who wen upfrom el-melach, el-charsha, Keruv, Adon, and Immer” (Neh. :).Te reference o he Lord is play on he word Adon, and he reerence o cherubs is a play on he word Keruv. Te reference o a leopard may bea play on AdoN Immer = Namer. Anoher possibiliy is ha he leopard isno direcly alluded o in he verse, bu is insead simply used a symbol ofindeliy.

Rabbi Pinchas Horowiz, Seer HaMiknah o Kiddushin ad loc. Rashi, commenary ad loc.

Frank William Walbank, Te Hellenisic World (Harvard UniversiyPress, ), pp. –, referring o he wriings of he Greek hisorianDiodorus.

For a mysical explanaion of why a mamzer is described as feeling noshame, see R abbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, Mei Marom , vol. p. .

Rashi, commenary ad loc.

Pnei Yehoshua , commenary ad loc.

Rabbi Ovadiah MiBarenura, commenary ad loc. and o Pirkei Avo:.

In he words of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin: “I is forbidden for a su-

den o accep he words of his eacher when he has difficulies wih hem. And someimes, he ruh will lie wih he suden. Tis is jus as a small branch can ignie a larger one” (Ruach Chayim o Avo :).

Rabbi zaddok HaKohen, zidka Hazaddik ; Dover zedek , Mizvo asei ; Komez HaMincha :.

Rambam, Mishneh orah, Hilkho Melakhim :, akes he posiionha he verses are allegorical.

I herefore comes as no surprise ha he goa is also used as a mea-phor for Ancien Greece: “And he rough goa is he king of Greece”(Daniel :).

Cf. Malbim, who explains ha his alludes o Ancien Greece eneringhe Land of Israel.

Rashi, Radak, Mezudo , Malbim.

Brian Berram, in Te Unwin Encyclopedia o Mammals , p. .

Noe ha almonds are called shekeidim. Tis is because he almondree is he very rs ree o blossom each year, as soon as he rains easeoff. Te almond hus represens assiduousness and zeal. I is explainedha for his reason we nd ha he menora, symbol of he Chanukka v ic-ory, is consruced wih a design involving shekeidim (Exodus :, ;see Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, commenary ad loc.). And Maharal( Neivo Olam , p. ), commening on he Mishna which saes ha oneshould “Be vigilan (shokeid) in learning orah, and know wha o answera hereic” ( Avo :) explains ha an atiude of shekeida oward orah isa prerequisie for dealing wih Ancien Greece. Cf. Rabbi Shmuel Bornsz-ain, Shem MiShmuel , Mikeiz .

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