Lion-Hearted Living

Lion-Hearted Living

"Behold, the people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion"

The king of Moav, Balak hires the non-Jewish prophet Bilaam to

curse the Jewish people.

Balak knows that God protects and blesses the Jewish people

yet he contracts with Bilaam to be the conduit through which

the Jews will be destroyed.

Bilaam is so blinded by jealousy and hatred that he believes that

God can be "outsmarted.'

He thinks he can manipulate God to get what he wants.

Bilaam is able to know the exact moment of

every day when God operates with the attribute of judgement.

He calculates that if he is able to curse the Jewish people at that exact moment of Divine anger then

he will be successful in destroying them.

Yet, God turns every word Bilaam utters, with the intent of cursing the Jewish people, into a blessing.

Three times he attempts to curse them.

The second time he inadvertently blesses them:

"Behold, the people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion"

Lions are fearless, known to be the “King of the Jungle.”

Adult lions perceive no danger and have no enemies.

We pray for God to guard us - to allow us to rest in peace.

To be a nation capable of

existing without fear, like the lion.

What a blessing and how freeing it would be

to not be fearful, to really let go and to live in peace.

"May it be your will that You make me lie down in peace and arise in peace"

This particular blessing from Bilaam helps us focus on manifesting the attributes of a lion in good and holy ways.

The lion is strong, vigorous, brave, noble and fearless.

Just like the lion rises early in the morning with a mission to achieve- so too should we learn to arise like a lion- strong, focused and brave.

Our work is to fortify and manifest ourselves in both the spiritual and physical domains-

In the spiritual realm we are to connect to God through prayer, Torah learning, acts of kindness and mitzvah observance.

In the physical realm there are times when we are forced to be lion-like in the way we rise up to defend our lives and our land.

We cannot always be docile and passive.

There are times when we must arise with strength and bravery to advocate for ourselves and bring an end to evil.

Operation ‘Rising Lion’ was named because of this blessing that

Bilaam unwittingly bestowed upon us.

We are to be strong, vigorous, brave, noble focused, driven, and fearless.

We are to rise up and fortify ourselves in both spiritual and physical ways.

We are to be a blessing,

Much love and Shabbat Shalom

Elissa