The Rising Lion

The significance of the King of Beasts

Israel's operation against Iran is named "Rising Lion." This is from a Biblical verse: "Behold, the people shall rise up as a lavi-lion, and lift themself up as an ari-lion..." (Numbers 23:24).

Two different names are used for the lion in this verse, the standard name of ari and the additional name of lavi. What does each term mean? There are all kinds of speculations. Some say that lavi refers to a larger lion, some say it refers to a smaller one. Some relate the word lavi to a root meaning "blazing fire," and thus interpret it to refer to the blazing appearance of the lion's mane.

These are just two of the six names for lions that appear in the Bible. The multitude of names reflects the prominence of lions in the Bible, just like the (myth) about Eskimos having two hundred words for snow and Mancunians like me having a hundred words for rain. Lions are mentioned 150 times in the Bible and over 200 times in the Mishnah and Talmud. They are variously used to symbolize the tribe of Judah, the entire people of Israel, and God Himself. Lions appear in Jewish culture over our entire history, in people’s names, on Torah scroll covers, and in synagogues.

Iran and others claims that Jews are European colonialists who have no place in the Holy Land. Yet the prominence of lions in Jewish tradition is because lions were the most prominent wild animals in the lives of the Jews. But there are no lions in Brooklyn and there were no lions in the European shtetl. Lions were prominent in the lives of the Jews who lived among them in ancient Israel.

Alas, the lions of the Holy Land were driven to extinction following the Islamic and Crusader conquests. But the nation of Israel is back. And, like a lion, we are rising up against those who seek to drive us to extinction. May we succeed!