{"id":74029,"date":"2020-05-03T11:56:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T08:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74029"},"modified":"2020-05-03T11:56:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T08:56:54","slug":"the-lion-in-the-cage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-lion-in-the-cage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lion In The Cage"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"74029","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":73524,"related_cahpter":"471","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The young never knew the forest, but are inspired by the elder\u2019s memories\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

Ezekiel 19 begins and ends with one goal in mind: \u201cAs for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel \u2026This is a lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation\u201d (v. 19:1, 14).<\/span><\/p>\n

10 out of 18 appearances of the word lamentation in the Tanakh appear in Ezekiel. Here, he utters a lament for the fallen kingdom of Judah, the great lioness. She reared her cubs to be great lions, to catch prey and devour humans, but the nations are afraid of the power that they would wield, and capture the young cubs instead. Ezekiel makes historical references to Jehoahaz, who was deported to Egypt (2 Kings 23) and Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, both deported to Babylon as a punishment for or warning against rebellion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lament then transitions abruptly to Judah as a great vine that is destroyed \u2013 plucked up, cast down, dried, stripped of fruit, consumed by fire, and transplanted elsewhere \u2013 symbolizing the various tragedies Judah suffered (armed conflict, warfare, famine, death, being conquered, exile).<\/span><\/p>\n

What is interesting that despite his frustration with the ineptness of Judah’s leaders, Ezekiel continues to view Judah as the lion, the king of the jungle. It is likely that Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook’s famous poem,<\/span> \u201cHa-Aryeh ba-Soogar\u201d<\/span><\/i> (\u201cThe Lion in the Cage\u201d) reflects Ezekiel’s imagery, with a twist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the poem, Rav Kook describes a family of lions living in a cage. Ironically, it is the young spirited cubs, who were born in captivity, who enjoy their lives behind bars. Only one lion, an elderly weak creature, sits depressed. The young ones cannot comprehend why the old one is so morose \u2013 they surely have enough food and plenty of room to frolic, until the elder lion discloses the meaning behind his unhappiness:<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a world full of light,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Where freedom and liberty prevail.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>There is a vast forest tall with trees<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>And stately with mighty cedars.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>The fragrance is refreshing<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>And free animals abound.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>When I was your age, my children,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>I ruled the forest with pride and might<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>And all bowed before me.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>If not for my pursuers<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>who broke my bones,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>and this cramped cage\u2014<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>I would still rule the forest,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>And you too would be free and proud.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The words of the Old One<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>strengthened the cubs\u2019 heart,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>and with the might of lions<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>they began to break down the cramped cage.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>With claws and jaws and the roar of lions<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>they frightened away their smug captors.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>With a mighty spirit<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>imbued with the delight of the forest<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>they shattered the walls of the cramped cage.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>The Old One was suddenly alive,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>his broken bones healed with joy.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Rebuking his enemies, he and his cubs returned<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>and established the kingdom of the forest.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(translation<\/span> by Rabbi Bezalel Naor<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

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