Translation:Tur/Orach Chaim/1

by Yaakov ben Asher

Tur

"Yehuda the son of Tema would say: Be brazen as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven." - Four specific aspects are mentioned of serving one's creator. He starts with be "brazen as a leopard", because this concept is a fundamental principle of serving the Creator. Since occasionally a person wishes to perform a mitzvah but refrains from doing so out of fear of people who mock him – therefore he [Yehuda] admonishes you to brace yourself against those who would mock you and refrain not from doing the mitzvah.

This is similar to a saying by Rabban Yochanan son of Zakkai to his disciples: "May the fear of Heaven be upon thee as [strong as] the fear of flesh-and-blood."

So too does it apply to the issue of shame, as sometimes a person is ashamed of people more than one is ashamed of the Creator, Blessed Be He; therefore he admonishes you to brace yourself against the mockers and be not ashamed.

So to did King David of blessed memory say: "I shall speak of Thy memorial commandments against kings and be not ashamed"; even though he was being chased and running from the goyim, he would adhere to his Torah and study it, even though they would mock him.

He then said: "light as an eagle" – referring to eyesight: he likens it to the eagle, because as the eagle flies freely in the air so does the eyesight. This means you should shut your eyes rather than look at evil things, because it is the prelude to sin; for "the eye seeth, the heart desireth and the limbs of action conclude."

He then said: "swift as a deer" – referring to the feet: may your feet run unto good.

So too did King David of blessed memory pray on these three things, albeit in a different order, saying: "Lead me in the path of your Commandments," referring to the feet; next he said, "bend my heart"; then he said, "remove my eyes from seeing falsehood." He mentioned "bend" with the heart but "removal" with the eye, because one's heart is in his control to bend it to the path of good or evil, even after one sees the deed of falsehood; therefore David prayed that God help him to bend it to the path of good. But seeing the falsehood is not in one's control, since it may confront him suddenly and he would see it; therefore he prayed that He may remove his eyes from seeing the falsehood and would not bring it before him at all.

Therefore a person needs to be strong as a lion to rise in the morning for the worship of one's Creator.