Proper Use of Strength, Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers

On Wednesday evening, after an inspiring morning in Matan, I traveled with neighbors to nearby Eli for a shiur by Miram Wolf, which was in memory of a friend's mother.  When Miriam had lived in Eli, she gave us classes in TaNaCh, Bible, and we were very excited to have the opportunity to hear her again.


This time she took a mishne from Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, V, 20.

כ. יהודה בן תימא אומר:
הוי עז כנמר; וקל כנשר; ורץ כצבי; וגבור כארילעשות רצון אביך שבשמים.
הוא היה אומר:
עז פנים לגיהנם; ובושת פנים לגן עדן.
יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו, ותן חלקנו בתורתך.
20. Judah the son of Teima would say: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, fleeting as a deer and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven. He would also say: The brazen--to purgatory; the bashful*--to paradise.
May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah.

We spent the evening trying to define the terms.  The question concerned the word עז, oz, strength/daring which is used in contrasting positive and negative instructions.

We are told to be as עז, oz, strength/daring  as a leopard, but the phrase עז פנים oz-pannim, brazen is negative, leading to hell.  The opposite is ובושת פנים boshet-pannim which they translate as "bashful," which we translated/explained as "humble before G-d." And that is supposed to be the way to Heaven.

What is this עז oz?  What is the message here?

I'm a political commentator, observer of people and events.  I also believe very strongly in G-d and the Jewish religion.

I think that this mishne, law, summarizes very well what I've been trying to say on Shiloh Musings for a long time.

In order for us to be redeemed:

יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו, ותן חלקנו בתורתך.
May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah.

In order for this to happen, we must stand up strong, fearless and daring, like a mother lion protecting her cubs, to defend our Land and our People and our rights.  But at the same time we must be humble before G-d and not rewrite His Laws, nor may we adopt foreign and perverse moralities and ideologies.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov!