Be the Lion

by Jonah Geller

As far as I know, no one has ever figured out how to get rid of fear. It’s an emotion that we feel instinctually whenever we encounter danger. However, plenty of people have succeeded at resisting fear. In other words, they felt fearful, yet they persevered in the face of that fear.

We don’t need to look very far to identify courageous people who resisted fear in pursuit of something much greater than themselves.

Nelson Mandela, an extremely courageous man, who risked his life to end apartheid in South Africa, once said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Courageous women and men put their lives on the line fighting for voting rights.

Courageous volunteers in the Red Cross, UNICEF, and the Peace Corps work for peace within global movements.

Harriet Tubman courageously risked her life by leading slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

Anne Frank courageously lived in an attic for two years in pursuit of her and her family’s freedom, during one of the darkest, scariest periods in history.

And courageous passengers aboard Flight 93 prevented terrorists from attacking an additional target on September 11th.
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Let’s go way back…

How about the American revolutionaries, courageous people who fought for their freedom against Britain?

The word “courage” comes from the root “cor” – Latin for “heart.” The heart, of course, is our lifeline. And the heart stands at the core of courage, at the core of leadership. Courage is an inside job.

What are we encouraged to do when we are afraid? When we are about to embark on something unknown, something challenging, like the trust fall at camp? Like delivering a speech? Preparing to jump out of a plane? “Take a deep breath,” we’re told, to slow our racing heart. Take a deep breath. Put simply: inhale courage, and exhale fear.

In “Lead with Courage – Unleashing the Lion in You,” Arthur Puotinen explores the ways in which courage can be unleashed to overcome fear. He discusses how lions live and survive in their natural habitat, and how good leaders overcome challenges.

Let’s look at the king of all lions – the Lion King, of course. Simba, as we know, was not always king of the jungle. At first, he was actually very afraid. As the story goes, after his paternal uncle Scar murders his father to seize the throne, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible. So, Simba flees into exile. But then he returns, despite quite a bit of fear, to help his dying mother and to save the savanna. A series of courageous acts, to say the least.

And, in The Wizard of Oz: “You’re nothing but a great big coward,” Dorothy says sternly to the lion when she realizes that he is afraid of his own tail, skittish at the slightest sign of danger, and clearly lacking courage. But, when the wizard’s potion is revealed to be a placebo, the lion realizes that the courage he was searching for all along was always within reach, inside of him. Courage – the inside job.

And finally, my son, Ari, whose formal name is Arieh (Hebrew for “lion”). He undoubtedly felt some fear when my wife and I dropped him off at college for the first time just six weeks ago. Ari continues to find his way, and more and more every day, at a place that was once foreign, and likely a bit scary at first.

Lech Lecha, this week’s Torah portion and my Bar Mitzvah portion 35 years ago, tells the story of Abram, who God instructs to leave his birthplace and everything he has, and to journey out “to the land that I will show you.” Not having the slightest idea of the destination, I would imagine that Abram, more than a little fearful, rounded up a good amount of courage to take those first few steps.

Together with his wife, Sarai (later Sarah), the journey leads to Canaan. Following a bunch of what I’ll respectfully simplify as “Jewish drama,” God seals a covenant with Abram, changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and bequeaths the Holy Land to them as their eternal heritage.

Let’s be honest. I believe you would agree that none of us is Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank, or an American revolutionary. However, we are leaders. So, as leaders, when fear, anxiety, and trepidation begin to saturate us…when our heart, our core, begins to race faster and faster – may we take a deep breath, may we inhale courage and exhale fear. And may we be the lion.