ונשל ה' אלקיך את הגוים האל מפניך מעט מעט לא תוכל כלתם מהר פן תרבה עליך חית השדה וגו' (ז-כב)
MASHAL: There is a legend told about the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (גן החיות התנכי), which goes like this: The Biblical Zoo wished to display an exhibit portraying Messianic times, when the Jewish people will repent to the Lord, return to the Land of Israel and live peacefully under the full protection of the Almighty Himself. The centerpiece of this exhibit was a cage which contained a lion and a lamb peacefully co-existing within. Visitors were amazed.
One fine day, a man decided to go to the local zoo with his wife and kids. As he neared the lion’s cage, he was astonished to see a lamb lying peacefully with a lion beside her. “That is wonderful,” he cried. “Finally, the prophecy of the Lord is being realized!”
The man ran around looking for the zookeeper. When he finally found him, he told the elderly gentleman, “My congratulations! You have finally made everyone see that peace is at hand. This is truly a monumental achievement.”
“But tell me,” he implored the zookeeper, “how did you manage to make a lion lie down with the lamb?”
“It’s no problem,” replied the zookeeper lazily. “Every morning, I simply put another lamb in the lion’s cage!”
NIMSHAL: Moshe Rabbeinu is exhorting the Jewish people to follow the ways of the Torah and fulfill the mitzvos. The reward for this will be that Hashem will bring them into the holy Land of Israel and allow them to live peacefully. Rashi adds, “If they obey the will of the Omnipresent, they need not fear the beasts, as it is said, ‘And the beasts of the field made peace with you.’ (Iyov 5:23). It was, however, revealed before Moshe that they would sin in the future.” For this reason, we still have to fear the animals for the time has not yet come when the prophecy will be revealed with Moshiach, and the lion and lamb will indeed co-exist in peace and harmony.
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