Note that I am holding a short stick. This was to fend him off in case he attacked me. Seriously. As the animal handler told me, there's no such thing as a tame lion.
I'll write more about this extraordinary experience and post more pictures/ video on another occasion. Meanwhile, I thought that it would be fun to have a contest. Please suggest what you think would be amusing to portray the lion as thinking when he approached me:
My own idea, based on a famous statement by Reuven Schmeltzer, is "I'm a shaliach from Rav Moshe Shapiro, being lochem milchemes Hashem!" But perhaps you can come up with something funnier.
"Yes! Free lunch!"
ReplyDeleteYour statement is good too :)
"mmmm - -apikores al ha-aish!"
ReplyDelete"Yea I'd love to, but I heard he lost his hechsher".
ReplyDeleteLion: "Shalom rabbi Slifkin. I'm the cowardly lion. I was told you were full of wisdom. But if you please, it's courage that I need."
ReplyDeletepretty good. hard to beat.
ReplyDeletehopefully not a gilgal of this lion http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15897
Hmmm, wash for bread or just make a shehekol?
ReplyDelete"Baruch atah Hashem ... shehakol niyheh bidvaro!"
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think he's kosher but only for those lions with a mesorah....
ReplyDelete"Ooh, let's play fetch!"
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious, but the mashgiach said he's treif.
ReplyDelete"Hmmm; a little on the scrawny side, but comes with a toothpick."
ReplyDelete"R' Slifkin shall go out as a mighty man, he shall arouse zeal, he shall cry, even roar; he shall prevail over his enemies."
ReplyDeletePsalms 111: טֶרֶף, נָתַן לִירֵאָיו
ReplyDeleteCaption: טֶרֶף נָתַן, לִירֵאָיו
ReplyDelete.שהכל נהיה בדברו....
This reminds me of a joke about two Jews, Chaim and Yankel who were out camping in the jungle.
ReplyDeleteChaim notices a lion approaching from a distance and alerts his friend telling him we'd better get out of here fast!
Yankel takes out his backpack, gets out his running shoes and proceeds to start putting them on.
Chaim looks at him like his crazy and asks, Yankel, do you really think you'll be able to outrun that lion??
Yankel responds, I don't need to outrun the lion. All I have to do is run faster than you!
"Mr. Slifkin, is it? Yes, I read your 'Kollel Guys vs. Lions' post about how the lionesses do all the hunting, and we males are a bunch of lazy bums. Fascinating! How about you and I do a little field work to test that hypothesis?"
ReplyDelete"WAIT!! But you didn't read my followup post! 'Providence and Lion Attaaaa..." (Crunch.)
No heksher from the Badatz? Forget it. Or maybe this time, I'll make an exception and be someich on the rabbinate.
ReplyDeleteIf he says another word about hyrex, I'll show him...
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly does he think he's going to do with that small stick?
ReplyDeleteYes! Rational Jews taste much better than Chareidim!
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Yehudi or Shomroni?
ReplyDeletenow seriously who do you really think has a cooler beard???
ReplyDeletenah that meat has been baned
ReplyDeleteAre you the one who's been spreading rumors that male lions don't kill their own prey???
ReplyDeleteHe must be a chareidi he thinks z'chus haTorah will protect him
ReplyDeletemoshe says
ReplyDeleteSo youre preparing for Goliath with your sticks. 'gam es h'ari' etc.
I will show you.
"I know this approach seems extreme, but hey, whatever it takes to remind him of the existence of the Frum Kiruv Mane-iac."
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. According to the Maharal I'm just an allegory!
ReplyDeleteLawrence Kaplan
I heard you needed pshat in Nachum 2:13. Here I am.
ReplyDeleteRats, I wish I hadn't just had that cheddar cheese!
ReplyDelete"That locust was my BROTHER!"
ReplyDeleteOr
"The lion will lie down with the... Lamb? No. Kid? No. Wallaby? Ah, forget it, I'm hungry!"
Sorry to break up the banter of the various comments here, but: if lions aren't really ever tame, how do they manage to "tame" a circus lion to allow the trainer to put his head inside the lion's mouth? What keeps the lion from just attacking the circus performers?
ReplyDelete"Hah! Va'asa chutra, v'heeka l'chalba, d'noshach l'shunra..." Wait 'til he finds out that the I'm the 'shunra's' cousin! Chad Gadya! Chad Gadya!"
ReplyDeleteI told the shadchan that I am a k'fir (young lion) looking for a k'firah, but this is not what I had in mind!!
ReplyDelete"He is lucky that I am shomer shobbat!"
ReplyDeleteMmm, lunch! I just hope he's not holding a short stick...
ReplyDeleteSighing deeply...why can't I ever get a nice salad?
ReplyDeleteMBM
Is he a kezayis, or do I need to eat two of them to make a beracha achrona?
ReplyDeleteYeah, we'll see who's gonna be smiling in a minute mr. big shot tough guy zoo rabbi
ReplyDeleteKT
Joel RIch
Moshe says
ReplyDeleteIs he really traifoh to be also suitable for a lion? Or only traifoh enough for a dog's dinner.
"I told the shadchan that I am a k'fir (young lion) looking for a k'firah, but this is not what I had in mind!!"
ReplyDeleteIt so happens that I know a (religious Jewish) woman named Kefirah. Named after the lion, of course.
Chaim Stan -
ReplyDeleteIs he really 500lbs? He doesn't look a pound over 499.
"I sure hope that's not a mafgiah." (see Shabbos 77b)
ReplyDelete