JEWISH LIONS

TANAKH
At the end of his life, Jacob tells each of his sons something of their character and something of their destiny. Jacob describes his son Judah as a lion, representing Judah and his offsprings' strength, leadership, and eventual rise to power.

Genesis 49:9
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
On prey, my son, have you grown.
He crouches, lies down like a lion,
Like a lioness—who dare rouse him?

Rise with Purpose

HALAKHAH
Starting the day with purpose and vigor can positively influence the day. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, in this contemporary work, emphasizes the importance of rising in the morning with determination, drawing on traditional Jewish teachings.

Peninei Halakhah, Prayer 7:1:2
“One should gather his strength like a lion to rise in the morning to serve his Creator and to awaken the dawn” (the opening of the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 1:1). The manner in which a person gets up in the morning indicates to a large extent his general emotional state, and influences his functioning throughout the entire day. A person with a purpose in life arises filled with enthusiasm and alacrity to face a new day. He usually wakes up early in the morning, in order to accomplish more throughout the day. However, a person who has lost his values and sense of purpose lacks meaning in his life and the reason to get up in the morning. Instead, he feels fatigued and distressed in the mornings. Only when left with no choice does he finally wake up, late and sluggish, to another dull and despondent day. Nevertheless, if he were to bolster his faith and arise eagerly, vitality and joy would ignite his spirit, and he would be able to start his day invigorated.

The Dual Nature of the Righteous
KABBALAH
Hebrew has several different words that refer to lions. The Zohar, a central text of Jewish mysticism, explores subtle differences of meaning among the terms and how they connect to the balance of confidence and fear in the righteous patriarchs.

ZOHAR, TERUMAH 30:308-310
“They that trust in the Lord” are the righteous which trust in their good works, as it is written: “The righteous trust (are bold) like the young lion” (Prov. 28, 1). It might be objected that the righteous do not, in fact, trust in their own works, being, on the contrary, perpetually in a state of fear and trembling, like Abraham, of whom it says that he was afraid concerning Sarah (Gen. 12, 10-13); or Isaac, who was afraid (Ibid. 26, 7); or, again, like Jacob, who was likewise in fear (Ibid. 32, 8); and if these did not trust in their own good works, how much less cause for assurance have other righteous men! How, then, can it be said with any justice that “the righteous trust like the young lion”? We must observe, however, that they are compared to the young lion (Kephir), and not to the other kinds of lion, which are stronger. The young lion, although strong enough to hold his own, is, in comparison with the other kinds of lions, weak, and so does not trust his own strength. In the same manner the righteous, although confident of the power of their good works, do not trust in them more than the young lion in his strength. Therefore, it says here: “They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion”, namely, they will be in the future dispensation, not merely like the young, or even the old, lion, but like mount Zion, immovable and without fear. And ye, my sons, sons of the saints above, your trust, your confidence, is indeed like unto mount Zion. Verily, blessed are ye in this world and in the world to come!’