Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

The Power of the Tongue: A Story of Shmirat HaLashon (guarding your tongue)
A classic story with roots in Torah and midrash, based on
a version in The Classic Tales by Ellen Frankel and retold
by Maxine Handelman. This story appeared in What’s
Jewish About Butterflies, A.R.E. Press, 2004.
Once the king of Persia was very ill. His doctors
announced that his only hope to get better would be to
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drink the milk of a lioness. But who could get the milk of a lioness? Even the king’s most
courageous hunters were too afraid to try to milk a lioness.
So the king of Persia went to his friend, King Solomon,
to ask for help. King Solomon turned to his most faithful
helper, Benaiah ben Yehoyada, and asked him to go and
collect milk from a lioness. Benaiah said, “For you, King
Solomon, I will do it!”
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Benaiah took some meat with him into the mountains. He soon came upon a cave where a
lioness was nursing her cubs. On the first day Benaiah threw a little meat to the lioness,
but stayed far outside the cave. The next day he threw her some more meat, and moved a
little bit closer. Each day, Benaiah threw some meat to the lioness and moved a little bit
closer. By the tenth day, the lioness was so used to him, and so well fed, that she let
Benaiah come and play with her cubs. She even let him take some of her milk, which he
stored carefully in a glass jar.
Benaiah took the jar full of milk and rushed back to King Solomon. King Solomon was
very pleased. He sent Benaiah and the jar of milk on to see the king of Persia. It was a
journey of several days, and one night while Benaiah slept, all the parts of his body began
to argue about who was most important.
The legs said, “We are the most important, for if we had not walked up the mountain to
the lioness’s den, Benaiah would not have been able to get the milk.”
The hands said, “But if we hadn’t milked the lioness, Benaiah would have no milk to
bring to the king of Persia.”
The eyes argued, “If we had not shown Benaiah the way, he never would have found the
lioness’s den in the first place.”
The mind said, “If I had not taught Benaiah how to befriend the lioness, he never would
have been able to get close enough to get the milk.”
Then the tongue spoke up, “No, you are all wrong! I am more important than all of you
put together, for without speech, nothing is possible.”
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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