I don’t believe in coincidences, so I thought I’d share what happened to me this past Monday. I hope it makes you smile.

I’m frequently asked how we at the Jewish Light manage to find so many stories. My response is simple: “Stories are all around us; you just need to stay observant and listen.” But sometimes they just pop up on your email feed. You just need to connect the dots. This happened on Monday morning.

At 10:25 a.m. I received an email from Rabbi Ze’ev Smason, a rabbi in the St. Louis community since 1988, and one of my go-to consultants since I joined the staff.

At 10:43 am. I received an email from Erin Hefferman from the St. Louis Zoo, so I of course opened it. The email contained a press release entitled: “St. Louis Zoo celebrates successful first American red wolf breeding season at Wildlife Reserve in Franklin County.”

Google has become very aware of my favorite search — “What’s Jewish about (fill in the blank).” So, I asked, “What’s Jewish about American Red Wolves?” Within seconds, I was reading an article by Chabad, about the American Red Wolf.  The first paragraphs explained all about red wolves, but there was nothing particularly “Jewish” about the description. That is until I came to the bottom of the article where it said:

“If any of our readers is called Ze’ev – wolf -or velvel (little wolf), he should not feel offended by our topic.”

My eyes went straight to the name Ze’ev – which means wolf in Hebrew. I recognized that name instantly for two reasons. First, I only know one Ze’ev, and second, I just received an email from him.

Like I said, I don’t believe in coincidences.

From Ze’ev to the Zoo, to American Red Wolves to “What’s Jewish about American Red Wolves” and back again. Driven by curiosity and a hunch that there might be something more to explore, I decided to email Rabbi Smason to see if he could shed some light on the matter.

Here is his reply:

I got a real … howl … from your email about my name Ze’ev, meaning ‘wolf,’ and red wolf breeding season.  For the record, I had nothing to do with the red wolf breeding season — or any other color wolf breeding season, for that matter.

You are correct that ze’ev (wolf) is a Biblical name, most notably associated with Benjamin.  On Jacob’s deathbed he offers blessings to each of his 12 sons, comparing some to animals.  About Benjamin he says (Genesis 49:27):  “Benjamin is a predatory wolf; in the morning he will devour his prey and in the evening he will distribute spoils.”

I have two direct connections to this passage.

1)  My middle name is Benjamin (yep). — Binyamin, in Hebrew

2)  As a young boy — and now, by my wonderful wife Chani — I was and am frequently told, “Don’t wolf your food down!”

I was named after my paternal grandfather, Vuleff Ze’ev.   Note that ‘Vuleff’ sounds like ‘wolf’, because it in fact is the Yiddish word for wolf.  It’s common that many children are given names of animals where both the Hebrew and Yiddish are used.  For example, 

* Dov Ber  (Dov — Hebrew for bear.  Ber — Yiddish for bear)

* Tzvi Hirsch  (Tzvi — Hebrew for deer.  Hirsch — Yiddish for deer)

* Fayge Tziporah  (Fayge — Yiddish for bird.  Tziporah – Hebrew for bird).

*  Aryeh Leib   (Aryeh  Hebrew for lion   Leib — Yiddish for lion)

I was proud of my Hebrew name Ze’ev while growing up, though I primarily used my English-given name until I was in my early 20s.    Unlike a wolf, I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a predator while growing up.   But always being one of the shortest boys in my class (though most important, my legs were long enough to reach the ground), I was sometimes dismissed and occasionally picked on. 

That led in part to becoming a ‘scrappy’ kid, gravitating towards sports (running), doing fairly well academically throughout school, and getting into more than one ‘scrap’, as bigger kids occasionally picked on me.   True rabbinic confessions here!

Perhaps most significantly, as I became older, I came to appreciate my connection to the Biblical Benjamin and his description by his father as being likened to a wolf. 

The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was in the territory of Benjamin (along with Judah / Yehudah).  The verse in Genesis describes Benjamin’s dedication and enthusiasm for a connection to God through the Temple offerings; literally, “Benjamin is a wolf that tears” — Benjamin enthusiastically and wholeheartedly devotes himself to God and the offerings brought in the Temple in the same way that a wolf tears at its prey.  

 “In the morning, he will devour his prey” — With consistency he arises each morning to serve God through the morning Temple offerings and his other actions and behavior.  “In the evening he will distribute his spoils” — He serves God with consistency throughout the day, into the evening, attending to the remnants of the daily offerings, with a focus on being a ‘distributor/giver’ to those in his family and community.

I’ve always been proud to have the name Ze’ev, wolf.   I guess you can call me a wolf who knows he’s a wolf — an aware-wolf!

Good to hear from you, Jordan.  Thanks for the interesting question.