“Run, run, run, run, run, run, run...
Set the gear shift for the high gear of your soul!
You’ve got to run like an antelope,
out of control!”
—The Dude of Life
A note about the various animals in these sources: I choose to read both איָל and צְבִי as "antelope" because depending on the translation or source, "gazelle" and "deer" appear to be interchangeable.
ירוץ עבדך כמו איָל, ישתחוה מול הדרך
Your surrendered servant will run like a gazelle, He will bow before your splendor.
(ז) הִשְׁבַּ֨עְתִּי אֶתְכֶ֜ם בְּנ֤וֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ בִּצְבָא֔וֹת א֖וֹ בְּאַיְל֣וֹת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה אִם־תָּעִ֧ירוּ ׀ וְֽאִם־תְּעֽוֹרְר֛וּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָ֖ה עַ֥ד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּֽץ׃ (ח) ק֣וֹל דּוֹדִ֔י הִנֵּה־זֶ֖ה בָּ֑א מְדַלֵּג֙ עַל־הֶ֣הָרִ֔ים מְקַפֵּ֖ץ עַל־הַגְּבָעֽוֹת׃ (ט) דּוֹמֶ֤ה דוֹדִי֙ לִצְבִ֔י א֖וֹ לְעֹ֣פֶר הָֽאַיָּלִ֑ים הִנֵּה־זֶ֤ה עוֹמֵד֙ אַחַ֣ר כָּתְלֵ֔נוּ מַשְׁגִּ֙יחַ֙ מִן־הַֽחֲלֹּנ֔וֹת מֵצִ֖יץ מִן־הַֽחֲרַכִּֽים׃
My beloved resembles a gazelle. In the swiftness of His running, for He hastened to come like a gazelle and like a young hart. “עֹפֶר” is a young male hart.
jumped ten cubits— This alludes to the Song of the Future, the simple-[twofold-threefold-fourfold] song of ten letters, the concept of “ten cubits.” “Jumped” is the concept of “skipping over mountains, jumping over hills” (Song of Songs 2:8). “Mountains” and “hills” allude to scents, as in “I will take me to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense” (ibid. 4:6)—i.e., the scents that grow in the garden by means of the voice of the melody, which waters the garden, as mentioned above.
(יא) [צְבִי] אוֹמֵר . וַאֲנִי אָשִׁיר עֻזֶּךָ וַאֲרַנֵּן לַבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ כִּי הָיִיתָ מִשְׂגָּב לִי וּמָנוֹס בְּיוֹם צַר לִי: (תהילים פרק נט יז)
The Gazelle is saying: “And I shall sing of Your strength, I shall rejoice of Your kindness in the morning, for You were a refuge to me, and a hiding place on the day of my oppression.” (Psalms 59:17)[Translation by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, "Nature's Song"]
ה' אדושם חֵילִ֔י וַיָּ֤שֶׂם רַגְלַי֙ כָּֽאַיָּל֔וֹת וְעַ֥ל בָּמוֹתַ֖י יַדְרִכֵ֑נִי לַמְנַצֵּ֖חַ בִּנְגִינוֹתָֽי׃
My Lord GOD is my strength: He makes my feet like the gazelles’s, and lets me stride upon the heights. For the leader; with instrumental music.
יְהוּדָה בֶן תֵּימָא אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּשֶׁר, וְרָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַז פָּנִים לְגֵיהִנֹּם, וּבֹשֶׁת פָּנִים לְגַן עֵדֶן. יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ שֶׁתִּבְנֶה עִירְךָ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְתוֹרָתֶךָ:
Yehudah ben Teimah says: Be brazen like the leopard, light like the eagle, swift like the gazelle, and mighty like the lion to do the Will of your Father Who is in Heaven. He used to say: [the] brazen-faced [are bound] for Gehinnom (Purgatory), and [the] shamefaced [are bound] for the Garden of Eden. May it be Your Will, Lord, our God and the God of our forefathers, that Your city be rebuilt, speedily and in our days, and grant us our share in Your Torah.
(כ) ורץ כצבי. לרדוף אחר המצות:
(20) "swift like the gazelle": to run towards the commandments.
דֶּֽרֶךְ־מִצְוֺתֶ֥יךָ אָר֑וּץ כִּ֖י תַרְחִ֣יב לִבִּֽי׃
I eagerly pursue [lit. "I run toward"] Your commandments, for You broaden my understanding.
ורץ כצבי (ג) ובהשלמתך במניעת פעולת הנפש, דהיינו לבלי להתחכם בשכל אנושי במצות התורה, במה שאין האדם יכול להשיגו בשכל אנושי. בזה תהיה רץ כצבי אשר הציד ירדוף אחריו, והוא רק בקלות רגליו ינצל כצבי מיד. כן הרחק מהמינות הזה דרכיך, כי זהו דעת האפיקורסת ומינות אשר נכשלו ונפלו בה רבים. לכן אל תקרב אל פתח ביתה:
(כ) ורץ כצבי. ור"ל ירוצו ולא ייגעו. שאר בני אדם כשהם רצים נלאים אבל לדבר מצוה לא ילאו וכן לדבר מצוה ילכו ולא ייעפו כי שאר בני אדם כשהולך ביום יותר ממהלכו הוא עיף ויגע:
(20) swift like the gazelle: He wants to say, "They shall run and not grow weary." Other people get worn out when they run, but they do not get worn for the matter of a commandment. And so [too], towards the matter of a commandment, "they shall march and not grow faint." As [with] other people, when one walks more than what he [generally] walks during the day, he is faint and grows weary.
רָץ כַּצְּבִי, כְּנֶגֶד הָרַגְלַיִם, שֶׁרַגְלֶיךָ לְטוֹב יָרוּצוּ.
"Quick like the gazelle" refers to the legs, that your legs should run toward good.
With regard to this issue [of how the poor should honor Shabbat without indebting themselves to others], the school of Eliyahu taught that although Rabbi Akiva said: Make your Shabbat like a weekday and do not be beholden to other beings; however, one should nevertheless perform some small alteration in his house to distinguish Shabbat from a weekday. The Gemara asks: What is this alteration? Rav Pappa said: For example, one should serve small, fried fish. As we learned in a mishna: Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima says: Be bold like a leopard, light like an eagle, run like a gazelle, and be strong like a lion to perform the will of your Father in Heaven. This statement teaches that one should exert every effort to perform a mitzva.
מוֹדִים אֲנַחְנוּ לְּפָנֶיךָ ה' אלוקינו ואלוקי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁשַּׂמְתָּ חֶלְקֵנוּ מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי בֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ, וְלֹא שַׂמְתָּ חֶלְקֵנוּ מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי קְרָנוֹת. שֶׁאָנוּ מַשְׁכִּימִים וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים אָנוּ מַשְׁכִּימִים לְדִבְרֵי תּוֹרָה וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים לִדְבָרִים בְּטֵלִים. אָנוּ עֲמֵלִים וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים. אָנו עֲמֵלִים וּמְקַבְּלִים שָׂכָר וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים וְאֵינָם מְקַבְּלִים שָׂכָר. אָנוּ רָצִים וְהֵם רָצִים. אָנוּ רָצִים לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, וְהֵם רָצִים לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת. שֶׁנֱאמַר: וְאַתָּה אֱלֹקים, תּוֹרִדֵם לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת--אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים וּמִרְמָה, לֹא-יֶחֱצוּ יְמֵיהֶם; וַאֲנִי, אֶבְטַח-בָּךְ.
We give thanks before You, Lord, our G-d and G-d of our fathers, for you gave us a share among those who sit in the study hall, and not among those who sit on street corners. For we arise early, and they arise early; we arise for words of Torah, and they arise for words of emptiness. We work, and they work; we work and receive a reward, and they work and do not receive a reward. We run, and they run; we run towards eternal life, and they run to a pit of desolation. As it says: (Psalms 55:24) "And You, O Lord, bring them down into a pit of desolation, people of blood and deceit will not live out half of their days; and I, I will trust in You."
The Zohar II, 14a says: Only one creature in the world acts like the gazelle. As it runs away it goes slowly at first and turns its head back to watch the place it has left. Its head keeps turning back. “Likewise, Master of the Universe,” implores Israel, “if we make you turn away from us, fly likewise as the gazelle, its head turning back to watch the place it has left.” [As found in Dreams of Being Eaten Alive by David Rosenberg]
The Secret of "Setting the Gearshift" according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe
"Chassidic teaching explains: Because Rabbi Akivah entered in peace, he emerged in peace (Talmud Chagigah 14b). The others did not "enter in peace": in their ecstasy, they lost sight of the axiom that "the Torah was given to make peace in the world," that our purpose in life is to reconcile the material existence with its Creator. Their souls soared with the thrill of spiritual discovery, but, not having serviced their "landing gear" upon take-off, disappeared into the blue yonder, or crashed. Only Rabbi Akivah, who embarked on his mystical journey with a firm vision of the divine peace, was able to return, intact in body and soul, to apply the sublime truths he gained to the harmonious endeavor of life. ... Run the soul must, but it must run as a gazelle, with "his head back to the place from which he is running." Our yen for transcendence must always be with an eye to the material reality we are fleeing, with the knowledge that the purpose of every escape to the heavens is a return to earth." [found here: https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/1211030/jewish/The-Gazelle.htm]
וזהו פירוש מאמר חכמינו ז"ל (כתובות קי:) כל הדר בארץ דומה כמי שיש לו אלוה, היינו כל הדר בגשמיות אשר נדמה ונחשב בעיניו ליש ודבר שהוא עובד ה' דומה כמי שיש לו אלוה, רוצה לומר שהוא סובר שהוא עובד ה'. וכל הדר בחוץ לארץ, היינו חוץ לגשמיות ונבזה בעיניו ונמאס ואינו תופס מקום כלל ולא נחשב עבודתו בעיניו לכלום דומה כמי שאין לו אלוה, היינו שעדיין לא התחיל לעבוד את ה' כלל. וזהו פירוש הפסוק וקווי ה' יחליפו כח, היינו שמתחלפין תמיד שאינם עומדים בבחינה אחת, כי בכל יום עבודתם חדשה כנ"ל. לא ייעפו, לשון עוף דבר שעף למעלה, כלומר שלא נדמו בעיניהם שהם עובדי ה' ועולים במעלות המדרגות, רק אדרבה לא יגעו, רוצה לומר שנדמה בעיניהם שעדיין לא הגיעו לשום מדריגה איך לעבוד את הבורא ברוך הוא ולא התחילו כלל לעבוד אותו. וזהו תתחדש כנשר נעורייכי וכו' (תהלים קג, ה):
נַפְתָּלִ֖י אַיָּלָ֣ה שְׁלֻחָ֑ה הַנֹּתֵ֖ן אִמְרֵי־שָֽׁפֶר׃
Naphtali is a hind let loose, which yields lovely fawns.
The Ba'al Tefilla in Yaakov Avinu's Shul by the Divrei Yisrael of Modzitz
"Naphtali is a gazelle-like messenger, that delivers words of beauty" (Breishis 49:21)
It is well known that the name Naphtali is from the term tefilla (see Rashi and Onkelos, Breishis 30:8). Naphtali was the ba'al tefilla and shliach tzibburin Yaakov Avinu's shul (Targum Yonasan and Yerushalmi: "when he would open his mouth in Yaakov's assembly, the language was the choicest of words / sweet like honey.")
The gazelle is the most pious of the animals, and their ba'al tefilla and shliach tzibbur, asking Hashem for food and drink. It is the most merciful. When it pleads for food, it does not think of itself, only for the others. And when the animals eat and drink, it is satiated as if it ate more than any of them. Hashem hears its voice and is filled with mercy. All of this is explained on the verse (Tehillim, 42:2), "Like a gazelle cries out for the springs of water..." by the Yalkut and Zohar (Parshas Pinchas).
Indeed, Rashi on this verse in Tehillim quotes our Sages as saying, "The gazelle is the most pious of the animals. When the animals are thirsty, they gather unto it, that it should lift its eyes on High. What does it do? It digs a hole, places it horns inside and cries out. Hashem has mercy on it, and the abyss brings water up to it."
The Zohar on Parshas Pinchas says that the gazelle "is the most merciful of the animals. When it is pressed for its own food and that of the other animals, it travels very far to bring the food. And it doesn't want to eat until it returns to its place - because all the other animals gather there and it share the food with them...And by sharing with them, it is satiated as if it ate more than all of them."
The Divrei Yisrael goes on to explain our verse: this is the meaning that Naphtali is a gazelle-like messenger. Just like the gazelle is the ba'al tefilla and shliach tzibbur of the animals, and has no intention for itself, only for them, and Hashem hears its request; so, too, Naphtali is the ba'al tefilla and shliach tzibbur of Yaakov's shul, having no kavanna in his prayers for his own benefit, only for Klal Yisrael. And therefore, he "delivers words of beauty", histefilla is pure and received with compassion and favor before Hashem.
Translated by Reb Yitzchak Dorfman,of Yerushalaim, a Modzitzer Chasid [found here: http://web.archive.org/web/20010223033542fw_/http://modzitz.org/torah/vayechi.htm#torah06]
בִּיצִיאָתוֹ מַהוּ אוֹמֵר? ״מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ ה׳ אֱלֹקַי שֶׁשַּׂמְתָּ חֶלְקִי מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי בֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ וְלֹא שַׂמְתָּ חֶלְקִי מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי קְרָנוֹת. שֶׁאֲנִי מַשְׁכִּים, וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים. אֲנִי מַשְׁכִּים לְדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה, וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים לִדְבָרִים בְּטֵלִים. אֲנִי עָמֵל וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים. אֲנִי עָמֵל וּמְקַבֵּל שָׂכָר, וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים וְאֵינָם מְקַבְּלִים שָׂכָר. אֲנִי רָץ וְהֵם רָצִים. אֲנִי רָץ לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא וְהֵם רָצִים לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת״.
Upon his exit, what did he say? I give thanks before You, Lord my God, that You have placed my lot among those who sit in the study hall, and that you have not given me my portion among those who sit idly on street corners. I rise early, and they rise early. I rise early to pursue matters of Torah, and they rise early to pursue frivolous matters. I toil and they toil. I toil and receive a reward, and they toil and do not receive a reward. I run and they run. I run to the life of the World-to-Come and they run to the pit of destruction.
הִ֭נָּצֵל כִּצְבִ֣י מִיָּ֑ד וּ֝כְצִפּ֗וֹר מִיַּ֥ד יָקֽוּשׁ׃
Save yourself like an antelope out of the hand [of a hunter], Like a bird out of the hand of a fowler.
"Run" as remez to "Rinah"
...מְפוֹרָשׁ עַל יְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לִשְׁמֹעַ אֶל הָרִנָּה וְאֶל הַתְּפִלָּה״. ״רִנָּה״ זוֹ תְּפִלָּה, ״תְּפִלָּה״ זוֹ בַּקָּשָׁה.
... it has already been articulated by Solomon that this is not so, as in Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Holy Temple it is stated: “To hear the song and the prayer that Your servant prays before You today” (I Kings 8:28). In this verse, song is prayer in the sense of thanks and praise, and prayer is one’s request of his personal needs.