{"id":53962,"date":"2020-03-06T16:38:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T22:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=53962"},"modified":"2020-03-06T18:41:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T00:41:35","slug":"off-the-pulpit-learning-from-the-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-learning-from-the-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Learning from the animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n<p>In Myanmar they tell a story about horses.&nbsp;The story goes that horses were originally created without teeth.&nbsp;The cow has teeth only on the bottom and water buffaloes only have teeth on the top.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-35320 size-thumbnail lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-350x350.jpg 350w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/150;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-35320 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wolpe_edt-350x350.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a>Originally&nbsp;they both had full sets of teeth.&nbsp;The poor horse came to the cow and said, \u201cLook, you have top and bottom teeth and I have none.&nbsp;Would you consider giving me your top teeth so we can at least both have some?\u201d The cow good-naturedly agreed.&nbsp;The horse then went to the water buffalo and asked that he share his bottom teeth.&nbsp;The Water buffalo also agreed.&nbsp;So the horse, who started out with nothing, ended up with teeth on the top and the bottom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">And that, says the Burmese legend, is why horses laugh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Lessons from animals, scientific or mythic, exist in Judaism as well.&nbsp;The Talmud teaches us to learn modesty from the cat and fidelity from the dove.&nbsp;The Bible counsels us to imitate the ant\u2019s industry, and the Mishnah urges us to be bold as a leopard and swift as an eagle to do God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">To which I would add, since we have teeth top and bottom, learn to laugh.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; 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