Community Magazine July 2016

CATS, START YOUR ENGINES! CALLS OF THE WILD Sleek and agile, the body of the cheetah is specially designed to help the cheetah hunt down its prey in a matter of seconds. While sprinting, a cheetah can cover twenty to twenty-two feet in one stride! However, although the cheetah runs extremely fast, it can only run for short periods of time, so it needs to catch its prey almost immediately. Racing at a speed of 70 mph requires a lot of energy, especially when the outside temperature is high. So, after running between 300 to 600 yards, the cheetah usually stops and rests for half an hour in order to catch its breath and regain its normal body temperature, even if it wasn’t successful at capturing its intended target. The cheetah is a very vocal animal that uses different types of sounds to communicate its feelings. Some of its sounds include chirping, growling, hissing, snarling, moaning, bleating, and purring. A cheetah emits a chirping sound when trying to locate its cubs. The mother’s chirp sounds like a puppy’s bark. The cubs respond by chirping as well. Their chirping sounds like a bird’s chirping. It is a well-known fact that the cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth. It is also well documented that the cheetah is a cunning hunter, blessed with strength, agility, and a keen sense of vision. Yet people might not be aware of the fact that evenwith all of the cheetah’s fine attributes, it is still only successful with its hunting 50% of the time! If that wasn’t disappointing enough, even when the cheetah finally does catch its prey, there is a good chance that a nearby lion, hyena, or leopard, all of which are stronger than the cheetah, will come and steal it away. But despite all these obstacles and adversities, the cheetah does not despair. After an unsuccessful hunt or two, or three, the cheetah stops, recoups, and then begins to prepare once again to complete its mission. By observing the cheetah, we can learn a very valuable lesson: to never give up. An example from the Torah of a great person who had this attribute is Yitzchak Avinu. This is alluded to in Parshat Toldot, when the Torah describes the wells that Yitzchak Avinu dug. When Yitzchak dug a well but failed to find water there, he dug elsewhere until he succeeded. When enemies disputed his rights to the water, he went to another site and dug again. Eventually, he found water that no one disputed. This is the way a person should approach adversity, whether in material projects or spiritual pursuits. Keep trying until you succeed. Should one have difficulty with something – and this is especially true regarding learning Torah – one should not give up or despair, because success is imminent to those who are determined and persist with their efforts. TORAH TRAITS Excerpts from Exploring the Wild World of Animals, by Efraim Harari, published by Israel Bookshop Publications. Be sure to check out the newest book in this animals series, Exploring the Wild World of Animals & BIRDS. Now available at all Judaica stores and on Amazon. MarvelsofCreation from aTorahPerspective HARARI NEW Did You Know? The cheetah can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in just three seconds! SIVAN - TAMUZ 5776 JULY 2016 91