Rabbi Dunner shares a piece of wisdom from his late grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dunner (1913-2007), regarding King Solomon’s statement in Proverbs that lazy people should take note of the industrious ant, using this energetic creature as a role model.

But why would one use a creature that operates by instinct as a guide for humans that have freedom of choice?

A passage in the Talmud about the dove that returned to Noah‘s Ark with an olive branch becomes the cipher to unlock this puzzle, and Rabbi Dunner’s grandfather uses it to suggest a fascinating explanation for the use of creature metaphors in scripture and Talmud.