Check out our site: 
www.thejewishworldofwonderskidsmagazine.com 

Exploring thE Wild World of AnimAls is prEsEntEd By:

Torah Talk 

The elephant is saying: “How great are Your 
works, G-d; Your thoughts are tremendously 
deep.” (Tehillim 92:6) - Midrash Perek Shirah

there is no animal that can make a person 
gasp at the wonders of Hashem’s works better 
than the elephant. in nineteenth-century 
America, the phrase “seeing the elephant” 
meant having an overwhelming experience. 
this phrase likely originated with people who 
had the awe-inspiring experience of seeing 
the largest land animal, the elephant.

the most obvious remarkable aspect of 
elephants is their extraordinary size, but 
their power is also tremendous. Watch an 
elephant push over a tree that is five feet in 
circumference, and you’ll have clear proof 
 
to its mind-boggling strength!

According to some, the elephant’s hebrew 
name, pil, is related to the word nafal, which 
means “to fall;” the elephant is called the 
“toppler” because of its ability and tendency 
 
to knock down trees (gershon ben shlomo, 
Shaar Hashamayim [thirteenth century]).

E

lephants are herbivores; they only eat plants. other large herbivores 
tend to specialize as either grazers (which only eat grass) or browsers 
(which only eat parts of woody plants), but elephants eat both. they 
consume plants of all sizes, from grass up to trees.

Elephants are also the largest land animals. 
African elephants generally grow up to 
thirteen feet and weigh up to 15,000 
pounds, while Asian elephants can 
grow up to twelve feet and weigh up to 
12,000 pounds. since elephants are 
so large, they require an enormous 
amount of food. they consume 
between 300 and 600 pounds of 
food daily, and spend an average of 
sixteen hours per day eating. 

during the wet season, elephants 
eat mostly grass, leaves, flowers, 
fruits, twigs, and shrubs. But when the 
weather turns dry, they will eat almost any 
kind of vegetation they can find, including the 
bark, roots, and branches of trees, and thorns.

Elephants use their trunks to reach high leaves and fruit on trees, but 
when that doesn’t work, they knock the tree down to get their food! they 
can actually flip a tree upside-down in order to feed on the softer roots and 
foliage, and to strip the bark from the bottom of the tree.

Why Do Elephants 
Knock Down Trees?

TsK, TsK

Elephants use their tusks to 
pull the bark from trees and 
dig roots out of the ground. 

Efraim Harari

SEPTEMBER 5 • 2024 | 45

