There was once a Jew who owned a cow with which he plowed his field. Unfortunately, this Jew became impoverished and was forced to sell his cow. His buyer was not Jewish.
The new owner plowed with the cow all throughout the week, quite satisfied with her labor. When Shabbat arrived, however, and he took her out to the field, the cow kneeled under the yoke and refused to do any work. He yelled, he cajoled, hit her with his whip, but still she would not budge from her place.
The furious man stormed over to the Jew: "Take back your cow! All week I worked with her, but today I took her out to the field and the lazy animal refuses to do anything! "
The Jew calmed the irate owner and said: "Come with me, and I will get her to plow." When they arrived at the field where the cow lay, the Jew spoke into her ear. "Oh Cow, Cow! When you were in my domain, you rested on Shabbat. But now that I sold you to this gentile, please, stand up and do the will of your master!"
Immediately, the cow stood, prepared to work. Said the gentile to the Jew: "I'm not letting you go until you tell me what you did and what you said to her. Have you bewitched her?" The Jew repeated what he said to the cow.
When the man heard this, he was shaken and astonished. Said he: "If this creature, which has neither language or intelligence, recognizes her Creator, should not I, whom G‑d created in His image and imbued me with intelligence and understanding?"
So he went and converted to Judaism and merited to study Torah. A righteous scholar, he became known as Yochanan ben Torta, "Yochanan son of the Cow".
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