March, 2020

“My house is a zoo” is a common idiom.

However, if my wife and children had their druthers, our home would be a zoo. Not in the figurative sense –but literally a place for animals to live and be cared for.

I was not raised with, nor have ever understood the desire for, pets. We have progressed as a society to the point that we live separate from animals and their potential for harm and filth…only to pay money to purchase and then to feed and care for them?

But my greatest concern is halacha. For example, it is shocking to me how many frum Torah families play with pets on Shabbos without first speaking to a rav, and indeed in Part Two we will iy’H share some of the more common and fascinating shailos I have been asked relating to pets.

The concept of pets has long existed in human history. Archaeologists have found gravestones for house pets and horses going back to the time the Greek and Roman era. Here is a translation of a Greek headstone: “The white Maltese dog, Eumelus’ faithful guardian. They called him Bull while he still lived, but now the silent paths of night possess his voice”

If one thinks this owner went too far, consider the following.

In Beverly Hills in 1958 Max and Janet Salter wished to celebrate the ‘coming of age’ of their black cocker spaniel named Windy. They commissioned an artist to compose invitations for this event, terming it a ‘Bark Mitzvah’.

Oy vey.

But that is just the beginning. A few weeks ago a ‘Jewish’ newspaper carried a ‘rabbinic’ symposium on pets in Jewish ‘law’. As opposed to discussing the many real potential issues, they entered a fantasy-land of less-than-Purim-Torah; mishaberechs for sick pets, how to perform a pet levaya, and the blessing a rabbi should give pets when they are brought to shul.

Brought to shul?!

It goes without saying that bringing a pet –or any animal –into a shul is a serious concern–something we will be briefly touch upon next week iy’H, especially when it comes to emotional support or seeing-eye animals.

While it may not surprise us that those outside of frumkeit have manipulated halacha for their beloved pets and personal morals, what may however shock is the following study that demonstate the power of pets into manipulating coherent thinking.

The study presented its participants with the following dilemma:  if a car were to be speeding toward a dog and a human and one has time to save only one, which would you choose? Many chose the animal! (‘Would You Save a Puppy or a Child From a Burning Building?’: A new study shows when we choose pets over people, Psychology Today June 17, 2013)

The responses are at their most disturbing when the case involves a human who is a stranger and a dog that is one’s personal pet, , with 40% claiming they would save their dog before a human stranger!

Here are the complete results: