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Question of the Week:
How do you say "animals" in Hebrew?
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The Torah is
replete with laws
that direct people
to treat animals
with kindness.
notable role in Jewish life
since biblical times.
Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor
1. According to Jewish law, a Jew may not
eat until he has first fed his own animals.
2. You will find all of the following animals
mentioned in the Torah or Talmud: addax,
ant, ass, bat Syrian bear,
bee, beetle, bison, wild
boar, water buffalo, bug,
bu77ard, camel, cattle, cen-
tipede, chameleon, chee-
tah, cobra, coral, crane,
cricket, crimson worm, croc-
odile, fallow deer, roe deer,
The leopard
dog, dove, eagle, earth-
is only one of
worm, elephant, fish, flea,
the cats listed
fly, fox; frog, gazelle,
in the Bible.
gecko, gnat, goat, goose,
grasshopper, gull, hare, hawk, heron, hip-
. popotamus, horse, hyena, hurax, ibex, jack-
al, kestrel, kite, leech, leopard, lion, lizard,
locust, louse, mackerel, maggot, mole rat,
mongoose, monkey, moth, mouse, mule,
nightingale, onager, oryx, ostrich, owl (14
varieties), ox, partridge, peacock, porcu-
pine, quail, rat, raven, rooster, sardine, scor-
pion, sheep, skink, snake, sparrow, spider,
stork, swift, swine, tahash, turtledove, viper,
vulture, wasp, whale and wolf.
3. Is something fishy going on here? We
know all the animals were represented on
Noah's Ark, which made it quite a busy
place (one biblical scholar specifically
identifies 32 different kinds of birds, and
365 species of reptiles): But did you
know the rabbis are divided on the issue
of — fish? Some say fish came right on
board with the rest of the creatures, but
that they later jumped into the water. Oth-
ers say the fish were never on board.
•
4. Upon seeing an especially memorable
animal (or tree or person), one should recite
the bracha, blessing, "Praised be You, 0
Lord our God, King of the universe, for such
[wondrous] things are in this world."
5. Judaism strictly prohibits hunting for
pleasure, and doesn't advocate hunting
among Jews
even when the animals
killed are to be used for food. One rabbi
—
said of hunting, "It is not the way of the
children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
6. Some like to argue that Judaism advo-
cates vegetarianism (in fact, Israel's first chief
Ashkenazi rabbi, Rav Abraham Isaac Kook
[1865-1935], was a vegetarian). It's fair to
say that Judaism and vegetarianism are basi-
cally compatible, but it's also true that on
holidays and certain happy occasions (such
as a brit)Jews are directed to have a seuda,
a festive meal — which implies meat.
Nonetheless, kashrut contains strict guide-
lines as to how the animal, to be used for
food, must be slaughtered, and Halacha,
Jewish law, directs Jews to eat meat only if
their "souls desire it" (Deuteronomy 12:20).
Consequently, Jews should never overindulge
in eating meat.
7. Probably the most famous quotation
from the Torah regarding animals is the
concept of compassion for living things,
tzar ba'alei chaim. But Halacha does
much more than simply tell Jews not to
inflict pain on animals; in fact, we are
told that God expects us to be compas-
sionate toward all living creatures.
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