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a guide to simchahs

All Dogs Go To ... Synagogue?

Some Jewish pet owners throw a "bark mitzvah" to celebrate
their canine's coming of age.

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Jacob Kamaras/JNS.org

luffy Shindler barks when he sees Friday night candles and
understands that on Shabbat, it's quieter than usual around the
house. It was only natural, then, for the Shindlers to throw Fluffy
a "bark mitzvah."
About eight years ago in Monsey, N.Y., the perceptive Bichon Frise
donned a yarmulke and placed his paw on a Chumash (Bible) before 10
kids and a few neighbors at the Shindler household. The menu included
cake for the crowd, and for Fluffy, a cookie decorated like a Torah scroll.
"We didn't do a big spiel, but it was cute," Wendy Shindler said.
While Fluffy's bark mitzvah was low-key affair, some bark mitzvahs
have rivaled the extravagance of their human-focused counterparts.
That was the case in December 2004, when New York cabaret singer
Mark Nadler treated his dog, Admiral Rufus K. Boom ("Boomie"), to a
party that included a chopped liver sculpture, bartenders and a lavish
buffet in his Riverdale, N.Y., home.
• • •
According to the New York Times,
Boomie's bark mitzvah featured yarmul-
kes for guests with the dog's name and
the date printed inside, as well as "many
checks" written for $50 or more as gifts
— though some attendees gave Boomie
rawhide chews. The party invitations, sent
to dozens of friends, said the bark mitzvah's
purpose was "to share a special day in our
lives when my dog, Admiral Rufus K. Boom,
will celebrate his bark mitzvah in the tradi-
tion of our
tion ancestors."
In response to one guest who claimed
Boomie "doesn't look" Jewish, Nadler
responded "he chanted his arf-tara this
afternoon," a play on the haftorah portion read at traditional bar mitz-
vahs, according to the NYT.
The bark mitzvah routine, however, isn't always jovially received.
Responding to a New York Times article in 1997 — the year when
the term "bark mitzvah" was first used — Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff of
Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, N.J., wrote a letter to the editor express-
ing that the practice is "nothing less than a desecration of a cherished
Jewish tradition and degrades the central principles of Jewish life."
California-based author Shari Cohen said she was "exceptionally
aware" of the concerns surrounding bark mitzvahs when writing Alfie's
Bark Mitzvah (Five Star Publications, 2007), a children's book on the
subject. She consulted with Conservative rabbis on the project, asking
them if bark mitzvahs were too much of a "boundary pusher."
Most of the rabbis were enthusiastic about the idea of the book or at
least open to it, Cohen said, but a select few "told me what I already
knew — 'maybe you should not go in this direction. — Therefore, Cohen
said she was extra careful before finalizing the book.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) slogan says
animals "are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertain-
ment," but PETA does not condemn the bark mitzvah practice.
Fluffy Shindler, now 9 years old and living in New Jersey, received his
bark mitzvah at the age of 1, but most male dogs have been known to
celebrate the occasion at either 13 months or 13 years (the equivalent
of 91 in dog years) old.
Despite Fluffy's usual perceptiveness when it comes to Jewish tradi-
tion, he merely barked and "didn't understand anything" at the party,
Wendy Shindler said. It was more about simple fun than anything else.
"We thought it would be very cute to do this for him," Shindler said.

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March 2013