#Parshat Ki Teitse

[eretzyisrael]

"Animal Welfare". 

 Parshat Ki Teitse 

PARSHAT KI TEITSE

Animals are part of God’s creation. They have their own integrity in the scheme of things. We now know that they are far closer to human beings than philosophers like Descartes thought. This would not have been news to the heroes of the Bible. Abraham, Moses and David were all shepherds who lived their formative years watching over and caring for animals. That was their first tutorial in leadership, and they knew that this was one way of understanding God. Judaism also reminds us of what we sometimes forget: that the moral life is too complex to summarise in a single concept like “rights.” Alongside rights, there are duties, and there can be duties without corresponding rights. Animals do not have rights, but we have duties towards them. As several laws in Parshat Ki Teitse and elsewhere make clear, we must not cause them unnecessary pain or emotional distress. As we saw last week in the case of environmental legislation in Shoftim, Genesis 1 gives us the mandate to “subdue” and “rule” creation, including animals, but Genesis 2 gives us the responsibility to “serve” and “guard.” Animals may not have rights but they have feelings, and we must respect them if we are to honour our role as God’s partners in creation.

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Rabbi Sacks

[yidquotes]

Judaism does not believe that animals lack souls - "The righteous person cares about the nefesh of their animal," says the book of Proverbs (12:10). To be sure, nefesh here probably means "life" rather than "soul" (neshama in Hebrew). But Tanach does regard animals as sentient beings. They may not think or speak, but they do feel. They are capable of distress. Therefore there is such a thing as animal distress, tza'ar baalei chayim, and as far as possible it should be avoided. So we read in Parshat Ki Teitse: "Do not muzzle an ox when it is treading grain" (Deut. 25:4). What is intriguing about this law is that it parallels provisions for human beings as well: "When you come [to work] in your neighbour's vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you desire to satisfy your hunger.... When you come [to work] in your neighbour's standing grain, you may take the ears with your hand" (Deut. 23:25-26). The principle is the same in both cases: it is cruel to prevent those working with food from eating some of it. The parallel is instructive. Animals, not just humans, have feelings and they must be respected.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks