THIS WEEK'S TORAH COMMENTARY

Dvar Torah for Parshat Ki Tetzei
The Michael Vick dog fighting case has brought to light a repulsive subculture that I am sure is disturbing to us all. Yet, it has sparked a very interesting debate. Where is the line that makes something "animal cruelty"? A 2003 Harris poll determined that less than 3% of Americans consider themselves vegetarians. That means over 290 million Americans eat meat. Isn't that cruel to animals? What about hunting and fishing, isn't that cruel to animals? What would Judaism deem "animal cruelty"?

In this week's Parsha we learn a valuable lesson in treating animals with respect. The Torah states (Deuternomy 22:6-7):

If a bird's nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground-young birds or eggs-and the mother is roosting on the young bird or eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days.

The Torah forbids you from taking the eggs or chicks while the mother is still in your presence, so you must shoo her away before taking them. Not only that, but this is one of only two Mitzvot that the Torah promises a long life as a reward (the other: honoring your parents)!

Clearly the Torah allows you to use animals for productive human purpose, eating meat is allowed in the Torah, but it also stipulates that you must have sensitivity to the animal. What's amazing is that the Torah is not only talking about physical pain, but even psychological or emotional pain. We are sensitive to the mother bird's plight of witnessing her eggs being taken away.

This concept is extended to all animals. It is forbidden to cause any unnecessary physical or psychological pain to an animal ( Tza'ar Baalei Chaim). The Sefer HaChinuch (in Mitzvah #350), a thirteenth century collection of the 613 Mitzvot, extends this concept to mistreating animals when working them. He states that one is not allowed to force an animal to do work that it is not capable of doing. One of the reasons one is not allowed to crossbreed animals, he adds, because it is cruel to the animals involved.

The Noda Bi-Yehuda, the Chief Rabbi of Prague for most of the eighteenth century, writes that hunting for sport is forbidden. While God has allowed to use the animal world for human benefit, he did not permit us to use them as sport. To simply kill animals for the fun of it is cruel, and a waste of God's creations. Killing rodents in your home is one thing, but shooting deer and hanging them on your wall is not what God intended for the animal world. It makes sense, how many Jewish hunters do you know?

So when analyzing the Michael Vick case, the most disturbing aspect was their cruelty. To treat animals as their playthings; to torture them, and force them to torture each other is clearly against the Torah. And we see from this week's Parsha just how seriously the Torah takes this offense.

May we use this as an opportunity to value all of God's creations. Have a great Shabbos.

Rabbi Josh Stulowitz
Rabbi@AdathIsraelsf.org