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Compassion
for Animals
in the
Bible and its Commentaries
From The Vision of Eden: Animal
Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism
by Rabbi David Sears
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his
master, and departed; and all the goods of his master
were in his possession; and he arose and went to Aram?Nahara'im,
to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down
outside the city by a well of water at dusk, when the
women go out to draw water. And he said, "O Lord,
God of my master Abraham: Please prepare whatever befalls
me today and show kindness to my master, Abraham. Behold,
when I stand by the spring of water, and the daughters
of the townsmen come out to draw water. Let it come
to pass that the maiden to whom I shall say: "Let
down your pitcher, please, that I may drink," and
she shall say, "Drink, and I also will give drink
to your camels" - she will be the one You have
designated for Your servant, Isaac. By this may I know
that You have shown kindness unto my master." And
it came to pass that, before he had finished speaking,
behold, Rebecca appeared (Genesis 24:10-15).
Commentary: "Let down your pitcher, please,
that I may drink." He decided to ask her to lower
her pitcher because it would require great effort on
her part to remove the pitcher from her shoulder and
to give him drink. It would be natural for her to be
annoyed by this request and say, "Lift the pitcher
from my shoulder and pour yourself a drink, so that
I do not have to exert myself."
"Drink, and I also will give drink to your camels."
This response would indicate her wisdom and good?heartedness.
She would think, "Surely, this man has some sort
of pain in his arms that prevents him both from drawing
water from the spring and from lifting the pitcher himself.
Accordingly, if he lacks the strength to draw water
for himself, he certainly cannot attend his camels."
Thus, her good-heartedness would be aroused, that she
might show compassion for living creatures and give
water to the camels as well (Rabbi Meir Leib Malbim,
HaTorah V'HaMitzvos, ad loc.).
And shall I not take pity on Nineveh, that great city
in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand
persons who do not know their right hand from their
left, as well as many cattle? (Jonah 4:11)
Commentary: "As well as many cattle." The
cattle of the city are innocent and deserving of compassion;
moreover, they are many (Rabbi David Kimchi, ad loc.).
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks
to Your Name... (Psalms 142:8).
Midrash: This refers to Noah, who was imprisoned in
the ark. Rabbi Levi said: For twelve months, Noah and
his sons did not sleep, for they were compelled to feed
the animals, beasts, and birds. Rabbi Akiva said: Even
branches for elephants and glass shards for ostriches
they brought aboard by hand in order to feed them. Some
animals eat at two o'clock at night, while others eat
at three. Thus, you may deduce that they never slept.
Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Elazar, son
of Rabbi Yosi the Galilean: One time, Noah was late
in feeding the lion. Therefore, the lion mauled him,
and he came away limping (Midrash Tanchumah,
Noach 9; similarly, note ibid. Noach 2;
Sanhedrin 108b).
Abraham once asked Malkhizedek[1], "How did you
manage to leave the ark [i.e., what merit did you possess
at that time of Divine judgment]?" Malkhizedek
replied, "We performed charitable acts." [Abraham]
asked, "What charity could you give? Which poor
people were present? Since only Noah and his family
were there, upon whom could you bestow charity?"
He replied, "We gave charity to the animals, beasts,
and birds. We did not sleep at night, but served food
to each creature. Once we were late, and my father came
away injured."
At this, Abraham declared, "Had they not performed
charity to the animals, beasts, and birds, they would
not have come forth from the ark - and because they
were once a bit late, they were punished. Thus, if I
act charitably toward human beings, who are created
in the form of angels, surely I shall be saved immediately
from all harm" (Midrash Tehillim on Psalms
37:6).
And Jacob journeyed to Succos, and built a house for
himself and shelters (succos) for his flocks;
therefore, the name of the place was called Succos (Genesis
33:17).
Commentary:
Since this name commemorates Jacob's act
of building a shelter, he may well have been the first
person to build animal shelters, out of compassion for
his flocks. For the sake of this innovation, the place
was given the name Succos (Rabbi Chaim Ibn Attar, Ohr
HaChaim, ad loc.).
[The Torah calls Noah] "a righteous man (tzaddik),"
because the term "righteous" specifically
refers to one who provides food for God's creatures.
Two individuals are called righteous for having provided
other creatures with food: Noah and Joseph. Of the latter,
it states, "They sold a tzaddik for silver"
(Amos 2:6, referring to Joseph and his brothers). And
Joseph sustained [his family and all the people of Egypt]
(Genesis, Ch. 47). [Thus, he is called "righteous"
for having provided their needs.] Rav Achavah son of
Rav Ze'ira said, "The sons of Noah, too, who brought
the animals, beasts, and birds into the ark, were all
righteous because they showed compassion toward both
animals and humans (Midrash Tanchumah, Noach
4).
And God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all
the animals that were with him... (Genesis 8:1).
Midrash: If a person traveling by ship encounters
a great storm, he will throw his possessions and livestock
overboard in order to save the passengers. He does not
have the same degree of compassion for his animals and
possessions as he does for other human beings. However,
the Holy One, blessed be He, has compassion for animals
just as He has compassion for humans. As it states,
"His mercy is upon all His works" (Psalms
145:9). [Thus, the verse places God's "remembrance"
of the beasts and animals on the same plane as his remembrance
of Noah] (Midrash Tanchumah, Noah 6).
When Moses was herding the flocks of Jethro in the
wilderness, one of the sheep ran away. He pursued it
until he found a rocky ledge. After discovering the
ledge, he came upon a stream of water beside which the
lost sheep stood drinking. At this he said, "I
didn't know that you ran away because of thirst. You
must be tired." So he carried it back on his shoulders.
The Holy One, blessed be He, declared, "You have
shown compassion in tending the flock belonging to mortal
man. Thus shall you tend My flock [Israel]" (Midrash:
Shemos Rabba 2:2).
David was tested through tending sheep, and found
to be a good shepherd. He would restrain the larger
sheep for the sake of the small ones. First, he would
let the small ones graze on the soft grass, and then
let the old sheep graze on the grass that was more difficult
to chew, leaving the tough grass for the young bucks.
He led them only to the wilderness, in order to distance
them from theft. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be
He, told him, "You have proven yourself to be faithful
with sheep. Now go and shepherd My flock [Israel]"
(ibid.).
"And God will give you mercy, and show mercy
to you" (Deuteronomy 13:18). God will instill in
you the trait of mercy and compassion; then He will
"show mercy to you."] If one has mercy upon
living creatures, Heaven will have mercy upon him (Shabbos
151b). However, if a person lacks mercy, there is no
difference between him and a beast, which is not sensitive
to the suffering of other creatures (Rabbi Yehudah HeChassid,
Sefer Chassidim, 87).
If you chance upon a bird's nest along the way, in
any tree or on the ground, whether it contains young
birds or eggs, and the mother is sitting upon the young
birds or upon the eggs - you shall not take the mother
bird together with the children. You shall surely send
away the mother, and only then may you take the young
for yourself, so that it may go well with you, and you
may prolong your days (Deuteronomy 22:6, 7).
Commentary 1:
This precept is a moral instruction, as is the
related prohibition not to kill a mother bird and its
young on the same day (Leviticus 22:28). The reason
for both commandments is that we should not be cruel-hearted
and lacking compassion.
Alternately, [it could be inferred that] the Torah does
not permit the extinction of an entire species, even
if it permits the killing [of animals for food or other
legitimate human needs] within a given species. One
who kills the mother and her young on the same day or
takes them when they are free to fly is considered as
if he had eliminated an entire species (Nachmanides,
Commentary on the Torah, ad loc.).
Commentary 2:
This precept aims
to instill in our hearts the knowledge that the watchful
care of God is over the human species individually,
as it is written, "For His eyes are upon the ways
of man..." (Job 34:21) and, for other kinds of
living creatures, over the entire species in a general
way. In other words, His desire is for the endurance
of the species. Therefore, no species among all His
various creatures will ever become extinct, for under
the watchful care of the One Who lives and endures forever,
[every species] finds enduring existence.[2]
When a person sets his mind on this, he will understand
the ways of God, and he will see that the continued
existence of the various species - not one of which
has become extinct and perished, "from the eggs
of lice, to the horns of the wild ox," since the
day they were created - is all by His pronouncement,
and this is His desire. So, too, will a person realize
that when he keeps the precepts of his Creator and his
ways are honest and straight, "with clean hands
and a pure heart" (Psalms 24:4), God's providence
will be upon him. His body will live long in this world,
and his soul will live forever in the World to Come
(Sefer HaChinnuch, Mitzvah 545).
NOTES
[1] The Talmudic rabbis identify Malkhizedek
(a construct of Malchi, meaning "My King,"
and tzedek, meaning "just") as Shem,
the eldest son of Noah. He was the priest-king of Salem
(later "Jerusalem"), from whom Abraham received
blessings in the name of God upon his defeat of the
Four Kings (Genesis, Ch. 14).
[2] In the early medieval period during
which the author of Sefer HaChinnuch lived, it
was not known that many species had become extinct.
However, his interpretation that the Torah wishes human
beings to refrain from contributing to the extinction
of any species still stands.
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Sears Collection
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