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Compassion
for Animals
in the Talmud, Midrash, and Zohar
From The Vision of Eden: Animal
Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism
by Rabbi David Sears
Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav: In all creation
there is nothing that lacks a Divinely-appointed purpose
(Talmud: Shabbos 77b).
There is nothing superfluous in the universe. Even
flies, gnats, and mosquitoes are part of creation and,
as such, serve a Divinely-appointed purpose (Midrash:
Bereshis Rabba 10:7).
[Shimon Ben Azzai] used to say: Do not disparage any
person and do not reject anything, for there is no man
who does not have his hour, and nothing that does not
have its place (Mishna: Avos 4:3).
Commentary: Everything has its place in the world.
Even creatures that seem to be ugly, hateful, painful,
and harmful, such as insects, snakes, and scorpions,
were created by God and serve His will (Tiferes Yisrael,
ad loc.).
And the Lord saw everything that He had made, and,
behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31).
Zohar: The verse states "everything He had
made," without qualification. Even snakes, scorpions,
and insects, even things that seem to be destructive,
are included in the pronouncement "very good,"
for they, too, serve the One Above (Zohar III:
Emor, 107a).
Rabbi Yochanan observed: If the Torah had not been
given, we could have learned modesty from the cat, honest
labor from the ant, marital fidelity from the dove,
and good manners from the rooster (Talmud: Eruvin
100b).
Go to the ant, you sluggard: observe her ways and become
wise (Proverbs 6:6).
Midrash: For she has no watchman or task-master
standing over her, yet in the summer she prepares her
food, and in the harvest season she stores it.
What did King Solomon see in the ways of the ant that
he wished to teach the sluggard? The rabbis stated:
The ant has three chambers. She enters neither the upper
chamber because of the rain, nor the lower chamber because
of the mud, but only the middle one. She only lives
for six months, she has neither tendons nor bones, and
her food consists only of a grain and a half of wheat;
yet she goes back and forth all summer collecting whatever
she finds, wheat, barley, and lentils.
Rabbi Tanchuma stated: Although her entire sustenance
is only a grain and a half of wheat, she gathers all
this. Why does she bother? She says, "If the Holy
One, blessed be He, should decree upon me long life,
I will have prepared sufficient food."
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai stated: Once it happened that
King Solomon came upon a pit containing three hundred
cur (a large measure) that an ant had filled in the
course of one summer for the coming winter. Thereupon,
King Solomon exclaimed. "Go to the ant, lazy one;
observe her ways and become wise. You, too, should prepare
for the World to Come by performing commandments and
good deeds in this world."
What does the verse mean by "observe her ways (derech)
and become wise"? The rabbis explained: Observe
her integrity (derech eretz), in that she flees
from theft. Once an ant dropped a kernel of wheat. Her
comrades came and examined it, but none would pick it
up (Midrash: Devarim Rabbah 5:2).
As the dove is whole (tamah), so Israel is whole-hearted
[in its devotion to God]. As the dove is distinguished,
so Israel is distinguished through circumcision and
tzitzis (knotted strings on their four-cornered
garments). As the dove is chaste, so Israel is chaste.
As the dove stretches out her neck for slaughter, so
does Israel; as the verse states, "For Your sake,
we are slaughtered all the day" (Psalms 44:23).
As the dove atones for sin, so Israel atones for the
nations of the world. As the dove is faithful to her
mate from the first moment they meet, so Israel remains
faithful to God. As the dove is saved by her wings,
so Israel is saved by the commandments. As the dove
never abandons its cote, even upon the loss of its young,
so Israel continues to observe the pilgrim festivals
each year, even after the destruction of the Holy Temple.
As the dove produces a new brood each month, so does
Israel produce new Torah insights and new good deeds
each month. As the dove flies far away [in search of
food] but always returns to its cote, so Israel [shall
return to its land] (Midrash: Shir HaShirim Rabba
1:63, with Eitz Yosef, abridged).
Whoever has compassion for other creatures is shown
compassion from Heaven; whoever does not have compassion
for other creatures is not shown compassion from Heaven
(Talmud: Shabbos 151b).
The Holy One, blessed be He, sustains all creatures,
from the horns of wild oxen to the eggs of lice (Talmud:
Shabbos 107b).
Rabbi Elazar HaKapar taught: It is forbidden for a
person to buy an animal or bird unless he can feed it
properly[1] (Jerusalem Talmud: Kesubos 4:8).
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy upon
human beings, so does He have mercy upon animals (Midrash:
Devarim Rabbah 6:1; similarly cf. Tanchumah
58:6).
Even unto the smallest gnat does the mercy of the Holy
One, blessed be He, extend (Zohar Chadash, Ruth,
94b).
Rabbi Yonah expounded at the entrance to the house
of the Nasi (head of the Sanhedrin): What is
the meaning of the verse, "A tzaddik (righteous
man) is concerned with the plight of the impoverished"
(Proverbs 29:7). This refers to the Holy One, blessed
be He, Who knows that a dog's food is meager. Therefore,
He decreed that a dog's food remains in his stomach
for three days before it is fully digested (Talmud:
Shabbos 155b).
When Scripture speaks of the people of Nineveh, it does
not say, "God saw their sackcloth and their fasting,"
but, "God saw their good deeds, that they repented
from their evil path" (Jonah 3:10). [The King of
Nineveh commanded] "Let the people and the animals
be covered in sackcloth" (ibid. 3:8). What did
the people do? They tethered the mother animals to one
side, and the young to one side, [whereupon the mature
animals began to bellow, and their young began to bleat,
being unable to suckle; Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, 4].
Then they declared before Him: "Master of the Universe!
If You do not have mercy upon us, we will not have mercy
upon them!" (Talmud: Ta'anis 16a).
Commentary: This was as if to say: "Just
as You wish us to have mercy upon them, in keeping with
the verse, 'For His mercy is upon all His works' (Psalms
145:9), so You should [set an example of this by having]
mercy upon us" (Rashi, ad loc.).
Rabbi Tanchum Bar Chiyah said: A day of rain is greater
than the day on which the Torah was given. For the giving
of the Torah brought joy to the Israelites, whereas
a day of rain brings joy to all nations and to the entire
world, including the animals and beasts (Midrash
Shocher Tov on Tehillim 117).
Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav:
It is forbidden for a person to eat before feeding his
animal. [This is derived from the fact that] the verse
states, "And I will give grass in your fields for
your cattle," and then concludes, "and you
shall eat and be satisfied" (Deuteronomy 1:15)
(Talmud: Berachos 40a).
Commentary: The four levels of creation must
ascend from below to above, until the ultimate state
of harmony and perfection has been attained. The "silent"
level benefits the vegetative level, which in turn benefits
the inarticulate animal level. Afterwards, the inarticulate
animal level ascends to the level of man, the speaking
being. This is why human beings are required to eat
last of all (Rabbi Moshe Alshich, Commentary on the
Torah, Acharei Mos).
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