Parshas Mishpatim



This in the merit that my grandmother, Esther bat Mazal, will have a speedy and complete recovery.



I want to apologize that this devar Torah is not as complete as it normally would be, my parents will be in Israel.





Judaism, Animals, and People



This is not intended to be a thorough survey of how Judaism views animals and people; such a discussion is completely beyond my ability. However, I just want to give a few notes about the subject.



In this week's parshah, it says:



"If you see the donkey of someone you hate lying under its load, you might want to refrain from helping him, but [instead] you must make every effort to help him [unload it]" (Exodus 23:5).



On this, the Orchos Tzaddikim (Gate of Cruelty), cites our Sages (Bava Metzia 32b) who say that causing pain to animals is a violation of a Biblical prohibition. We must be kind even to animals.



However, this kindness only goes so far. The Torah says:



"If a man performs a sexual act with an animal, he must be put to death, and the animal shall also be killed. If a woman presents herself to an animal and allows it to mate with her, you shall kill both the woman and the animal. They shall be put to death by stoning" (Leviticus 20:15-16).



Our Sages (Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:4) ask why is the animal killed and one of their answers is "so the animal should not pass in the market place and [people] will say 'This is the [animal] that So-and-so was stoned because [he had relations with] her'" and the Gemara interprets this to refer to G-d not wanting to disgrace the dead. In other words, we kill an animal in order that a dead sinner not be embarrassed!



Thus, we must be kind to animals but an animal's importance cannot even come close to being compared to that of a human.





Have a good Shabbas,
Mordechai