blessings for animals (in particular, pets!)

Yes, the reform and conservative movements have a ridiculous custom,

where on Parshas Noach, the congregants are invited to bring in their pets for a special Birchas Kohanim service. Followed by kaddish for their deceased companions.

The custom comes from the Catholic and Episcopalian churches, who celebrate the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, by blessing animals on October 4th.

If they are kosher, shehakol, unless you eat it with bread then the hamotzi excempts the bracha.

To clear up a few issues:

Most often, when we refer to blessings, we are actually talking about blessing, or thanking, Hashem. There are different classes of blessings:

• Blessings on Mitzvos (commandments)
  

  Before performing almost any Mitzva we thank Hashem for giving us that Mitzva and for the opportunity to perform it.

• Blessings on benefits
  

  Before eating we make a short blessing and after eating we make a longer blessing. Not every enjoyment gets a blessing. There is no blessing for talking to a friend or listening to music. Basically, only something that is consumed and used gets a blessing, including smelling enjoyable fragrance.

• Blessings of praise
  

  When we experience something outstanding or unusual, if it is on the list, we recite this type of blessing. On this list is: hearing personally good news, or bad news; visiting a site of a miracle; hearing thunder; seeing lightning, the ocean, untouched landscape, odd creatures, and a long lost friend. There is also a list of blessings recited every day, thanking Hashem for the ability to wake, for being who we are, for eye-sight, clothing, an erect posture, free movement, dry land, the ability to walk, shoes, strength, appearance and energy.

Separately, the everyday prayers were designed to cover all our very basic necessities. If there is something on your mind that you want to ask of Hashem you may ask at any time of the day in any language. Although, there is a benefit to asking in Hebrew. Likewise, you can always express gratitude, in any language, about anything that made you happy, even if there is no prescribed blessing for that.

The idea of prescribed prayers is that they are composed in the perfect model of prayer.

Actually, there is a once a year blessing (from the third category) on the blossoming trees. In that blessing we include all creatures. There is no specific blessing thanking for animals since there is no starting point. Upon waking up, however, there is a blessing for giving the rooster the capacity to discern day from night. This is because it is a specific point that we derived a benefit from the animal. On the other hand, even in times when we depended on horses and cattle there was no designated blessing of thanks for them.

As to the other meaning of blessing, to bless a person, when a person is blessed his property is blessed. You don’t have to separately bless his belongings. You can enumerate, as the Torah does, that your children should be blessed and your animal and fields should be blesssed. This is not the same as blessing them. It is a blessing on you about them.

I had a pet cactus named Cleopatra, once…maybe I should have named it Cleocactra, eh? ^_^

I also have cats – three, to be exact. Took them into the house from the streets of Jerusalem when they were small, weak and sick. Now they’re the happiest and healthiest cats in the world. In Israel, especially in Jerusalem, there are hundreds of thousands of homeless cats.

Now, this may sound a bit funny – but indeed, I was wondering whether there was somewhere, anywhere, I could mention my cats now and then in prayers. What I do now is that I mention them in birkas hamazon (grace after meals), since one can pretty easily add all kinds of people there. (there is a section that goes like “may the Merciful one bless my wife/husband, my father, my mother, my children…” as applicable; I just mention “my wife, my father, my mother, and my cats”). I realize others may think it’s a bit weird, but I can’t see anything wrong with it.

I think it’s a bit weird, but I can’t see anything wrong with it. However, realize that you are mixing in unrelated things. You ask that Hashem Bentch you, your spouse, your hosts and your parents. This means that Hashem should have them, personally, in mind. However, just like in the ‘Harachaman Hu Yishlach Lanu Bracha Meruba Babayis Hazeh V’al Shulchan Zeh She’achalnu Alav’ we don’t say Hu Yevarech Es Hashulchan, you shouldn’t really say Yevarech Es Hachatul. But I can’t say there is something wrong.

i imagine shehakol?

Dear Aurora

first of all, thank you for sharing your amazing story, and I wish you a lot of success and happiness.

Please be aware there is no prohibition to own an animal who has been neutered or spayed. I am sure you would never had done that, had you been aware of the prohibition and had the animal been yours. You have nothing to regret.

On the other hand, according to most authorities, the prohibition also applies to nonjews, and so, we can’t give the cat to the nonjew and have the nonjew do the surgery for us, and we can’t even ignore the issue in the case we have no interest in taking back the dog or cat and the nonjew will keep it and we never see it again. This is one part of the problem, but – fair enough, one could find people who will not do. Most jews including chilonim are disgusted by the very idea, also there are nonjews (namely hindus) who have similar prohibitions and will not do. But then the second part of the problem kicks in: in western countries, veterinarians do not think this is appropriate, and will basically force upon the person, or even do it without their knowledge at the first opportunity and charge it to some or some other “animal welfare charity”. The only legal recourse is if the animal is a purebred, then one may warn, beforehand, that should it be spayed or neutered against our wishes, we’ll prosecute to the full extent of the law. But if the animal is no purebred, the law does not protect us in most countries and states.

Many shelters require spaying or neutering as a condition for adopting a pet: they have no problem with it remaining caged, and not even with killing it, but giving it to a loving owner who will not do – they don’t even want to hear about.

It is a crazy situation and we need people like you to speak up, of course it does not help that people like me complain, because I won’t adopt anyway. You have to know, Aurora, that many of us are not very attracted to pets, because we have families and can’t handle the extra workload (and who will wash the nonkosher dishes and where?), because we are overwhelmed with human beings and jews asking for help and we can’t help them all, let alone the animals, and also because we were raised in a different outlook from the mainstream western culture and many among us are not interested in pets. But the key point is that everyone’s rights and beliefs should be respected, which also will lead to better care for animals, because, as I said, so many times I would have phoned someone, or a shelter, or a veterinarian. Possibly I’d have even paid some money. I don’t, because the few times I did, it turned out a terrible disaster.

Let me tell you about the one time it worked out: the cat (female) was very old and had health troubles. Plenty of money had been spent on it previously. The owners were moving to another country, and brought with them another cat (its offspring) but this one did not comply with quarantine and import requirements. So the owners asked around, but could not find anyone, they cared very much for the cat (the very fact they spent lots of money on it, shows so) but they had no option, and in the end, arranged euthanasia. I am happy to say someone took the cat instead, and that it lived peacefully the rest of its life, and since the cat was old and sick, no one insisted with the new owners about sterilizing.

But unfortunately I could tell you very different stories, lots of those. In each one of these I did my best, and yet, it did not work.

aurora: Sorry, I didn’t catch your response early enoughlol, I actually have a blog dedicated to my opinion of Shakespeare. Google the first word in THIS post. ^_^

Thank you all for the suggestions and kind words. Also thank to Aurora for the very interesting article.

I have heard about answers which permit in some cases to remove reproductive organs from animals (having nonjews do it), but, correct me if I am wrong, this was done under two conditions:

– the animal had a disease which would cause it to suffer and die, were the surgery not performed

– the animal’s owner would suffer great distress and/or financial loss

But those leniencies are not applicable generically. Most animals are not neutered because they have an ovarian or testicular cancer, but because their owners would like to. Most animals in a shelter don’t even have an owner, the shelter has taken animals which were either in the streets or whose owners wanted to get rid of them for whatever reasons (I am not discussing legitimate reasons vs superficial reasons, just the fact that owners no longer want to keep them).

There is no obligation to allow animals to reproduce, we may avoid it by keeping it apart from other animals or via hormonal treatment, but it’s not so straightforward. These pets, even when alone, make noise at night and disturb their owners, who might eventually bring them in for surgery. And the hormonal treatments, which I have paid for and taken care of it via sympathetic veterinarians writing the prescription, means that people are harassed and told they are causing disease to the animals (?! human females take the pill too…), while the surgery would “magically” eliminate diseases and give long life (yeah I know it’s pocket lining, but that’s what they are told – sometimes in public and in front of their children or other people). It’s a problem when someone who cares for a pet is insulted like that, because most will give in, or alternatively, get rid of the pet by letting it out in the streets. Those few who don’t, I am sorry to say, will one day find out that surgery had been done.

Perhaps people like you should consider setting up an animal shelter and clinic, one that does not spay or neuter under any circumstances (it should not accept animals with the sort of diseases I mentioned before: these cases are very rare, let the owners ask their posek). Or at least, flood with letters the shelter you donate to or where you volunteer. If it’s possible to set up a no-kill shelter, then no doubt it’s possible to set up one which respect our beliefs. It would also provide a living for people who would like to become veterinarians or veterinary technical/sanitary assistants and who would be excellent professionals, but in the current system, can not. The very existence of people like that, out in the open, would mean a lot and make a lot of difference.

@aurora – I read that as well, and indeed I relied upon that for my cats – though I symbolically ‘sold’ them to my non-Jewish family (who were in E”Y then); one of them was actually taken to the vet by them.

We took 3 cats straight off the streets of Jerusalem – two males, one female. In a miniature house like the one we lived in then, there is absolutely no way we could have managed with more. (In fact, 3 was way too many already – but we *had* to take them in.)

I found all three of them in a very bad and difficult state. One had just been thrown out of a house and was living on the street and deteriorating day by day. The second was a nearly dead miniature skeleton that barely weighed anything at all, had burns on its body and no teeth. The third was also very young, very sick and weak. All three would, without a doubt, have died within a month (the second within a day probably) if we hadn’t taken them in.

I don’t understand the logic behind some people here. Some (actually, most chareidim) argue that it’s completely fine to just kill street cats – but oy vey, if you would neuter them it’s a horrible thing that must be protested against. But killing them is fine. Sorry, but I just fail to understand the reasoning behind it. Luckily, so does Rav Amar and a few other dati leumi (Religious Zionist / Modern Orthodox) rabbonim, and that is who we relied on when we took them to the vet. I usually wouldn’t rely on their psak but in this case, I saw no other choice.

I think the best way to deal with the cat problem in Jerusalem is to scatter poison.