Eating cats and Dogs?

There is an old Hasidic expression that says, “One must live with the times.” With the US election coming up, people are endlessly checking the New York Times, the Sunday Times and countless other “times” out there.  However, that’s not what the saying was referring to. Rather than focusing too much on current events or the latest headline, what we should seek to live by is the weekly Torah portion. The Torah, or five books of Moses, is split into 54 chapters. Each week, Jews read one (or sometimes two) of these weekly portions in the synagogue. The wisdom and lessons contained within each week’s portion, our tradition teaches, contains relevance and importance to our daily lives. 

This week’s portion describes the story of Noah, the apocalyptic flood which filled the earth, and the ark that Noah built to save his family on which he placed the animals from the ark. This story is one of the most fascinating and colorful ones in the Bible, however it also contains several quotes and lessons that are highly relevant. First, the portion says that the reason G-d had to destroy the earth is because the “land was filled with hamas” (Genesis, 6:11). Hamas is an obscure Hebrew word that many bible editions translate as “lawlessness” or “violence”. Rashi, the 12th century biblical commentator, translated this word as robbery. Regardless, G-d wanted to destroy the earth because this “hamas” needed to be eradicated. 

I believe it’s no coincidence that this ancient term is the very same word that is the name of the terror group that continues to fight against Israel, and which still holds over 100 Israelis hostage. While the world condemns Israel for the ongoing war, we must remember that the fight is one of good versus evil, of humanity versus lawlessness. 

Interestingly, once the flood ceased and the waters subsided, G-d then made a pact with humanity in which it is stated that G-d will never destroy humanity again. However, G-d gave Noah and his descendants a series of laws to uphold as their end of the bargain. In Genesis 9:4, it says “you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.” While this dictate has several interpretations, it’s most commonly seen as a prohibition on eating an animal while it is still alive or tearing a limb off a living animal. This prohibition, while seemingly irrelevant or unimportant in this day and age, is one of the 7 Noahide Laws of universal human morality that holds great importance, even today.

Back in September, Donald Trump made a comment during his debate with Kamala Harris that people were “eating cats and the dogs”. Trump’s statement quickly went viral, with millions of people sharing clips of the quote, and others creating songs sampling his words and still others choreographing tiktok dances to these songs. While many people may have just thought his comment was funny, bizarre, or off-color, I believe the reason it gained so much notoriety is because it hit a raw emotional nerve with people.

Most people think that the comment is just plainly absurd—that no one is really eating cats and dogs or other living animals. While that’s mostly true, many people were quick to share videos on social media of a variety of people – from attention-seeking youtubers to people expressing sheer sadistic cruelty or barbarism –.who indeed still engage in the practice of eating limbs off living creatures.  

Regardless of how prevalent this phenomenon truly is, this still leaves the question of why it’s included as one of the seven universal laws of morality that humanity should follow. Several reasons have been given across the generations, but two stick out to me as particularly relevant. The first comes from The Book of Education, a 13th century text which explains the rationales behind the commandments. In this book, the anonymous author shared that this prohibition is here to teach us how to be compassionate. There is no greater cruelty in the world than someone who would cut off a limb or flesh from a living creature before their eyes and eat it.  By creating a red line of what not to do, it can also instill within us a sense of kindness and love for other living creatures. 

A person who can show care and compassion towards beings and creatures that are defenseless, such as animals, can also show these same traits toward their fellow man and all other forms of life. As stewards responsible for taking care of G-d’s Creation, we must learn how to cultivate the conditions to preserve our beautiful, sensitive planet, teeming with God-given life.