Open Search form

animals

Apply for a Blog

Aug 13, 2026, 8:15 PM

From Lab to Life: Dogs Know Smiles – Do We?

We have two small dogs – a mixed-breed Yorkie and a purebred Shi Tzu. Both are rescuedogs. I am astonished daily by how good they are at reading human emotions – like, my own. Now comes scientific evidence – and...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Aug 13, 2026, 3:11 PM

All the king’s horses

In Parshat Shoftim, Dvarim 17:14-16 we learn about the rules for having a king: When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, should you say,...

Aug 10, 2026, 7:54 PM

Can a Dog Do a Mitzvah? A Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot Reflection

Can a dog do a mitzvah? Having spent an inordinate amount of time considering that question myself, years ago, I emailed a dozen rabbis to ask their opinions. The answers were predictably varied. (What else would you expect from a dozen...

Aug 10, 2026, 3:43 PM

Holy Land’s Kanaani Cat Breed Makes History at WCF Debut in Finland

On August 8 and 9, 2026, something extraordinary happened in Vantaa, Finland. After approximately 26 years of near-total absence from the international show scene, the exceptionally rare Kanaani cat breed returned to competition and made its historic European debut...

Michael S. Diamond

Jul 27, 2026, 4:18 AM

The Archive of Forgetting and Undoing

I have registered my maps in The Archive of Forgetting and Undoing. The walls to the Holy City have been breached in this month of the Babylonian god who at Summer’s zenith dies, the faithful son, and returns with the rains of Winter and Spring dew, ransom for his goddess sister, Lady of the Date Clusters. Perhaps...

Jul 6, 2026, 1:18 PM

On Humans and animals in the Bible

My newest book Taming the Beast: Human-Animal Encounters in the Bible (Wipf and Stock Publishers) addresses a surprisingly under-explored and little discussed topic; it explores the relationship between humans and animals through biblical and Rabbinic lenses, and approaches familiar narratives...

Jul 5, 2026, 11:43 AM

I Have a Hamas Cat

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk ( AI)

I woke up today in a situation that felt like a nightmare. Anyone who has followed my writing over the years knows that my love for animals often surpasses my love for people. I have never been ashamed to...

Richard Diamond

Jul 1, 2026, 8:14 PM

What the Torah’s Animal Laws Were Always Pointing Toward

image by Google Notebook

Here is a paradox that Jewish tradition has lived with for centuries without fully confronting it. The Torah mandated animal sacrifice as the center of Israelite religious life for a thousand years. An entire tribe — the Levites — existed...

Sam Lehman-Wilzig

Jun 26, 2026, 7:05 AM

“Modern Orthodoxy” Moving into the Modern Age

Some time ago I attended a 3-day concert festival in Eilat. Classical music orchestra, male and female singers (opera and Israeli), classical and jazz pianists, even a professional whistler! The audience consisted of secular and modern-Orthodox alike. Remember the old...

Jun 25, 2026, 10:44 AM

In Company of Moses and Ezekiel: Balaam’s Jenny

The donkey’s favorable image throughout the Bible – a far cry from its contemporary stereotype that relegates foolhardiness and imprudent obstinacy to the animal is evidenced, for instance, in the story of Balaam and his jenny that is featured...

Load more