Animal Rights and Jewish Law

A congregant asked me to mentor their nephew do offer a a Jewish studies course on line. He wrote this really good paper on Judaism and animal rights.


Alex Martin

Animal Rights and Tza’lar Ba’alei Chayim

Today, people have begun to grow concerned with how humans treat animals, wild and domestic. Most countries have extremely low standards for treatment of animals, and in places that have many laws protecting animals, a lot of the time the laws still allow cruelty to animals, such as the hormones American farmers inject into cattle. Even in places like India, where cows are supposedly holy and respected above all other animals, they are malnourished, dirty, and are allowed to wander through cities, where their diet is mainly garbage, as I have seen in every Indian city I’ve ever been in. In Thailand, there is no animal control. There are an extremely large amount of stray dogs on the streets that are diseased and dangerous. The dogs hang out in packs and chase motorbike drivers, causing them to crash. Furthermore, I have seen a dog cause a car crash for the same reason. Because of low animal control standards in Thailand, diseases are spread from ticks, there are way too many sick and malnourished dogs, and the dogs harm humans.
These situations show how necessary it is to treat animals well. When animals are treated badly and are hungry, they become desperate and will do whatever is necessary to fulfill their needs, regardless of what effect it has on humans. Furthermore, A huge source of our food comes from animals, so like G-d, the sun, the earth, and the universe, and nature, we should respect that which sustains our life. Also, every animal is necessary for a functioning ecosystem and through this connection every living thing relies on another in some way.
Even though a lot of the world still hasn’t caught on, Judaism has actually taken animal rights seriously for a long time. There is a concept in Judaism called Tza’lar Ba’alei Chayim, which means preventing cruel treatment to animals. In the Bible, many heroes are noted for their well treatment of animals. In the Talmud, it is noted that Moses was specifically chosen by G-d because of his skill at caring for animals. People such as Judah Ha-Nasi, was punished for years because he was apathetic to the fear of a calf that was about to be slaughtered.
Animals are subjected to the same standards of Halachah as a human is. For example, an animal is not permitted to work on Shabbat, but should rest as any person would. Also, we are permitted to break Shabbat if it is to help an animal in pain. Deuteronomy expresses that because humans need to eat during work and reap the benefits of working in the fields, farm animals wouldn’t be muzzled and would be allowed to eat as much as they needed while working in the fields. Furthermore, the Torah states that a person must send a mother bird away before taking her eggs because of the distress the bird would feel seeing its young carried away. This is actually a pretty important law because it relates to the importance of a mother and child bond. The Torah says that a person who respects the bond of a mother bird and its young will be rewarded with long life.
In Judaism, vegetarianism seems to be considered ideal. The Torah states that Jews didn’t eat meat until after the great flood, and before G-d supplied us with fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Traditional, meat has been used in Jewish cooking in many places, but Jews have developed many laws for how we slaughter and eat animals. Kosher laws for how we prepare and slaughter food have exempted many kosher butchers and slaughterhouses from USDA regulations because it is so clean.
Judaism has also practiced what is said to be the most human way of slaughtering for centuries. The way a Jew slaughters an animal is through cutting a quick thin artery on the neck, which is painless and causes unconsciousness in two seconds. This is because Halachah states that causing an animal suffering is extremely wrong and that a person should do everything they can to relieve an animal’s suffering.
So, why is this so important for Jews in a religious sense? First off and most importantly, the Torah stresses the importance. Secondly, it fits into the whole Jewish worldview of paying proper respect to all living and nonliving things. A Jew understands that everything on earth is a creation of G-d, therefore everything should be respected at treated in accordance to the fact that it exists under and because of G-d.
This shows an even more important aspect of Judaism, because it reflects a very important Jewish worldview. The way we act in connection to the Torah stresses the fact that our rituals are practical as they are religious. Slaughtering an animal as least cruelly as possible is only religiously just because it is morally just. Jews don’t use religion as a reason for morals, but because of their morals, we’ve realized that conducting ourselves in this sort of way is what makes our every day life holy and sacred.