KINDNESS...

Beginning with the first chapters of the Torah, Judaism establishes a fundamental connection between human beings and animals. Animals, created on the fifth day of the biblical story of creation, can be understood as prototypes of the first human beings--Adam and Eve, created on the sixth day. One of Adam's first responsibilities as a human being is to name the animals. As evidenced by the episode in which a serpent tempts Eve to eat a forbidden fruit, humans and animals originally speak one another's language (Genesis 1-3).  

The story of Noah's ark represents a turning point in the relationship between human beings and animals. Furious about human misbehavior, God decides to destroy the world by flood, saving only the righteous Noah and his family and enough animals to sustain all of the species. When the waters recede, God gives Noah seven laws--now known as the Noahide laws--aimed at establishing a just society. On Tuesday afternoon, we talked about these laws, and the importance of maintaining civility and kindness for the good of society.  

Perhaps as a concession to the violent tendencies that God now recognizes within human nature, God also permits humans to eat animals. At the same time, God protects animals against unduly cruel slaughter by banning the practice of cutting a limb off a living animal (Genesis 9:3-4). This balance between simultaneously permitting the use of animals for human need and prohibiting unnecessary cruelty to animals becomes the overarching principle of later Jewish law regarding the treatment of animals.  

In class this week, we began to look at why GOD commanded Noah to save the animals and seeds, over the lives of all living beings. We talked about kindness and accepting people's faults, and just how badly the population must have been behaving to warrant the destruction of all mankind. We talked about the laws of kashrut and how these laws emerged. Students were introduced to the concept of T'zar Ba'lei Chaim, the commandment to care for animals in a humane way.  

Finally, we applied these concepts to our everyday lives, and students were asked to look at how they treat others as well as their pets. We talked about respect, kindness, and acceptance and shared our thoughts about living in a just and fair world.