TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST...

This week, our Kitah Dalet students were confronted with the ethical dilemma we face when caring for animals. The story of Noah represents a turning point in the relationship between human beings and animals.  GOD decides to destroy the world by flood, and saves Noah and his family, and all the animals to sustain the species.   It is here we begin to see the importance GOD places on caring for the animals, and the commandment of tza'ar balei chayim, not inflicting pain on animals. We talked about an animals inability to care for themselves, and our responsibility to meet their needs whenever possible.

In class, we had a lively debate about animal testing.  We talked about using animals to test experimental drugs in the hopes of finding a cure for life threatening diseases.  Although it didn't sit well with some of our students, we talked about the Jewish law to save a human life over the life of an animal.  We talked about the ethical treatment of animals, and the commandments to care for all living things with kindness and compassion. However, animals do not know right from wrong, and humans are expected to answer to GOD.  Furthermore, we learned humans have souls, which ultimately are returned to GOD, which makes us accountable for our actions.  

The mitzvah of showing respect for animals has its roots in the Biblical command of showing sympathy for a mother bird nestled with her young. Furthermore, the Midrash says that both Moses and David were chosen to lead Israel because of their kindness to animals. As we discussed in our Kashrut unit, the ideal Jewish diet is vegetarianism, as reflected in life in the Garden of Eden. According to the Torah, however, when God recognized how imperfect his human creation was, he allowed the consumption of meat, with some restrictions. The killing of animals is restricted out of concern for animal life, and is expressed in the mitzvah of 'tza'ar balei chayim' -  not inflicting pain

on animals.

Please ask your child to share their thoughts about animal testing, and kindness to animals.  They are an extremely compassionate group, and some of them were quite concerned about having to make a choice over saving a stranger or saving a pet.