[Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, born in 1933, is the senior scholar in residence at Yeshivat Hadar and a faculty member at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.]D'var Torah on Shemini 5781
The dietary laws and their thrust to uphold life and proclaim its preciousness should not be seen as static. Thus the principles of kosher should be applied to the type of food we eat now. Many people have given up meat in recognition that cattle ranching and meat preparation place enormous strain on the environment, so it is time to move a step closer to the Messianic standard. A new school of religious behavior has arisen, calling itself eco-kosher. It defines what it will eat or not eat by the impact of the food gathering on the environment. Participants won’t eat even kosher fish if the species is overfished. I accept this as a valuable supplement to kosher eating. Others offer eco-kosher as an alternative regimen for eating designed to maximize the preciousness of life. I also propose adding additional criteria for kosher: Healthy eating (no sugar or salt), proper payment and health protection for agricultural workers, humane treatment in animal rearing and in bringing them to market and slaughter. The basic model remains: To turn food preparation and eating into a way of living that upholds the preciousness of life.
[Peninei Halakhah (“Pearls of Jewish Law”) is a 21st-century presentation of practical halakhah (law), written in modern Hebrew by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Rosh Yeshiva and rabbi of the community of Har Bracha. The work is popular in Israel, where it is often used as the standard halakhah textbook in religious Zionist schools, and in Jewish communities throughout the world.]
מותר לגדל חיות מחמד כגון: כלב, חתול ותוכי... אמנם יש טוענים שהואיל וחיות אלו נקראות טמאות, אין ראוי להכניסן לבית. אולם סברה זו לא נזכרה בספרי הפוסקים. וחיות אלו נקראות טמאות מפני שהן אסורות באכילה והאוכל מבשרן מטמא את עצמו, אבל אין זה אומר שמידותיהן פגומות עד שהמגדל אותן עלול להיפגם בנפשו. ולהיפך לכל חיה מידה טובה ומיוחדת משלה, וחכמים שבחו גם מיני חיות טמאות, וציינו את נאמנותו של הכלב, וצניעותו של החתול, ועל כן מותר לגדל חיות מחמד.
It is permissible to raise pets, such as dogs, cats and parrots...
However, there are some that claim that since these are called impure, it is inappropriate to bring them into the home. Yet this reasoning is not mentioned in the the books of the poskim (decisors). And these animals are [only] called impure because they are forbidden to eat, and one who eats from its meat makes himself impure. But this does not mean that their traits are defective to the point that one who raises them will likely render his soul defective. And it is the opposite, that each animal has its own particular good trait; so the Sages praised also types of impure animals, and noted the loyalty of the dog and the modesty of the cat. Hence it is permissible to raise pets.
However, there are some that claim that since these are called impure, it is inappropriate to bring them into the home. Yet this reasoning is not mentioned in the the books of the poskim (decisors). And these animals are [only] called impure because they are forbidden to eat, and one who eats from its meat makes himself impure. But this does not mean that their traits are defective to the point that one who raises them will likely render his soul defective. And it is the opposite, that each animal has its own particular good trait; so the Sages praised also types of impure animals, and noted the loyalty of the dog and the modesty of the cat. Hence it is permissible to raise pets.
[The Sefat Emet is the Torah commentary of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Gur, considered one of the pillars of Chassidic thought. It was written c.1860 - c.1900 CE in Poland.]
Humans have mercy upon humans, but not upon animals, for humans do not grasp or comprehend the animal mind at all. We humans do not understand either animal consciousness or animal compassion. In the same way, angels do not understand the human mind; we are like animals to them. Only God, who knows all, comprehends at once the mind of angels, humans, beasts and all the rest of Creation.
[The Kitzur Shulchan Arukh (“Abridged Shulchan Arukh”) is a simplified summary of the Shulchan Arukh by Rabbi Shlomo ben Joseph Ganzfried, which was composed in Ukraine in the mid-19th century.]
אָסוּר מִן הַתּוֹרָה לְצַעֵר כָּל בַּעַל חָי. וְאַדְּרַבָּא, חַיָב לְהַצִּיל כָּל בַּעַל חַי מִצַּעַר, אֲפִלּוּ שֶׁל הֶפְקֵר, וַאֲפִלּוּ שֶׁל נָכְרִי. אַךְ אִם הֵם מְצַעֲרִין לְאָדָם, אוֹ שֶׁצָּרִיךְ הָאָדָם לָהֶם לִרְפוּאָה אוֹ לִשְׁאָר דָּבָר, מֻתָּר אֲפִלּוּ לְהָרְגָן, וְאֵין חוֹשְׂשִׁין לְצְַעֲרָן, שֶׁהֲרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הִתִּירָה שְׁחִיטָה. וְלָכֵן מֻתָּר לִמְרֹט נוֹצוֹת מֵאַוָּזוֹת חַיּוֹת אִם אֵין לוֹ נוֹצָה אַחֶרֶת, רַק שֶׁהָעוֹלָם נִמְנָעִים מִשּׁוּם אַכְזְרִיוּת.
The Torah forbids us to inflict suffering on any living creature. On the contrary, it is an obligation to remove the suffering of any creature, even if it is ownerless, and even if it belongs to a non-Jew. However, if they are troublesome to mankind, or if they are needed for medical purposes, or for any other purpose, it is permitted even to kill them, and we disregard their pain; for the Torah permits us to slaughter them. Therefore, it is permitted to pluck feathers from living geese [to use as a quill], if you have no other feather [with which to write]. However, people abstain from doing so because of cruelty.