Ever Min HaChai & Tza’ar Ba’alei Chaim:The First Animal Rights Principles in History

(9) The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works.

When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless help raise it.

From the statements of both of these tanna’im it can be learned that the requirement to prevent suffering to animals is by Torah law. As even Rabbi Shimon says that he disagreed with the opinion of the Rabbis only because the verses are not clearly defined; but had the verses been clearly defined, we would have learned the same a fortiori inference. Due to what factor can that inference be learned? What, is it not due to the matter of suffering of animals, which is a factor in unloading and not a factor in loading, that we would have learned the a fortiori inference?

The Gemara answers: In accordance with whose opinion is thisbaraita? It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, who says that the requirement to prevent suffering to animals is by rabbinic law, and the ordinance does not apply in these circumstances.

It is also prohibited to kill an animal with its young on the same day (Lev. 22:28), in order that people should be restrained and prevented from killing the two together in such a manner that the young is slain in the sight of the mother; for the pain of the animals under such circumstances is very great. There is no difference in this case between the pain of man and the pain of other living beings, since the love and tenderness of the mother for her young ones is not produced by reasoning, but by imagination, and this faculty exists not only in man but in most living beings. This law applies only to ox and lamb, because of the domestic animals used as food these alone are permitted to us, and in these cases the mother recognises her young.

The same reason applies to the law which enjoins that we should let the mother fly away when we take the young. The eggs over which the bird sits, and the young that are in need of their mother, are generally unfit for food, and when the mother is sent away she does not see the taking of her young ones, and does not feel any pain. In most cases, however, this commandment will cause man to leave the whole nest untouched, because [the young or the eggs], which he is allowed to take, are, as a rule, unfit for food.

“After these matters, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great” (Genesis 15:1).
“After these matters, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying…” “The Almighty’s way is faultless; the word of the Lord is refined [tzerufa]. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him” (Psalms 18:31) – if His ways are faultless, all the more so that He Himself is. Rav said: The mitzvotwere given only to refine [letzaref] people through them. After all, why should the Holy One blessed be He care whether one slaughters an animal from the throat or he slaughters it from the nape? Thus we learn that the mitzvot were given only to refine the creations with them.
Another interpretation, “the Almighty’s way is faultless” – this refers to Abraham, as it is stated: “You found his heart faithful before You” (Nehemiah 9:8). “The word of the Lord is refined” – as the Holy One blessed be He refined him in the fiery furnace. “He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him” – “fear not, Abram, I am a shield for you.”

And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayst eat and be full.

Take the rod, and gather the assembly together, thou, and Aharon thy brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

[Concerning] the root of the commandment, Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote (Guide for the Perplexed 3:49, see also Ramban on Deuteronomy 22:10) that it is from the root of the prohibition of interbreeding animals as a forbidden mixture. As the way of workers of the land is to bring a pair (of animals) from one barn and lest [and there] he would graft them. And the root of the prohibition of interbreeding I wrote in its place in the Order of Kedoshim Tehiyu (Sefer HaChinukh 244). And after permission of the Master — the teacher mentioned — and concession to his good word, I will also answer my portion. And I say that from the explanations of this commandment is the matter of [causing] pain to animals, which is a prohibition of the Torah. And it is known that for species of animals and fowl, there is great anguish in dwelling with those that are not its species and — all the more so — to do work with them. And [it is] as we see with our eyes with the ones that are not under our hands (undomesticated species) that every bird dwells with its species; and all animals and other species also always cling to their [own] species. And any wise-hearted person will [learn] proper conduct from this, to never put together two people whose natures are different from one another and different in their behavior in any matter — like a righteous person and an evildoer [or] a slight person and an honorable one. Since if the Torah was exacting about the pain that there is to animals — that are not intelligent creatures — from this, all the more so [is this the case] with people that have an intelligent soul, in order to know their Maker.

But make sure that you do not partake of the blood; for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the flesh.

The LORD is good to all,
and His mercy is upon all His works.

Abba Shaul says: Ve’anveihu should be interpreted as if it were written in two words: Ani vaHu, me and Him [God]. Be similar, as it were, to Him, the Almighty: Just as He is compassionate and merciful, so too should you be compassionate and merciful. In any case, there is no proof from Rabbi Yishmael’s statement with regard to the Paschal lamb that he would say the same with regard to circumcision, as in that case, he might agree that fulfilling the mitzva beautifully justifies overriding Shabbat.

The Gemara continues its discussion with regard to an ignoramus. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: It is prohibited for an ignoramus to eat meat, as it is stated: “This is the law [torah] of the beast and of the fowl” (Leviticus 11:46). He expounds: Anyone who engages in Torah study is permitted to eat the meat of animals and fowl, and anyone who does not engage in Torah study is prohibited to eat the meat of animals or fowl.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Have you ever seen a beast or a bird that has a trade? And yet they earn their livelihood without anguish. But all these were created only to serve me, and I, a human being, was created to serve the One Who formed me. Is it not right that I should earn my livelihood without anguish? But I, i.e., humanity, have committed evil actions and have lost my livelihood. This is why people must work to earn a living.

The Gemara says: But even so, the afflictions of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, were greater than those of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. The reason is that whereas the afflictions of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, came upon him out of love, and left him out of love, i.e., they were solely the result of his own request, not because he deserved them, those of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi came upon him due to an incident and left him due to another incident.The Gemara stated that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s suffering came upon him due to an incident. What was that incident that led to his suffering? The Gemara answers that there was a certain calf that was being led to slaughter. The calf went and hung its head on the corner of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s garment and was weeping. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to it: Go, as you were created for this purpose. It was said in Heaven: Since he was not compassionate toward the calf, let afflictions come upon him.The Gemara explains the statement: And left him due to another incident. One day, the maidservant of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was sweeping his house. There were young weasels [karkushta] lying about, and she was in the process of sweeping them out. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to her: Let them be, as it is written: “The Lord is good to all; and His mercies are over all His works” (Psalms 145:9). They said in Heaven: Since he was compassionate, we shall be compassionate on him, and he was relieved of his suffering.

...Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi taught: “Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked,” this is referring to the theaters and circuses of gentiles; “nor stood in the way of sinners,” this is referring to one who has not stood as an observer at bestial contests [bekinigiyyon]...

Come take a look at an incident cited in Seifer Chareidim involving a certain righteous man who once hosted the Ari, z”l in his home with great honor. Before resuming his journey the saintly Ari, z”l asked, “How can I repay you for the great affection you have shown me? I would also like to repay you for trouble you went to on my account.”

The host replied that after his wife had given birth to a few sons she mysteriously stopped conceiving. He thought that perhaps the Ari, z”l might be able to offer some remedy for her. The Ari, z”l responded by first revealing to him the reason for his wife’s barrenness. “You know,” he said, “that there was once a small ladder in your house upon which the little chicks would ascend and descend to drink water from a nearby vessel. In this way they would drink and be quenched.

“Then one day your wife instructed the servant to remove the ladder. Clearly her intention was not to cause sorrow to the chicks but only to make the house more tidy. Nevertheless from the moment the ladder was removed the chicks have been in great sorrow. Because they were still too small to fly they endured great thirst and their chirping ascended before the Holy One Blessed is He, whose mercy is upon all His works. On this account it was decreed that your wife should become barren.” Naturally the host restored the ladder to its place and Hashem allowed the wife to conceive and give birth as before. From this story it is evident that Hashem in His abundant mercy and lovingkindness watches over every creature, punishing those who oppress any of them. For every deed a man does he must give a reckoning. Clearly, then, one must be very careful not to oppress anyone in vain.

And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote in explanation of this commandment (Guide for the Perplexed 3:48, and some have the textual variant, Ramban in his commentary to the Torah here) and of “him and his child,” [that] it is because animals — like people — have great distress in seeing the pain of their children. As the love of the mother for the child is not a matter that follows the intellect, but rather it is from the effects of the power of thinking that is found in animals, [just] as it is found in people. And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote about this matter, “Do not answer me with words from the statement of the Sages [in] which they say, ‘To the bird’s nest, etc.’ since this is the reasoning of the one to whom it appears that there is no explanation for the commandments, except for them being the will of the Creator. But we maintain the second reasoning, which is that there is an explanation for all of the commandments.” And [Ramban] challenged him from that which is found in Bereishit Rabbah 44a, “And for what would the Holy One, blessed be He, care if an animal is slaughtered from the [front of the] neck or from the back? Behold, the commandments were only given to refine the creatures with them, as it states (Proverbs 30:5), ‘Every word of God is refined.’”