WHEN ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN JEWS

“If the place that the Lord your God will choose to place His name there will be far from you, you shall slaughter from your herd and from your flock that the Lord gave you, as I commanded you, and you shall eat within your gates with all your heart’s desire.” (Devarim 12:21)

“If there is among you an indigent person from your brethren, within your gates, in your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close your hand from your indigent brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him enough for his need that will be lacking for him.” (Devarim 15:7-8)

The second passage above, which appears in our parsha, is one of the sources for the mitzvah of tzedakah, charity (Rambam, Sefer Hamitzvot, positive mitzvoth 195 and 197). There are many requirements and conditions relating to this mitzvah including: the quantity one must give; which people or organisations must be given priority; which people or organisations qualify as beneficiaries; what are the qualifications required for those who collect and disburse charity and the manner in which one must give. These laws are discussed at length in the Code of Jewish Law, Yoreh Deah 247-259. Chief Rabbi Goldstein published a small booklet for Yom Kippur 2023/5784 in which he explained how one fulfills this mitzvah. The booklet is available online at this link https://tinyurl.com/35jy9ydy. As a rule, tzedakah must be given to Jewish people or Jewish organisations. Some examples of qualifying beneficiaries in Cape Town are: the Jewish schools; Jewish Community Services (JCS); Oranjia; Glendale; Highlands House; Astra; Tikvah Food Bank; the Simcha Fund; the CSO; shuls’ and rabbis’ discretionary funds. Of course, one can donate to the United Jewish Campaign (UJC) as they distribute funds to all of the welfare and educational organisations in the community, as well as to Israeli causes. In Talmudic terms, the UJC would fall under the category of “kuppah shel tzedakah”, the communal charity fund. The Rambam and Shulchan Aruch (ibid 249:7) encourage this form of giving as it preserves the anonymity of both the benefactor and the recipient.

What about non-Jewish people or charitable causes? The Code (ibid 251:1 based on Gittin 61a) rules that Jews must also provide for the indigent among the nations of the world “because of ways of peace”. It is important that Jews foster good relationships with the people among whom they live. They should not be seen as only caring for their own and turning a blind eye to the needs of the local population. However, it must be emphasised that not every cause is a legitimate beneficiary of charity. Moreover, the vast majority of one’s charitable giving must be to Jews or Jewish causes. As a general rule, Jews will give to non-Jewish charities, and they have a good record of doing so, but non-Jews do not give to Jewish causes. We have to look after our own because it is unlikely that others will. The non-Jewish charitable organisation to which I give regularly is the National Sea Rescue Institute, the NSRI. This is an incredible nation-wide institution staffed by volunteers that rescue people who are experiencing difficulty in the ocean, in dams and in rivers.  The volunteers of the NSRI have saved thousands of lives since their founding in 1967. Our member, Ronnie Stein, a respected financial guru in Cape Town, served as the Chairman of the NSRI for many years. It could be argued that the NSRI is not actually a non-Jewish charity as they save anyone, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish or atheist!

An organisation that looks after the welfare of animals does not qualify as a beneficiary of tzedakah. Tzedakah is exclusively for human beings. This means that one may not apportion part of one’s charitable funds (referred to as ma’aser kesafim, the “tithe of one’s income”) to such groups. If the charity will benefit a human being, such as providing a service dog for a disabled person, then the donation may come from one’ charitable funds. If one has excess disposable income after apportioning one’s monthly or annual tzedakah, then one may certainly give to animal groups, but never at the expense of human beings. There is one animal organisation, however, that I refuse to support and that is the SPCA. The SPCA is opposed to shechita, the Jewish method of slaughtering animals, and in several countries, they and other animal groups have successfully lobbied the government to ban shechita either on animals or birds or both. Countries where shechita is banned, either entirely or just on animals, include Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. The argument of the SPCA is that shechita involves excessive cruelty to animals. They demand that animals used for the consumption of their meat should be stunned before they are slaughtered. Their website states, “The NSPCA is opposed to any form of slaughter that does not kill an animal instantaneously or render an animal unconscious and insensible to pain through pre-stunning.” This is not possible when it comes to shechita as an animal must be in good health and fully conscious before it is slaughtered. The act of stunning would most likely render the animal a treifa, one with a mortal wound, or it could kill the animal outright making shechita redundant.  

It is worth noting that one of the first anti-Semitic laws passed in Nazi Germany was the banning of shechita without prior stunning. This was signed by Adolf Hitler (may his name be erased) on 21 April 1933 under the guise of preventing cruelty to animals. The highly respected scholar and head of the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary, Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg (1184-1966), prepared a long responsum in which he demonstrated that under certain conditions, stunning could be permitted. His ruling was not accepted by the leading rabbis of Europe. Moreover, the whole issue became moot when the Nazis revealed their true intention which was the annihilation of European Jewry. For an extensive treatment of the topic see the biography of Rabbi Weinberg, “Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy” by Professor Marc Shapiro (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, pages 117-129). It is not my intention here to discuss whether or not shechita is  a humane method of slaughter. If Hashem, the “merciful God”, permits us to slaughter animals in this way, then it must be humane. Rather, my point is that the banning of shechita is always the litmus test of whether a country harbours anti-Semitic feelings and sentiments. The excuse will always be the welfare of animals but this is usually a thinly-veiled warning to Jews that their religion is not welcome.   

Lee, Chani Merryl and Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!    

Rabbi Liebenberg

Link to Rabbi’s YouTube message for Shabbat: https://youtu.be/oa2BzicJ8TU?si=hXuU8dtvQRIPumbk

*Tuesday 3 and Thursday 4 September – Rosh Chodesh Elul

The month of Elul is a time of Divine Favour. In the first year after the Exodus, Moshe spent forty days on Mt Sinai receiving the Torah. When he descended, he discovered the betrayal of the golden calf. He broke the Tablets and returned to seek forgiveness for a further forty days. Hashem then informed him that He would forgive the Israelites. Moshe descended, fashioned a new set of Tablets for Hashem to engrave, and ascended for a third period of forty days. He ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul and remained on the mountain for forty days, descending with the new Tablets on the 10th of Tishrei, Yom Kippur (see Rashi Shmot 33:11). During Elul, we sound the shofar daily; we add Psalm 27 at Shacharit and Maariv and towards the end of the month, we recite Selichot, prayers for forgiveness. The Molad (appearance of the new moon) for Elul is on Tuesday 3 September at 14h37 and 12 chalakim (a chelek, literally a “portion”, is a Talmudic measure of time equal to one-eighteenth of a minute, or 3 and 1/3 seconds).