Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

A student asked an interesting question: Why don’t Hassidic Jews have cats for pets?

Black cats were also associated with the demonic realm. In one bizarre passage, the rabbis said that if a person really wanted to see what demons look like, he should perform the following instructions: Take sifted ashes and sprinkle around his bed, and in the morning he will see something like the footprints of a cock. If one wishes to see them, let him take the after-birth of a black she-cat, the offspring of a black she-cat, the first-born of a first-born, let him roast it in fire and grind it to powder, and then let him put some into his eye, and he will see them . . . R. Bibi b. Abaye did so, and experienced harm from seeing them. The scholars, however, prayed for rabbi and he recovered (BT Berachot 6a).

And you wondered: What do they teach young Talmudic students?! Well, now you know!

Such rabbinical beliefs were common in the Babylonian age; it is for this reason, the Talmud is very important text for understanding Babylonian folklore, which it absorbed from their culture.

Western folklore records that if a black cat crosses one’s path—especially it is missing a tale—symbolizes bad fortune; on other hand if the black cat walks along side of the person, it is a sign he will be blessed with good fortune. A cat’s tail was used as a medicine that is why they used to chop it and use it for any type of health problem.

KILLING CATS — ANOTHER STORY ABOUT EUROPEAN “CIVILITY”

It got so bad that in Christian Europe, the church made an effort to suppress witchcraft, and the cat came to be identified with witches. Any woman owning a cat was killed along with her cat, because she was purported to be a witch. Cats, as demons, were burned, usually in a rite on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.

The early 20^th century anthropologist James Frazer thus writes in The Golden Bough, “In the midsummer fires formerly kindled on the Place de Grève at Paris it was the custom to burn a basket, barrel, or sack full of live cats, which was hung from a tall mast in the midst of the bonfire . . . In the department of the Ardennes, cats were flung into the bonfires kindled on the first Sunday in Lent; sometimes, by a refinement of cruelty, they were hung over the fire from the end of a pole and roasted alive. “The cat, which represented the devil, could never suffer enough. . . While the creatures were perishing in the flames, the shepherds guarded their flocks and forced them to leap over the fire, esteeming this an infallible means of preserving them from disease and witchcraft. Squirrels were also occasionally burned in the Easter fire . . .” Cats almost disappeared from Europe, and this led to disastrous consequences when the rats brought the Bubonic Plague in the 1300s from China.

CATS BECOME SAVIORS OF HUMANITY!

Europeans back then (like now too) were not terribly astute. The mayor of London ordered the execution of all house-hold pets, but this political move did not stop the plague-it actually accelerated it. An explosion of the rat population only increased the plague’s intensity until the Europeans eventually realized that people who had kept cats, in violation of the law, fared better; for the cats, according to their nature, killed the rats that carried the fleas that really carried the plague. With this discovery, cats became the saviors of Europe and were soon became protected by law.

ARE CATS A THREAT TO BABIES?

Since cats were often seen as symbols of evil, some cultures in the 13th and 14th centuries believed that cats would “steal a baby’s soul.” Specifically, people thought cats were attracted to a baby’s breath. This belief still persists today; parents claimed in 2000 that an infant died with the family cat sitting on the baby’s face. However, upon an autopsy, it became clear that the baby died from Crib Death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The fact that the cat’s proximity was on or near the baby’s face was coincidental. Cats will often sleep near a person’s head.

The story proves that many superstitions of history have some basis in something that occurred. Since the medievalists did not understand the nature of Crib Death, they looked to demonic reasons why an infant died. Unfortunately, the poor cat got blamed.

Getting rid of the family cat may not be an altogether bad idea; it is not uncommon for new parents to get rid of the family cat before a baby is born. Although suffocating babies is very unlikely, a cat may scratch a baby especially if the baby annoys the cat. In any event, it is a good idea for an adult to be in the room with the cat and infant.

SOME CULTURES LOVE THEIR CATS!

Not all cultures share disdain toward the cat. In Egypt, where the cat was originally domesticated, the cat was considered to be the guardian spirit of the home. In addition, cats were also mummified—anyone in the afterlife would certainly want to have one’s beloved pet! If someone killed a cat, the crime: death! Cats were so beloved because they could walk in the shadows with no fear; their heightened senses gave them a vision that could penetrate the darkness of the night.

Cats in ancient India were considered saints, while in Nordic countries it was common for brides to get married on Friday, a day that was dedicated to the cat goddess called Priya.

Still and all, despite the bad press cats get in the medieval era, the Talmud does say “Had Torah not been given to humankind, our ancestors would have had to learn modesty from the cat” (BT Eruvin 100b). Throughout much of recorded European history, Jews often kept feral cats to keep the mice population in check. Continue Reading

A student asked an interesting question: Why don’t Hassidic Jews have cats or dogs for pets?

This questioned has often puzzled me for many years. I used to think that having animals during Passover might be difficult-since one is not allowed to give hametz (leavened food) to a pet throughout the holiday. Historically, dogs were often used to hunt and attack Jews-especially during the Shoah. Given the trauma of past centuries, it is not hard to see why Hassidic Jews are fearful of dogs.

Many of my friends are dog-lovers.

As I looked this question up, I decided to give a brief exposition about the Jewish attitude about dogs. It seemed to me that the Hassidic Jews of our original story were not familiar with the rabbinical literature concerning dogs. Most Jews who are dog-owners are probably unfamiliar with this topic; here is a sampling of rabbinic teachings gathered from a variety of sources.

THE EDENIC DOG

However, the rabbis of the Talmud recognized the devotion and love dogs give their masters. In one midrashic text, the Sage Rab said that God provided Cain with a dog as a companion. The same Midrashic suggests that Adam may have been the first to domesticate the dog.[1]

Were it not for dogs, our pastoral ancestors would have had difficulty in managing their flocks.

According to another Midrashic interpretation, after Abel was slain, he was lying in a field, his blood spattered over sticks and stones. The dog who had been guarding Abel’s flock now also guarded Abel’s corpse from the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky.[2]

Stray dogs posed all sorts of problems in ancient times, much like they still do today. That being said, there are several rabbinic teachings took a dim view of wild dogs—if they posed a menace to the public. Rabbinic tradition observes that witches were believed to be the principle reason why dogs go mad; they bewitch the animal!

On a practical note, the Sages urge that man should refrain from raising a vicious dog’s pup, even if it is docile.[3]

A “TAIL” ABOUT RABIES AND RABBIS

The Talmud further adds, “One against whom a mad dog rubs itself is in danger.” What is the remedy? He should remove his garments and run. Once, in the marketplace, a mad dog rubbed itself against R. Huna son of R. Joshua. R. Huna removed his garments and ran, saying [later]: I applied to myself the verse, ‘Wisdom preserveth the life of him who hath it’ (Eccles. 7:12).”[4] Most rabbinic students read the Talmud with no sense or appreciation of the Talmud’s wit and humor-this anecdote is really quite funny. Someone could make an interesting cartoon from the naked rabbi running away from the dog . . .

In another rabbinic teaching, we find: A dog’s barking may frighten a pregnant woman, and thereby induce a miscarriage.[5]

This passage has already been elaborated elsewhere in the Talmud in a teaching attributed to R. Nahman bar Isaac, who taught: Once there was a pregnant woman who went into a house to do some baking. When a dog barked at her, and the embryo violent moved inside her. The householder sought to reassure her: “Do not be afraid—the dog’s teeth have been extracted, and his nails are gone.” But she replied, “Keep your favors-throw them to the thorns. The embryo has already been uprooted from its place” for she had already miscarried.”[6]

HEROIC DOGS

The Jerusalem Talmud relates how a dog once saved the life of man’s wife. A certain man invited a sage to his home and seated a dog next to him. When the sage asked his host, “Do I deserve such humiliation from you?” the host replied, “Master, I owe the dog much gratitude: slavers came into the city, and when one of them attempted to rape my wife, the dog saved her by springing on him and biting off his testicles.”[7] Really . . .

One famous rabbinic teaching interprets the verse, “You shall be men sacred to me. Flesh torn to pieces in the field you shall not eat; throw it to the dogs” (Exod. 22:30). The verse implies that the Holy One does not deprive any creature of the reward due it. Thus, because Torah says, “But among the Israelites and their animals not even a dog shall growl,” (Exod. 11:7), the Blessed Holy One commanded, “Give the dog his reward.” Now, the matter may be argued a fortiori: if God did not withhold the reward due an animal, all the less does He withhold the reward due a man.“[8]

CLEVER DOGS

Dogs are even admired for their cleverness. R. Tanhum bar Maryon said: In Rome, there are dogs who know how to outwit people. Thus, a dog slumps down in a baker’s shop and pretends he has dozed off. When the owner of the bakeshop also dozes off, the dog dislodges a few loaves to the ground. While the loaves are being gathered up, the dog makes off with a loaf and gets away.[9]

Dogs are not always appreciated in the Talmud for their etiquette! Our masters taught: He who eats in the marketplace is like a dog. Some say, he is even unfit to give testimony.[10] Continue Reading