Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31192/np.16.3.3
The attitude of Judaism toward animals in the Old Testament, Jewish Law and Rabbinic literature
Agnes Eva DaDon
; Chair for Judaic studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Kotel DaDon
orcid.org/0000-0002-3542-3754
; Chair for Judaic studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The article analyzes the attitude of Judaism toward animals and some key questions such as: vegetarianism and meat consumption, cases when hurting animals is allowed, attitude towards dangerous animals, hunting in Judaism, bullfighting, the way animals are treated by the modern food industry and offers some suggestion about what can be done to remedy the situation. The final part of the article describes the attitude of Judaism toward visiting a Zoo. In the article, the authors first provide an introductory explanation regarding compassion and kindness toward animals in Judaism. In the second part of the article, the authors analyzes the aforementioned topics in the Old Testament, Jewish law and Rabbinic literature from Talmudic times onwards. The authors investigate these questions using sources from Rabbinic literature and responsas, from Talmudic times, through the Middle Ages to the present-day Rabbis. In their research, the authors use many sources from Rabbinic literature, from the times of Talmud through the Middle Ages until modern times. This literature has been translated from Hebrew and Aramaic to Croatian for the first time by the authors. In the article the authors show that an animal life has its own intrinsic value since it was also created by God and it is therefore not allowed to endanger it or take it without a good cause. Still, if one is forced to choose between the life of a human being and the life of an animal, the life of a human being has precedence over the life of an animal.
Keywords
responsa; halacha; rabbi; animals; compassion
Hrčak ID:
209163
URI
Publication date:
21.11.2018.
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