Jewish Musings Thursday, Nov. 9

[hollygail]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[hollygail]

Another Jewish value shows up in this week's Torah portion: Tz'ar Ba'alei Chayim, kindness to animals. It's an important mitzvah. The story of Rebekah at the well underscores this value. Abraham’s servant knew that the woman for Isaac would be the one who offered to feed and water his camels. We can learn a lot about someone by watching how s/he/they treat(s) animals. For that reason, having pets is a great way to develop responsibility and character, which is a very good reason parents get a pet for their children. When I teach Jewish values to 5th, 6th and 7th graders, their favorite one is tz'ar ba'alei chayim. There is more conversation / discussion and sharing i nthe classroom about animals than for any of the other Jewish values I teach. (I usually teach this one immediately after pikuach nefesh, which is to save a life and implies human life).

In your life, do you now have or have you ever had a pet? If you're a parent, did you get a pet for your offspring? How did you (or your kids) learn about responsibility and perhaps develop character?

My mother was allergic to pet hair, so we couldn't have a dog or cat (and I remember wanting a dog so much that someone bought me a stuffed dog that looked like a real dog, not like a young child's stuffed teddy bear). I put a leash on it and dragged it around the house behind me (and it mostly stayed standing up, not falling down). I had goldfish (which didn't last long) but I really remember that stuffed dog. I'm sure I must have named it, and cannot remember what the name was. When my DS was little, I got a cat. He was lucky enough to watch it give birth! (I was at the office and my partner at the time called me to tell me about the birth while it was happening). He cared for the kittens during their nursing weeks (before we found homes for all the babies). And another time when we got a new cat, he was the one who named it (a very silly name, in my opinion; it was the name of an exit on the freeway we took when driving out of Los Angeles County going north, a hyphenated name, like if you went east you'd be on one road and if you went west, the same road had a different name; I just checked the listing of names throughout California and couldn't find it). But he was adamant and so the name stuck.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Re today's topic: Kindness to animals is important. I tried being a vegetarian for a few years when I was younger, but couldn't stick with it for health reasons (anemia). I had two dogs when I was younger, and tried to be kind to them but didn't know much about it. I'm afraid I was cruel to one but have felt sorry about it for many years.

This may sound silly but I say a little prayer when I pass by roadkill while driving.

As for DS, we never got him a pet because of: 1) his Asperger's, and 2) I didn't want the responsibility of walking or cleaning up after it.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[gazelle18]

I love dogs. I somehow understood the concept of a “support pet” even before support pets became a thing. I had a dog, who loved 14 years, throughout my growing up years. I insisted that we have a cop when our kids were young, to the chagrin on DH, who was not interested at all. Of course, the dog ended up adoring DH and the feeling was mutual.

[gazelle18]

Here is one my favorite stories of my in-laws. They were the kind of people who considered household pets to be unnecessary and silly. One time, our kids had a goldfish in a small aerated tank. We took our kids out of town for a week, and asked the in laws to do two tasks: bring the the mail in each day and give the goldfish a bit of fish food. Indeed, my in laws brought in the mail. Unfortunately, they laid the catalogs and magazines and other mail on top of the air tube that led into the fish tank. So, the fish died. Their response was, “well, you didn’t really want that fish anyway.” (And they were kind of right.)

[peachymom1]

When I was around 8, we took in a dog that had been mistreated. He was a cocker spaniel-dachshund mix, a beautiful golden color, and he was a gentle, good dog. My sisters and I all love animals and especially wanted cats, but Mom hated cats and wouldn't let us have them. I brought home a kitten from a friend's house once, and she took it away and did God-knows-what with it. The irony is that all my sisters and I have had cats throughout our adult lives, and one of my sisters has had dogs too. We got our current cat from the shelter where our kids used to volunteer. DS32 in San Diego has a cat, and DD35 & DDIL have three of them.

We already had a cat when the kids were born, and we taught them to always be kind to her, never to hurt her or be mean to her. As they got older, they took turns feeding her and cleaning out her litter box, so they all know how to take care of a cat. Now, the DS32 who still lives with us is responsible for our cat's food and litter box, and he plays with her and pets her too (as we do).

A dog is a lot more responsibility, but I would get one if we could have them in our building. I liked the companionship of a dog when I was a kid, and I didn't mind the work. I think having pets is a great way for kids to learn responsibility and to think of creatures other than themselves, if their parents have the time and resources to help them. Not all kids can do this, as Lee pointed out. And some kids are afraid of animals, for whatever reason, and I would never try to force something when someone is afraid.

We know a family who names their dogs after herbs and spices. So they've had a Cinnamon, a Rosemary, and I think a Parlsey and an Oregano too...

[louise]

I had a dog and 2 cats. Growing up we had a cocker spaniel and then a toy poodle. I loved them all. I used to coook for my Yorkie better (or at least more consistently) than I did for myself!