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June 30, 2023 (11 Tammuz 5783) Pet Shabbat!
Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you doing well and in good health. We hope you are enjoying the beginning of the summer, relaxing and being outdoors, at least between the summer storms. Please join us this Saturday morning for Shabbat services, which will take place in our beautiful sanctuary at 10:15am and over our regular Zoom webinar platform. For those of you who were inconvenienced last Shabbat, please forgive the technological glitch that temporarily interfered with our audio feed. Backing up some decades, I was shocked and surprised when the leadership of the synagogue where I was working suggested that a fun initiative would be to designate the Shabbat of Parashat Noah as “Bring Your Pet to Shul” Shabbat. While some believed this would be a “fun” idea, I wasn’t sure how the shul could navigate its way around the halachic prohibitions of having an animal present in an official prayer-space. Fortunately, with Parashat Noah occurring on the heels of the marathon season of the Jewish High Holy Days & Sukkot/Simchat Torah festivals, we decided against the idea. Thinking more creatively, it occurs to me that if there were to be an animal- themed, “Bring Your Beheima (animal) to Shul” Shabbat, I would advocate for appointing either Parashat Shmini (from the Book of Leviticus) or this week’s portions of Chukkat/Balak (from the Book of Numbers). Parashat Shemini, which occurs around the still snowy month of March, would be ideal for such a “program” because in the Torah we read the first full list of kosher animals. The restrictions legislate that all kosher animals must have split hooves and chew their cud, so they include cows, goats, and sheep, in addition to less common animals such as addax, antelope, bison, deer, gazelle, giraffe, and ibex. These are all permissible for consumption. Furthermore, we learn that all kosher fish must have removable scales & fins (referred to as Snapir and Kaskeset), and that kosher birds should not be birds of prey. In general, all reptiles, amphibians, worms, and insects are not kosher, with the exception of four types of locusts, which are still consumed within the Yemenite community. Chocolate covered grasshoppers, anyone? If you are a snowbird, however, you may not be in town during the winter, so I have another option for our dedicated Pet Shabbat based on this week’s double portion. The first of this week’s Torah portions highlights a cow. Parashat Chukkat describes a ritual of purification that took place after one came into physical contact with a dead body. The Kohen would find an unblemished red heifer and burn it to ashes. The ashes were then mixed with purification waters called Mei Nidah and dissolved as a potion. The Kohen would then sprinkle the water over the individual who was ritually impure. This would render the contaminant clean, and ironically, render the Kohen impure. This law is considered the prototypical “Chok” (Torah statute), a law that defies rationalization. The second of this week’s Torah portions highlights a donkey. In Parashat Balak, we read the story of a King of Moab, Balak, who hires a non-Jewish prophet named Bilaam to curse the Jewish people. On his journey to curse the Jewish people, HaShem has a ministering angel block the path of the prophet; yet the obstacle is only noticed by his faithful donkey. Frustrated by his animal’s stubbornness, the prophet scolds the donkey, who in turn, miraculously begins speaking and rebukes his foolish master! Eventually, Bilaam blesses B’nei Yisrael with the familiar liturgical verse, “Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov; How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwelling places oh Israel.” Here are some other fun facts to consider for our “Pet Shabbat”:
Although pets may not be on the invitation list for our services this Shabbat, we encourage you to join us this Saturday morning with your heart in prayer, your voice lifted in song, and your mind and spirit attuned to our traditions, irrespective of your status as a pet-owner! Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
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