One Ingredient to Avoid Cruelty

Parshat Emor

by Rabbi Avi Billet

One of the more blatant ways in which the Torah indicates an anti-cruelty manner of behavior is in the rule of “oto v’et b’no” – that there is an awareness that an animal and its offspring are not be slaughtered on the same day.

I am ignoring the viewpoint that slaughtering animals is an act of cruelty. Any student of the Torah knows that sacrifices and an order for how to take the life of an animal is clearly defined as part of Jewish life.

But just like the sending away of the mother bird is meant to instill in us a sensitivity to how the parent views its young, this mitzvah of not slaughtering the parent and offspring animal is meant to raise this sensitivity of not destroying an entire family – even an animal family – in one day. This mitzvah is particularly played out in Jewish law when an animal is sold on Erev Yom Tov, the purchaser must be told if its parent or offspring was sold that day, so as to be sure to avoid slaughtering the animal that day. (See Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Yechaveh Daat 2:64)

And so the Midrash on this verse teaches us a most profound lesson about the difference between how we operate – even in the permitted realm of taking the lives of animals for food or sacrifice – versus how the cruel enemies of Israel have always conducted themselves, if not in deed then certainly in mindset. Haman is the classic example of a person who wanted to kill all of Israel, young and old, children and women, etc.

Once the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 27:11) opens the door discussing Haman, it goes on to describe how the ancient Biblical enemies of the Jews each operated, hoping to succeed in destroying the line leading to or stemming from our forefather Avraham.

Eisav declared Kayin a fool because he murdered his brother while his father was still alive. Sure enough, Adam had another son who opened the line to Noach. Eisav said “Only when (after) my father dies I will kill my brother!”

Pharaoh declared Eisav a fool because by the time Eisav would have killed his brother, Yaakov had already fathered the next generation. This is why Pharaoh declared, “Kill the boys as soon as they are born!”

Haman declared Pharaoh a fool because he only targeted the boys. Girls are those who perpetuate Judaism to the children they bear. And so Haman’s decree was to kill every man, woman and child in one fell swoop, on a single day.


Rabbi Levi says that Gog U’Magog, the enemy rulers who will organize their own attempt to destroy Israel in the time immediately before the Final Redemption, look to all these failed attempts at destroying the line of Israel, and declare, “They were all fools. They were plotting to destroy Israel and they disregarded that fact they have a Heavenly protector. I will not be so foolish. I will first align myself with their God, and then I will destroy them.”

Are we living in the era that immediately precedes Gog U’Magog? It is impossible to know for sure. But the rhetoric espoused by certain groups who want to wipe Israel and every Jew off the world-map certainly gives us pause to consider that the shofar sound we’ve anticipated for millennia may be on its way.

We have always known that even when the taking of a life – in the form of an animal for food, etc – is permitted, there are rules that nonetheless govern our course of action. And this sensitive approach has helped us refine our character through the generations, to overwhelmingly oppose violence, except when necessary such as in self-defense, or to carry a moral compass of what is right and just when taking a life, because it is not a question which can ever be haphazard or untainted by the moral dilemma of right and wrong.

May our sensitivities continue to serve as a model for ourselves and the world, as those who do not yet share our values come to realize that the world is big enough for different views, and certainly open for people to live and let live.

We have been champions of such an approach for a very long time. Much of the civilized world gets it. Will those who are not yet civilized come to this realization and recognition? Hopefully, yes, and speedily in our days.