NUM287 One of the ways in which man knows how to behave and feel is to imitate the actions and "feelings" of God (Deuteronomy 28:9 and Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De'ot 1:6). There are many verses that reflect God's special sensitivity to animals. The verse in the Psalms (Psalms 145:9) says that God is good to all things and has mercy upon all His creatures. God promises bountiful crops not only for man but also for the animals to eat (Deuteronomy 28:11). When Bilaam hit his donkey for refusing to move, the angel (God's agent) got angry at him for striking the animal [this verse]. Therefore, we can see a specific benevolent, merciful, and caring attitude by God to animals. Like God, man should possess a similar attitude. In fact, the Proverbs describes a righteous person as understanding the "soul" (the feelings?) of his animals (Proverbs 12:10). Judaism does not really believe in nice feelings and attitudes. These attitudes must be reflected in a Jew's actions (See the chapter "Mitzvot"). Therefore, the Torah also commands the Jew to perform specific mitzvot that seem to teach sensitivity toward animals. For example, this attitude is clearly translated into action, as the Torah places the feeding of animals before the feeding of man (Deuteronomy 11:15). The Talmud says that this order teaches us that the Jew is to feed his animals even before he feeds himself (Gittin 62a). This statement in the Talmud is adopted into actual practice in Judaism (Maimonides, Hilchot Avadim 9:8 and Magen Avraham, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 167:18). According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Yevamot 78a), a person may not buy an animal unless food preparation for that animal has been arranged in advance.