GEN1183 The rabbis pointed to God’s kind to animals as a model for man to follow. “Just as the almighty is merciful to man, so is he merciful to animals” Tanchuma, Noah 5.  “He who shows mercy to animals will receive mercy from God” Shabbat 151b Kindness to animals was considered the ultimate test of a noble character. Rebecca’s fitness to be the wife of Isaac was proven by her offer to fetch water for Abraham’s emissary, Eliezer, and for his thirsty camels [this verse]. Moses proved himself qualified to led the Jewish people by demonstrating his tender care for the sheep in his herd. Exodus Rabbah 2   Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (2nd cent.), the eminent editor of the Mishnah, was once afflicted with a painful illness. After a prolonged period of distress, the sickness finally disappeared. A Talmudic anecdote seeks to shed light on the background of this painful episode. It seems that a calf, which was being led by a butcher to an abattoir, tore loose and ran to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who had witnessed this scene, as if to plead for his protection. The rabbi looked at the calf and commented: “Go, my little creature. This is what you were created for.” Heaven was displeased with his callousness and inflicted a punishment upon him. Years later, the rabbi stopped his maid from sweeping out some young weasels which she had discovered in his study. “We must be mindful,” he said,” of the biblical verse “and his [God’s] mercies are over all His works.”  Heaven took note of his concern for the weasels and decreed an end to his illness. Baba Metzia 85a. BLOCH 80-1