LEV885 Do not castrate any creature. Hashem created His world with such perfection, nothing is lacking or superfluous. He desires to bestow blessing on man and all creatures by giving them the ability to reproduce, so each species will flourish and will not become extinct. Accordingly, if someone destroys a creature's ability to reproduce, he shows that he disdains Hashem’s work, and wants to destroy Creation’s perfection.

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LEV886 Sex-change operations involving the surgical removal of sexual organs are clearly forbidden on the basis of the explicit Biblical prohibition [this verse]. Sterilization of women is also prohibited, as recorded in Even ha-Ezer 5:11. Rabbi Meir Amsel (Ha-Ma'or, Kislev-Tevet 5733) notes that yet another prohibition is also applicable to sex-change procedures, a consideration which may extend as well to hormone treatment for purposes of sex-change. The commandment "A woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment" (Deuteronomy 22:5) is not limited to the wearing of apparel associated with the opposite sex but encompasses any action uniquely identified with the opposite sex, proscribing, for example, shaving of armpits or dyeing of hair by a male. A procedure designed to transform sexual characteristics violates the very essence of this prohibition.

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LEV887 Akavya ben Mahalal'el said: Reflect on three things, and you will not come within the hands, the power of sin: know from where you came, whither you are going, and before whom you are destined to give a future account and reckoning. From where you came--from a fetid drop; whither you are going--to a place of dust, worms and maggots; and before whom you are destined to give a future account and reckoning--Before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He. Pirkei Avot, Perek III, mishnah 1. The commentary Yen L'vanon (a commentary on Avoth by Naphtali Herz Wessely, 1725-1805, German Hebrew author and educator, pupil of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz) interprets Akavya's questions in a comparative sense: You, man, consider yourself to be the crown of creation. You have been given dominion over the creatures of the earth. Yet, wherein lies your greatness? Consider your origin: were you not conceived in gross sensuality? Compare yourself to the lower forms of life and the flowers, where the species are perpetuated in innocence, without sensuality. Again, consider your final end. Here, too, man appears inferior. When a flower dies, one can make perfume of it. When an animal dies, shoes and clothing can be made of its hide. But when a human being dies, he is buried. Even in the length of time needed for development to maturity, man appears an inferior species. We read, "A bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born.…" [this verse]. The interesting thing about an animal is that it is a "sheep or a goat" as soon as it is born. Very little time is needed before it starts to function as an independent organism. Man, however, has the longest period of infancy and helplessness. Years of growth are required before he becomes self-sustaining. Both in his physical origin and in his bodily destiny man, in comparison with the lesser creatures, is quite unimpressive. Wherein, then, lies his superiority? The answer, inevitably, must be that man's greatness lies in his freedom to be self-transcendent, in his very ability to reflect on his physical origin and destiny and find them lacking in meaning, bereft of significance. And so, contemplation of the first two questions of Akavya must lead us to his third statement: "Know before whom you were destined to give an account and reckoning." This freedom of ours implies responsibility. This inadequacy of and dissatisfaction with our life here and now force to realize a transcendental goal in which we will stand "before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He."

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LEV888 Over and beyond the prevention of outright physical pain, certain commands in the Torah regarding animals seem to be concerned about more subtle forms of stress and discomfort. Thus in connection with the law of sacrifices we read: [this verse, Exodus 22:29]. Although different reasons can be found for this law, the Midrash perceived in it a further manifestation of God's mercy. (Deuteronomy Rabbah 6:1; see also Maimonides, Guide, Friedlander trans., p.360). An animal's tenderness and concern for its offspring has long been an admired object of simple observation. To cause an immediate separation between the offspring and the mother, thus interrupting the nursing process, is to cause cruel and unnecessary pain. Related to this law is the command: "And whether it be a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day." (Leviticus 22:28. See Chullin 79a, Yoreh De'ah 15:2. This law applies to either the male or the female parent.) Maimonides explains that the purpose of this prohibition is: "in order that people should be restrained and prevented from killing the two together in such a manner that the young is slain in the sight of the mother; for the pain of the animals under such circumstances is very great. There is no difference in this case between the pain of men and the pain of other living beings, since the love and tenderness of the mother for her young ones is not produced by reasoning but by imagination, and this faculty exists not only in men but in most living beings." (Maimonides, Guide, 3:48).

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LEV889 Do not slaughter an animal and its mother on the same day. Key concepts: We should be aware that Hashem watches over all living beings. Although regarding mankind, He watches over every individual, regarding animals His Providence extends only to each different species in general. Because of this concern, the Torah forbids us to cut a tree and its branches on the same day--that is, to slaughter a mother animal and one of its young on the same day. This prohibition is an allusion to Hashem's general Providence over each species. In addition, Hashem wants us to develop the positive trait of compassion to distance ourselves from any tendency towards cruelty. For this reason, too, although we are allowed to slaughter animals for their meat, we are forbidden to kill a mother animal and its young on the same day.

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LEV894 Possibly the greatest torture the Nazis inflicted was forcing a child to watch his or her parents being killed. This is one of the most horrible and painful experiences a person could go through. In a similar manner, the Torah forbids the slaughter of an animal and its offspring on the same day [this verse]. Since animals that were to be slaughtered on a particular day were all taken together at the same time, the Torah effectively prevented either the child seeing the parent killed or vice versa by prohibiting the slaughtering of parents and offspring on the same day.

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LEV891 Biblical consideration for animals was the basis for the following laws: ... A mother animal and its young may not be slaughtered on the same day [this verse] Rabbi Aaron of Barcelona (13th cent.) explained this restriction as follows: "The purpose of this injunction is to instill in our character the quality of mercy and to remove ourselves from cruelty" (Sefer HaChinuch 294). To permit an animal to witness the killing of its young is an active of gross cruelty.

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LEV892 Biblical law provides for sparing the feelings of animals: No animal may be slaughtered on the same day as its young [this verse]; do not take away a young bird from its nest until you first shoo the mother away (Deuteronomy 22:7). This is traced to God in the story we read each Yom Kippur. When God does not destroy the city of Nineveh because the people repented for their evil, Jonah is angry at the compassion God shows. God retorts: Should I not care about that great city with its many people, and its many beasts as well?" (Jonah 4:11).

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LEV893 Kashrut: To Identify with the Feelings of Animals and Inspire Hesitation about Eating Meat. Rav Kook teaches with great passion that the rules of kashrut should inspire in us a sort of guilt about eating meat. Before the Great Flood, humanity is vegetarian. Permission to eat meat is understood by our tradition to be a sort of concession to our violent appetites, which become all too evident by the time of Noah. “The commandments came to regulate the eating of meat, and steps that will take us to the higher purpose.... These actions will bear fruit and ultimately educate mankind. The mute protest will, when the time is ripe, be transformed into a mighty shout and succeed in its aim. The very nature of the principles of ritual slaughter, with their specific rules and regulations designed to reduce pain, create the atmosphere that you are not dealing with things outside the law, that they are not automatons devoid of life, but living beings. (Abraham Isaac Kook, “Fragments of Light: A View as to the Reasons for the Commandments” 318-9). The concept is not new: Rambam, two, speaks of tzaar baalei chayim, understanding the pain of all living creatures. We are instructed not to slaughter an animal and its young on the same day (Leviticus 22:28), “for in these cases animals feel very great pain, there being no difference regarding this pain between man and the other animals. For the love and the tenderness of a mother for her child is not consequent of one reason, but upon the activity of the imaginative faculty, which is found in most animals just as it is found in man.” Maimonides, Guide 3:48. Ibn Ezra argues that this prohibition, along with a warning not to take a mother bird and her eggs, teach sensitivity to life. Although he insists that their complete reasons for kashrut are concealed, it is clear that boiling a kid in its mother's milk would be cruel. (Exodus 23:19, Deut. 22:6). Sensitivity, it seems, comes in several gradations. While the vegetarian movement continues apace, Rav Kook describes that practice as messianic, to be achieved after we have mastered more basic objectives, such as world peace. Torah offers a gradualness for those whose carnivorous drives cannot be fully subdued. Kook folklore tells us that the Rav himself ate meat once a week, chicken on Erev Shabbat, as a sign that we had not yet arrived. On route, however, there are choices we can make that extend our sensitivity to animal life: we can refuse to eat veal--baby calves with their feet chained to the side of a stall their entire lives so they will not stand up or wander around and spoil that tender flesh. We can buy nest eggs, so the chickens do not have to live their lives in tiny cages just so we can have scrambled eggs in the morning. We can seek out milk from cows that have not been given growth hormones, which cause increased infection and discomfort for the animals. Traditional kashrut certainly limits the amount of meat we consume, since we do not eat meat “out” except in kosher restaurants. The separation of meat and milk can prompt us to be conscious of the sources of our food, and the price paid to bring it to our table. Contemporary expansion of the principles would further advance our appreciation of tzaar baalei chayim. (By Rachel S. Mikva, “Adventures in Eating: An Emerging Model for Kashrut”)

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LEV895 See [[LEV888]] Leviticus 22:27 stay SPERO 178-9

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