Blessings of the Animals
Lately I have been hearing a lot about “Blessings of the Animals”. It is quite common in many churches and associated with St. Francis of Assisi. Also see this article for the increasing role that pets play in houses of worship. I know that some synagogues have a similar ceremony, many observing it around Parashat Noah. While it happens to fall near the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the connection with Noah is quite clear. I must be honest that I didn’t take ceremonies such as this too seriously. I always saw it as an excuse for people to invest more time and money in their pets, something which IMHO many probably already do too much. Well, a funny thing happened this morning in synagogue. It was one of those “I never really saw what that verse was saying” moments. In the first chapter of Genesis we read “And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creeps, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” (Genesis 1:21-22) If I am not mistaken, it seems that not only did got bless the animals (Rashi and Ramban explains that not all creatures were included in the blessing in order not to bless the serpent.), but also the first commandment, to be fruitful and multiply, is directed at animals! I couldn’t find anybody who addresses the question of how animals can be commanded. I guess that if God is described as talking to the serpent, then why can’t animals be commanded. While I still think that many people spend too much time and money on their pets, I now do look more positively on “Blessings of the Animals” after today’s Torah reading.