17 Elul: Healing Together

We cannot become whole until we heal the damage that we have inflicted on God’s creation which includes both the Earth and the creatures that are an integral part of the natural world. And we will not experience the healing benefits of the natural world until we have made this tikkun. The sanctity of animals is exemplified by the story of Judah HaNasi:

For thirteen years, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the redactor of the Mishnah, suffered from terrible pain. The Talmud (Baba Metziah 85a) traces his suffering to the following incident:

A calf was once led to slaughter. Sensing what was about to take place, the animal fled to Rabbi Yehudah. It hung its head on the corner of his garment and wept. The rabbi told the calf, “Go! You were created for this purpose.”

It was decreed in Heaven: Since Rabbi Yehudah failed to show compassion to the calf, the rabbi should suffer from afflictions. Rabbi Yehudah was only healed many years later, when he convinced his maidservant not to harm small rodents she discovered in the house.

Why was Judah HaNasi made to suffer in this way for his dismissal of the calf? Rav Abraham Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine states: “It demonstrates an overall moral deficiency in our humanity when we are unable to maintain the proper and lofty emotion — [a natural aversion] to taking the life of a living creature for our needs and pleasures.”

Animals were not created to be slaughtered or to serve our appetite. So many animals have been, and continue to be, harmed by factory farming, neglect, and abuse. We are currently involved in a project in Israel whereby trauma is treated with Animal Assisted Psychotherapy (AAP). Animals are not “used” to help humans. The people we are working with practice the reciprocal approach whereby humans and animals help each other to heal from trauma. We call it “Healing Together.” 

We were inspired by Steve’s experience with his cousin Larry who was born blind, facing immense physical and emotional challenges. By his late 50s, he had lost his motivation to get out of bed. Nothing seemed to help—until his cousin Steve brought his dog, Emma. The change was immediate. Over the next two years, Larry went from feeling hopeless to celebrating his adult Bar Mitzvah just before his 60th birthday. His deep bond with Emma played a key role in his emotional and physical recovery, showing firsthand the incredible healing power of animals. This experience opened Steve’s eyes to the profound impact animal companionship can have on human well-being, inspiring a mission to bring this healing to others. A link to the short documentary about Larry can be found here:
https://vimeo.com/214075528

As we enter the month of Elul, let us endeavor to recognize the sanctity of the Earth as well as of the animals that inhabit it with us.

Rabbi Suzanne Singer
Co-Executive Director, Rayor Center/Breeyah

Rabbi Suzanne Singer lives in California. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she is keenly aware of the need to make our world a better place. In her capacity as a rabbi, she has served several congregations and has been engaged for over 20 years in social justice work. She has also served on a variety of non-profit boards and has led advocacy efforts through local interfaith organizations. Before becoming a rabbi, she was a television producer and programming executive in news and public affairs as well as children’s programming. In that capacity, she won two national Emmy awards.

Cantor Steven Puzarne
Executive Director, Rayor Center/Breeyah

Cantor Steven Puzarne is the Founder of Breeyah, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to respond creatively to the changing needs of the Jewish community, including providing holistic, spiritually based care to special needs children and adults and their families. After the October 7th attack, Cantor Puzarne established Breeyah’s Israeli branch, The Rayor Family Center for Loving Kindness of which Healing Together is the first major project. In addition, through the Rayor Center, Cantor Puzarne manages the “smitten with kitten” initiative, striving to significantly reduce the number and the suffering of stray cats within Israel/Palestine.