It may be a stretch, but the incident can be taken as a parable about kindness to "all the living creatures of every kind,'' including man, made by God on the fifth and sixth days of Creation. And it happened just in time for Temple Har Shalom's first Pet Shabbat, for which congregation members were invited to bring pets to the joyous Friday night services that welcome the Jewish Sabbath at sunset.
Nearly 100 pets showed up with about 50 of the congregation's 250 members. As everyone gathered to sit on lawn chairs or blankets in the field that is the building site for the new temple, Aaronson discussed the importance of kindness to animals.
"It is written in the Midrash [a Torah commentary] that Moses was chosen to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt because of his kindness to animals," he told the audience.
"God saw Moses put a lost lamb on his shoulders to carry it to food and water," the rabbi continued, adding that as with the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, and Rebecca at the well, stories in the Midrash and other commentary tend to show more about the character of people rather than to recount factual happenings.
"The Washington story illustrates the honesty and integrity of the man. Rebecca was selected to be Isaac's wife by her kindness not only in drawing water for Abraham's servant, but in drawing water for his camels as well," Aaronson said.
Pet Shabbats have been held by many Jewish congregations throughout the U.S., a country where more than 60 percent of the population have pets, according to a national pet owners' survey. And inviting the animals to synagogue or temple encourages the people who love them to follow. Typically in Reform temples and Conservative synagogues, services are held to welcome the Sabbath with prayer. At Temple Har Shalom, Aaronson's guitar accompanies traditional songs. Although greeting the Sabbath is a joyful occasion, the Kaddish (memorial prayer) is said for the dead as blessings are asked for the living.
The special Park City Pet Shabbat had few differences except that the service was much shorter, and when each animal, mostly dogs of every breed, passed in front of Aaronson, it received both a blessing and a bag of dog cookies.
Arlene and Lou Fine were there with their flat-coated retriever, their saluki and a granddog; Sheri Rosenblatt and Larry Lawlor had brown poodles; and Connie Holt's frogs, Nicholas and Sparkles, attended with Mimi the cat in a stroller. Aaronson's mastiff, Lily, and basset hound, Louie, "helped" with the service, and Sabba, Corree Grodnik's pooch, wore a kippah (a skullcap also known by its Yiddish name, yarmulke).
Love for a dog is a special bond. According to the online site Religion Link, churches of nearly every denomination are bringing animals to the front of religious consciousness, and, in some cases, right up to the altar. Clergy are performing animal blessings, funerals and even weddings. While animal spirituality has long been debated, interest is turning into actions designed to recognize animals' spiritual roles.
Religion Link notes services such as the blessing of the animals, a celebration once marked by Roman Catholics on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4), are now observed by many Lutherans, Episcopalians, Anglicans, Methodists and the United Church of Christ.
Animal-rights activists are reaching out to religious groups as allies, and people are becoming vegetarians and vegans because of their religious convictions, according to Religion Link. Jewish law has strict rules regarding food animals, from milking cows on the Sabbath so they will not suffer pain, to quick and humane killing of cattle for beef.
Books by theologians, scholars and other thinkers have branched out from religion publishing houses to the mainstream publishers. They include Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy by Matthew Scully (St. Martin's Press, 2002) and On God and Dogs: A Christian Theology of Compassion for Animals by Stephen H. Webb (Oxford University Press, 2002).
Religion Link also points out that animals and the spiritual have made it into mainstream culture with the popularity of movies such as "Seabiscuit," "My Dog Skip" and "All Dogs Go to Heaven."
But among Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jews, the afterlife is rarely discussed, and Jewish teachings on the subject are sparse. In fact, the Torah, the most important Jewish text, has no clear reference to the afterlife (for humans), according to the online Jewish Virtual Library.
So while many denominations offer services for pet funerals, weddings and blessings and some have established pet cemeteries in sanctified ground, Judaism isn't likely to be among them.
One reason may be the answer to the question "Rabbi? Do dogs go to heaven?"
"The short answer is 'No,' " Aaronson said, adding, "and the rest of the discussion is complicated."
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Contact Judy Magid at magid@sltrib. com or 801-257-8608. To comment on this story, write religioneditor@sltrib.com.
