Did you know that the Jewish calendar has four New Years? You probably know the one coming up in September – Rosh Hashanah, the New Year for Foreign Kings. And if we have a New Year for Foreign Kings, of course we need a New Year for Jewish Kings. You might also know the New Year for the Trees – Tu B’Shvat. But you’ve probably never heard of the New Year for cattle, which is coming up this year on August 2
Now, to be fair, the non-royal New Years are really tax days – but, like all Jewish traditions, each new year has taken on other meanings over time. And the New Year for cattle has taken on the idea that it is the New Year for all animals.
So, why haven’t you heard of the New Year for Animals? Maybe because animals are at the same time too close and too far away from us to notice.
Most of us have never met a cow, a sheep, a goat or even a chicken. We have no idea what they eat, how friendly they are to people (hint – chickens are mean and a cow will run you over without even noticing), or how long they live. Farm animals are just not part of our lives. We don’t notice them, so we have no interest in their New Year.
On the other hand, a lot of people think of their pets – dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters – as members of their families, actually even referring to themselves as pet parents and their pets as “fur babies.” Even those of us with a greater sense of species differentiation love our pets, live closely with them, take care of and enjoy them. We’re too close to think of them as Other. We just share our New Year with them the way we share our homes, and sometimes our food and even our beds.
So, okay. We are both too close and too far away from domestic animals to have a connection to their New Year. Should we make an effort to find a way to celebrate this holiday or just let it go? On the side of letting go, we can say that after all, we have plenty of other holidays and this one just isn’t meaningful any more. On the side of keeping the holiday, we can find meaning in the lesson it teaches, that of the necessity of caring for those who can’t care for themselves. We feed the cattle and make sure they have water. We bring our pets to the vet for inoculations and we make sure they are safe and content. We fulfill our responsibilities to domestic animals. If we do this for animals, should we not even the more so do this for our fellow humans? Is it not our responsibility also to make sure our human brothers and sisters are fed, sheltered and provided with medical care, education and safety?
This New Year for the Animals, go ahead and make a donation to your local animal shelter. But then make a donation to the food bank, too.