Halakhah su Genesi 24:32

Judaism posits yet another regulation regarding the welfare of animals which is regarded as biblical in nature even though the law is not reflected in a literal reading of Scripture. The biblical statement "I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shall eat and be satisfied" (Deuteronomy 11:15) is understood in rabbinic exegesis as forbidding a person to partake of any food unless he has first fed his animals.⁶See Berakhot 41a and Gittin 62a. See also Rambam, Hilkhot Avadim 9:8; R. Meir Rothenberg, Teshuvot Maharam ben Barukh he-Ḥadashhot, no. 302; R. Jacob Reisher, Teshuvot Shevut Ya‘akov, II, no. 13; Magen Avraham, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 167:18 and 271:12; Ḥayyei Adam 45:1, and R. Joel Schwartz, Ve-Raḥamav al Kol Ma’asav, pp. 59-62. R. Jacob Emden, She’elat Ya‘ave&x1E93;, 1, no. 17, rules that there is no absolute requirement to feed a dog or a cat before eating oneself since those animals sustain themselves on table scraps and forage for foods but that it is nevertheless proper to feed them first in order “to acquire the trait of compassion.” Magen Avraham, Oraḥ, Ḥayyim 324:7, declares that providing food for any animal, including animals belonging to other persons and ownerless animals, constitutes a miẓvah. See also R. Simeon ben Ẓemaḥ Duran, Teshuvot Tashbaẓ, III, no. 293; R. Jacob Ettlinger, Teshuvot Binyan Ẓion, no. 103; and R. Eliyahu Klatzkin, Teshuvot Imrei Shefer, no. 34, sec. 1. Cf. R. Moses Sofer, Teshuvot Ḥatam Sofer, Yoreh De‘ah, no. 314, s.v. ve-la’asot, and no. 318, s.v. ve-hinneh. This regulation is derived from the order in which the two clauses comprising the verse are recorded. The passage speaks first of providing for animals and only subsequently of satisfying human needs.⁷Similarly, Scripture records that Laban gave straw to the camels and only afterwards did he provide food for Abraham’s servant. See Genesis 24:32-33 and Sefer Ḥasidim (ed. Reuben Margulies), no. 531. Cf., R. Joel Schwartz, Ve-Raḥamav al Kol Ma’asav, p. 60, note 4. Amplifying this rule, the Palestinian Talmud, Yevamot 15:3 and Ketubot 4:8, declares that a person is forbidden to purchase an animal unless he can assure an adequate supply of food on its behalf.