Halakhah su Salmi 147:63

Whether denial of rights to animals is, or is not, barbaric is a value judgment regarding which reasonable men may differ. Whether or not Judaism actually denies such rights to animals is a factual matter which is readily discernible. The Bible abounds in passages which reflect concern for animal welfare. Concern for the welfare of animals is clearly regarded as the trait of a righteous person: "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). Divine concern for the welfare of animals is reflected in numerous passages: "And His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalms 145:9); "The eyes of all wait for Thee, and Thou givest them their food in due season. Thou openest Thy hand and satisfiest every living thing with favor" (Psalms 145:15-16); "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry" (Psalms 147:9); "Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry unto God and wander for lack of food?" (Job 38:41); "… and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons … and also much cattle?" (Jonah 4:11); and "Man and beast thou preservest, O Lord" (Psalms 36:7). De minimis, these verses serve to establish the theological proposition that divine mercy extends, not only to man, but to members of the animal kingdom as well.

Just as non-Jews are prohibited from studying Torah, so are Jews forbidden to teach Torah to gentiles. Tosafot, Haggigah 13a, declares that a Jew who causes a non-Jew to transgress in this manner is guilty of violating the commandment "You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind" (Leviticus 19:14).⁴Cf., Teshuvot Emunat Shmu’el, no. 14, cited by Pitḥei Teshuvah, Yoreh De‘ah 62:2 and R. Ben-Zion Blum, Tel Talpiyot, Sivan 5690. Moreover, the Gemara, Haggigah 13a, states that teaching Torah to a non-Jew is a violation of an admonition inherent in the words of the Psalmist, "He declareth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances unto Israel. He hath not done so with any nation; and as for His ordinances, they have not known them" (Psalms 147:19-20). This verse, according to Tosafot, serves to establish a prohibition against teaching Torah to a non-Jew which is independent of any infraction on the part of the non-Jew.⁵Minḥat Ḥinnukh, no. 232, states that Rambam records the prohibition forbidding a non-Jew to study Torah but not the prohibition against a Jew teaching Torah to a gentile because, for Rambam, as distinct from Tosafot, the sole prohibition devolving upon the Jew is the general prohibition against placing a stumbling block before the blind. See also R. Shlomoh Yitzchak Levine, Ha-Pardes, Kislev 5710. R. Yechiel Ya‘akov Weinberg, Seridei Esh, II, no. 92, opines that since in “our day” there exist numerous translations of Scripture and there are non-Jewish scholars “capable of reading the Bible and Talmud” teaching such material to non-Jews does not constitute placing a “stumbling block” before them; cf., however, Teshuvot Besamim Rosh, no. 327.

R. Ze'ev Wolf Leiter, Teshuvot Bet David, no. 96, suggests that the ban against teaching Torah to non-Jews may not apply to young children. Minḥat Hinnukh, no. 232, states that the sole prohibition devolving upon a Jew who teaches Torah to a non-Jew is that of "Thou shalt not place a stumbling block before the blind" (Leviticus 19:14).⁴⁵See above, note 5. Since, however, a non-Jewish child who has as yet not reached the age of legal capacity⁴⁶Teshuvot Ḥatam Sofer, Yoreh De‘ah, no. 317, states that although a Jewish boy reaches majority at 13 years of age and a Jewish girl at 12 years of age, provided that hair has developed in the pubic region, Noachides may be culpable at whatever age their intellect becomes developed. Sho’el u-Meshiv, Mahadurah Tinyana, I, no. 14, states clearly that this occurs at a much younger age. [In light of the principle which establishes that there is no commandment binding upon Noachides from which Jews are exempt (Sanhedrin 55a and 59a) some scholars aver that mentally mature Jewish minors below the age of halakhic majority are obligated to abide by the provisions of the Seven Commandments no less than are non-Jews of similar maturity; see R. Chaim Auerbach, Divrei Ḥayyim, Nizkei Mammon, no. 11, and R. Shlomoh Zalman Auerbach, Moriah, Elul 5742. Divrei Ḥayyim asserts that although he is bound by the Seven Commandments, a Jewish minor who has attained intellectual maturity is not liable to punishment for infraction of those commandments.] incurs no punishment,⁴⁷See, however, R. Joseph Saul Nathanson, Sho’el u-Meshiv, Mahadurah Tinyana, I, no. 14, who declares that under the Noachide Code even minors are culpable. the Jew who provides instruction has not placed a stumbling block before him. However, in an earlier responsum, no. 57, the same author states that the prohibition derived from the verse "He hath not done so with any nation" (Psalms 147:20) applies to the teaching of minors as well.⁴⁸See also R. Isaac Liebes, Teshuvot Bet Avi, I, no. 96, who similarly forbids enrollment of the child of a non-Jewish mother in a Talmud Torah. Moreover, contends Rabbi Leiter, a non-Jew taught Torah as a child may well review what he has studied after reaching the age of majority. The Jew, in providing instruction to a child, would thus be assisting in the latter's transgression at a later time.⁴⁹See Teshuvot Tashbaẓ, III, no. 133; Teshuvot Radbaz, nos. 741 and 796; Magen Avraham, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 347:4; Shakh and Dagul me-Revavah, Yoreh De‘ah 151:6; and Pitḥei Teshuvah, Yoreh De‘ah 151:3.