BAIS HAVAAD ON THE PARSHA Parshas Balak 5771- Animal Rights & Wrongs

Tzar Ba’alei Chaim Fundamentals By: Rav Yehonassan Dovid Hool Bais HaVaad-Yerushalayim The Halacha forbids one from causing any unnecessary pain or distress to an animal. Min Hatorah or Miderabanan? There is, however, some debate amongst the Poskim as to whether this prohibition is Min HaTorah or Mi'derabanan. This difference of opinion originates in the Gemora (Bava Metzia 32b onwards) in which R' Yose Hagelili maintains that it is only Miderabanan, whereas the Chachamim hold that it is forbidden from the Torah. The opinion that forbids Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim from the Torah learns this from the verse that teaches that if one sees an animal struggling under its load, one is obliged to help the owner unload the burden from the animal, and the Gemora understands that this is because one may not cause pain to an animal (Rashi, Shabbos 128b). Others (Ra'avad, Shitta Mekubetzes, Bava Metzia 32b; Da'as Zekenim, Devorim 25:4) derive this prohibition from the fact that the Torah forbids muzzling an ox whilst it is threshing grain, because the animal is distressed when it works with food and cannot eat from it 1. There are other Poskim, however, who rule that Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim is forbidden only Miderabanan, because there is an implication in the Gemora that the Halacha follows the opinion of R' Yose Hagelili. The Rambam (Hichos Rotze'ach Ushemiras Nefesh, 13:14) seems to follow this view.2