Question: I recently had to put my service dog to sleep. What is Judaism’s position on the souls of our animals and how we dispose of their bodies after death?

Answer: The Kabbalah recognizes two separate issues which shed light on the souls of animals: 1. the concept of the animal spirit, 2. the concept of reincarnation.

1. The animal spirit is the life-force that G-d has placed in both animals and citizens. The difference is that humans contain a soul that is higher than the animal spirit. My Rabbis taught that the animal spirit is “nearly physical”, and may eventually be identified through science in some way; as opposed to the concept of the soul, which is on a higher level and is only knowable through revelation. In a practical sense, the soul has free will, whereas the animal spirit is run by instinct. Since we, as humans, choose freely, our soul will be rewarded for the proper choices we have made in our lives (i.e. the choices to follow the Torah). On the other hand, animals live by instinct and are not rewarded for their choices. that is considering they do not build moral choices, but rather are governed by instinct. When an animal passes away, its spirit returns to the place in heaven where it comes from, not for reward or punishment, but rather it simply returns to its source. However, through interaction with humans, a “tikkun“, or spiritual rectification, can take place for the animal. that leads us to the next concept.

2. Reincarnation—I remember that I was once a counselor in a day camp in a Chasidic hotel. The Rabbi

of the hotel at the duration is a well respected Dayan (judge of Torah law) in the Chasidic community in Brooklyn, NY, and his father is one of the great Rabbinical leaders of that generation. The children of the day camp went on a trip to a zoo, and the Rabbi came along with us. When we stopped to sit down for a lunch break, we sat at some picnic benches next to a pen holding an exotic (and rather large) species of deer. The Rabbi told the children in Yiddish, “When you recite the blessing on the food, do so loudly, with much concentration and devotion. that animal here contains the reincarnated soul of a Jew who needs a rectification, and the animal was waiting for some Jewish children to recite a praise to G-d in its presence so that the soul could be redeemed in the merit of your blessings by that food.” (more…)

Original post by ATR

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