In recent weeks I have seen mention of a jewish – and apparently specifically Israeli – custom of throwing live kittens and puppies into the big bonfires that jews create on the jewish festival of Lag B’Omer.
Lag B’Omer is a minor jewish festival that occurs on the 33rd day of the Omer (between the period of mourning in Judaism that is the time between Pesach [Passover] and Shavout [the celebration of the divine revelation of the Written Torah on Mount Sinai]) which marks the end of a plague that killed ‘23,000’ of the genocidal Rabbi Akiva’s (the spiritual head of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans and who authorised the extermination of every non-jew by the jews) students and the death of Rabbi Akiva’s most prominent disciple Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (both of whom feature heavily in the Mishnah on which both Talmuds are commentaries) and is often marked with bonfires.
Now I am not sure when the custom of jews throwing live defenceless animals – mainly kittens and puppies apparently – into their annual Lag B’Omer bonfires began, but apparently it is absolutely pervasive in Israeli society as Sharon Udasin explained in the ‘Jerusalem Post’ on 15th May 2017:
‘As Israelis kindled Lag Ba’omer bonfires on Sunday – some for the second night in row – 19-year-old Shahar Liani and her legion of volunteers were on the lookout anyone hurling innocent animals into the blazes.
For the sixth year in a row, Liani and volunteers around Israel were leading patrols to “stop the horrific phenomenon of burning animals on Lag Ba’omer,” according to her Facebook event page. This year, the group recruited hundreds of people to join the effort, with nearly 900 signed up to observe bonfires and save animals from abuse.
“Every year, we encounter dozens of cases of puppies and kittens being thrown in the fire during the Lag Ba’omer bonfires,” the event page says. “In previous years, we managed to save dozens of animals and give them a better life.”
Liani first learned about this phenomenon – an unexplained act of abuse popular among teenagers – when she was in sixth grade in Ramat Gan. A boy in her class that year told her about people who burned a dog in their holiday bonfire, she recalled.
“I researched and clarified this, and I understood that this is a widespread phenomenon – it happens a lot,” Liani told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. At just 13 years old, she decided she needed to do something about these cruel activities.’ (1)
She then continues by explaining how:
‘Last year, the volunteers were able to save some 30 cats and dogs, who were transferred to foster homes until they could be placed in adoptive families, according to Liani.
As volunteers attempt to rescue cats and dogs from the flames, they sometimes face trouble with teenagers intent upon harming the animals, Liani acknowledged.
Although they do not have direct access to the Israel Police in every city, the volunteers work with a group called “Meizam 100,” an animal- rights group that serves as a bridge to law enforcement officials.
“In the first year, there was a case in which a group of teenagers threw a dog – like a ball – into the fire,” Liani said. “My volunteer was on her way back home from the tours.”
After the volunteer reached into the flames and saved the dog, the perpetrators chased after her and the puppy. Ultimately, they reached a safe place unharmed, Liani explained.
Despite the fact that this disturbing trend continues, Liani is optimistic that the phenomenon will disappear in coming years.
“There is still a large number of animals that people want to throw in the fire,” she said. “But more people are aware. People who want to do this are more afraid to do so.”’ (2)
Supporting testimony is provided by the Israeli news site ‘Haipo’ which published an article on 26th May 2016 stating that:
‘Hundreds of volunteers patrolled during the Feast of Omer in order to prevent kittens and dogs from being thrown into bonfires throughout the country, in most cities no animals in distress were found. In Haifa, a sick puppy was rescued before being thrown into the bonfire and a cat with burns disappeared in the city’s Gate of Ascension area. animals.
This year, too, there was a great response from people from all over the country to volunteer and patrol among the bonfires throughout the country in order to prevent kittens and dogs from being thrown into the bonfires. A horrifying phenomenon that has gained momentum in recent years. According to the updates in Avant Tours in Lag BaOmer which opened especially for the holiday. It was reported that in Haifa a sick puppy was rescued before being thrown into a fire and a cat with burns disappeared in the Shaar Aliya area of the city. In the Carmel Castle and Bensher the holiday passed peacefully for the animals and no animals were found in distress.
Shari Itzhaki, an animal rights activist, said in a conversation with Lahi Fa: “The abuse of animals in Lag BaOmer and throwing them into fires while they are still alive is more common than people think, this horrifying phenomenon has gained momentum in recent years and quite a few cases of animals found burned have been revealed, this year they also went on active patrols from all over the country and in Haifa a kitten was found and rescued before throwing it into the fires.” (3)
While Michal Richtman posted on 21st May 2019 in the Facebook group ‘Secret Tel Aviv’ as follows:
‘*help save puppies and kittens* Hi everyone i just want to make whoever is in this group and is going to Lag Baomer bonfires aware that during this holiday its become a habit for youth to throw puppies and kittens into the fires (for fun). If you are going to a bonfire please LOOK AROUND if there are boxes with kittens or puppies in them, if there are dogs tied up on the side that dont belong to anyone etc. There are groups of volunteers going around all of Israel to check that this wont happen and you can volunteer to do that as well. Most importantly, stay alert and if you do see something that seems “off” call the police, they are aware of this happening each year.’ (4)
So pervasive and widespread is this practice that the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection acknowledged the problem in 2019 stating in its official advice for pet owners on Lag B’Omer:
‘In recent years, an unfortunate and cruel phenomenon has occurred on Lag Ba’Omer eve: Street cats and dogs are thrown into bonfires alive. Many of these animals are killed; others survive, but with burns and injuries all over their bodies. The Ministry is calling on the public to be aware, and to act to prevent it when possible.’ (5)
Now clearly this is a major problem, but what is unclear is how old or recent this extremely cruel ‘tradition’ is and it is also worth noting that the problem seems to be confined to the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox jewish population and even secular Israelis – not known for their kindness to their fellow creatures be they human or beast – are appalled at how the ‘religious youth’ are getting off on burning small helpless animals – who the Ministry of Environmental Protection necessarily implies includes a fair number of actual pets not just strays and street animals – for fun and are trying to put a stop to it as best they can.
My guess is that this custom is relatively recent since it isn’t attested in the source material or commented until fairly recently although animal cruelty and a hatred for dogs in particular is well-attested in the literature on – and from – jews; (6) notably in the form of Shechita (7) as well as the annual religious sacrifice of chickens as part of the ritual of Kapparot. (8)
I also suspect that a comment by Anshel Pfeffer in the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ in 2010 might explain where the custom has come from.
Since he writes how:
‘The main Lag Ba’Omer celebrations on Mount Meron, at the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, will kick off only at 10PM to prevent any work on Shabbat. In the past, senior rabbis have also issued rulings against using wood from building sites and taking supermarket trolleys to transport the wood, saying that there was no excuse for theft in observing the ancient custom.’ (9)
The connection might not seem obvious, but if Israeli jews were routinely stealing wood from building sites to build their bonfires for Lag B’Omer then there is a good chance they would have run into litters of kittens and/or puppies that are frequently born and hidden by their mothers in these sorts of places (often in cardboard boxes which are just the sort of things kids would take to throw on bonfires) and then decided – which is suggestive of how absolutely sick these jews are – to take them to throw into the bonfires as well.
Then other jews decided that this was an absolutely fantastic idea and so much fun that they decided to do it; so thence the jewish tradition of throwing live kittens and puppies into Lag B’Omer bonfires was born and still continues to this day by all accounts.
And people ask me why I loathe jews: this kind of thing is why.
References
(1) https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/volunteers-patrol-lag-baomer-bonfires-to-rescue-animals-from-flames-490742
(2) Idem.
(3) https://haipo.co.il/en/item/36229
(4) https://www.facebook.com/groups/secrettelaviv/posts/10157008295335943/
(5) https://www.gov.il/en/pages/protecting_pets_lag_baomer
(6) For example, see my article: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/stone-that-dog; also see https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/israeli-rabbis-ban-dogs/ and https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/hounds-from-hell-rabbis-tell-people-they-will-be-curse-if-they-keep-a-dog-ca4npavi
(7) On this please see my article: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/animal-rights-and-the-politics-of also see: https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/slaughter/religiousslaughter
(8) On this please see my article: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/animal-sacrifice-in-judaism-kapparot
(9) https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/lag-bomer-bonfires-challenged-by-chief-q5flrvvz
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