This passage was endorsed by Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz.1
According to the Bible, Moses was a prophet that led the Jewish people through the revelation of their holiest scripture, often called the 5 Books of Moses. These books spared animals much suffering because “in Judaism, kindness and prevention of cruelty to animals is a Biblical concept”.2
For example, according to the Jewish tradition, Moses instructed the Jewish people to kill animals quickly and painlessly before eating them. 3 4 5 Millions of Jews still uphold this law and others contained in the 5 Books of Moses that have benefitted countless animals through the millennium of Jewish history. 6
The Jewish tradition also holds up Moses as well as King David as exemplary leaders. 7
It states that before they were granted leadership, they were just anonymous shepherds. Yet God singled them out for them out due to their extraordinary sensitivity to the animals under their care: 8 9
“The Holy One [aka God] said [regarding David]: ‘The one who know to shepherd his sheep each according to its ability, shall come and shepherd My flock [the Jewish people]’.” 10 And “The Holy One said [regarding Moses], ‘Since you tend the sheep of human beings with such overwhelming love – by your life, I swear you shall be the shepherd of My sheep, [the Jewish People]”. 11
sources and footnotes:
[1] Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz is a prominent Orthodox Jewish Rabbi. He received a JD from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, and a rabbinic ordination from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He has written and lectured extensively about Jewish law and ethics.
– “Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz.” The Tikvah Fund, tikvahfund.org/faculty/rabbi-yitzchak-breitowitz/; Orthodox Union https://www.ou.org/holidays/author/rabbi_yitzchak_breitowitzou-org/
[2] Cohen, Noah J. Tsa’ar Ba’ale Hayim : the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals : Its Bases, Development, and Legislation in Hebrew Literature. 2nd ed., Feldheim, 1976.
[3] Deut 12:21: “you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the LORD gives you, as I have instructed you; and you may eat to your heart’s content in your settlements.”
Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.12.21?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en
[4] “It is certainly true that when first introduced, throat-slitting [i.e. kosher slaughter] was the most humane of the options available for slaughter.”
Source: “Introduction.” The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics, by Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey, Routledge, 2019, p. 11.
Even today “kosher law dictates a method of slaughter that can reduce animal suffering during slaughter to an absolute minimum” Gross, A. (2005). When Kosher Isn’t Kosher. Tikkun, 20(2), 52–55.”
[5] A popular medieval Jewish text explains that in order for meat to be kosher, the animal must be slaughtered “with a checked knife, in order that we not cause too much pain to living beings. As the Torah [transmitted by Moses] permitted man – due to his status – to derive nourishment from them for all of his needs, but not to cause them pain for no reason.” – Sefer HaChinukh 451.
Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaChinukh?lang=en&p2=Sefer_HaChinukh.451.1&lang2=en
[6] Rabbi Simmons and Rebbetzin Twerski bring many “examples of Jewish legislation regarding the ethical treatment of animals” rooted in the 5 Books of Moses.
Source: Twerski, Feige, and Shraga Simmons. “Judaism and Vegetarianism.” Aish.com, https://www.aish.com/ci/s/48916842.html. Accessed on Nov 6, 2021.
[7] ”Exodus Rabbah (2:2) [a Jewish tradition] relates that both Moses and David—the paradigmatic male leadership of Israel—were tested by God through how they functioned as shepherds.”
Source: Gross, Aaron S. “Jewish Animal Ethics.” Oxford Handbooks Online, 21 Dec. 2012, https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199736065.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199736065-e-27.
[8] “Like Moses,’ ‘it is similary told that King David herded his father’s flock and was chosen for the monarchy as a result of his compassion for weak sheep.”
Source: Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites Rabinowitz, Shmuel. “Parshat Shemot: Compassion and Leadership.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, 27 Dec. 2018, https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Parshat-Shemot-Compassion-and-leadership-575587. Accessed on Nov 6, 2021.
[9] “David, like Moses, is depicted as an exemplar of empathy for animals, a shepherd who learns how to pay attention to what his sheep need. Simhah Zissel indicates that the sorts of small acts of compassion to animals shown by David and Moses are the sorts of actions to… which, according to the midrash [Jewish tradition], God pays attention; indeed, God views these acts of compassion for animals as exemplifying the trait of compassion.”
Source: Claussen, Geoffrey. “JEWISH VIRTUE ETHICS AND COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS: A Model from the Musar Movement.” CrossCurrents, vol. 61, no. 2, Wiley, 2011, pp. 208–16, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24461940.
[10] Translation from Slifkin, Nosson. Man and Beast: Our Relationships with Animals in Jewish Law and Thought. Zoo Torah, 2006.
[11] Exodus Rabbah 2:2. Accessible at https://www.sefaria.org/Shemot_Rabbah.2.2?lang=bi