Is there a prayer I can say for my deceased pet?
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Question:
My pond fish died today and I was wondering whether there was an appropriate mourner's prayer to say for him.
Answer:
The loss of life is a sad event. Yet, there is a special sanctity to the human soul, and a specific pain when there is loss of human life. Thus, while we may be saddened by the loss of a pet, there is no prescribed mourning period.
When a person passes away, we wish to promote the continued journey of the soul in the spiritual worlds. To this end we say and do specific things to aid it on its voyage. The Kaddish prayer, study of Mishna, and increasing in charity on behalf of the departed are examples of things that are done to give the soul extra strength, an added boost on its journey.
While there is no specific prayer said when an animal dies, doing extra good deeds, such as increasing in charity, is always a good idea!
All the best,
Rabbi Shmuel Kogan
Chabad.org
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Latest Comments:
I lost my little dog this week after a long bout with respiratory disease. We had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep before he suffocated horribly. He was nearly 12. My heart is broken and I haven't been able to get his last moments out of my mind. I lit a 7 day yorzeit candle for him and I said El Moleh Rachamim. Last night was the anniversary of my father's death. I went to synagoge and said Kaddish for both of them. I know my father wouldn't have minded and I don't think G-d does either. That little dog meant more to me than most people and under Jewish law he had a soul - nefesh. I believe G-d wants us to do what we feel is right for ourselves and does not limit prayers to homo sapiens. If G-d is all about love, then he understands.
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My daughter's beloved cat, Patrick, got ran over last night. It is a sad time for us. We thank G-d for His gift for lending us Patrick, the joy he brought to my daughter's life, and to the whole family. Patrick is Home now.
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I would be grateful if you could join me in prayer for my dear departed dog Sam.Due to liver problems he was put to sleep on August 11.This has broken my heart & left me devastated.
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God created our pets just as he created us. They feel, they think and express their feelings to us. I had to have my 16year old Pom Lady put to sleep 2 days ago. My Black Lab spent a night and a day laying not in her own bed, but on my Pom's bed. She knew. God bless all our pets who bring so much love and joy into our lives and never ask for more than to be fed and loved. They love us unconditionally. Too bad we humans aren't more like them.
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Just say or share a poem or your own words, express yourself, as in a eulogy. Part of the purpose of the prayer is for the living to find comfort & peace, feel better, heal & move on, & that or this will definitely help with this or that.
Regards, & may all those who are grieving or going through a loss as am I, find their own peace & healing
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Hello,
Gershon McGreevy, I completely agree with you! The Rabbi absolutely gave the right answer. I think that is what Shmual Kogan, the person asking the question was looking for. To Maria I can't even find the right words to express about your comment. There is far too much I would like to say about it. Wanting a Rabbi, & an Orthodox 1 none the less to lie to a grieving person, especially when they were seeking the truth is beyond words. Not only would it have no meaning for the person to say a non existant made-up prayer, other than to falsely comfort them would do or serve nothing, meaning it would not achieve its intended results or goal which is the entire purpose of saying a prayer/praying. It would be pointless & useless, like taking a placebo pill. Besides which an Orthodox Rabbi, would never want, aid in, or willingly permit a Jew to practice, learn, or do improper, incorrect, or just plain wrong Judiaism, let alone intentionally lie to someone no matter the reason,
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I keep reading the comments about this topic and keep thinking. Why do we all think praying is always in words alone? No we do not have a special prayer in words for our deceased pets, that is true. The good Rabbi is right about that! But we can take actions too in that case as a type of prayer and do for example what I said before: adopt a new pet from some animal shelter near where you live in honour of the life and the love that your (deceased) pet gave you! You not only rescue another animals life with that action but you also honour your deceased pet as well. I do not know if animals have souls or not, but I hope they do! Because I have seen many animals in my voluntary work as a volunteer in the local animal shelter where I live and they really are all unique in personality. Sometimes when we have no words we can take action as a type of prayer! And no the newly adopted pet will not take away the sad feelings that we feel over the loss of the beloved and deceased predecessor.
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I think that I understand Rabbi Kogan's position. He was simply telling the person that there was no standard Jewish prayer to be said for a pet. We have prayers for people who have passed on but none for animals. Yes, he could have made one up, but so could the questioner. The questioner was not looking for the rabbi's made-up prayer; he was looking for Jewish tradition. And when there is no tradition, the rabbi did the right thing by saying so. There is nothing worse than clergy changing things to please people. Just look at the mess called the Episcopal church. People come to rabbis for truth not to have their ideas parroted back to them.
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Is there a prayer I can say for my deceased pet?
Your answer was very sad indeed, I was shocked to be honest. Your a rabbi, you could have at least made up a little prayer for this person, it would'nt have taken you that long and it would have ment so much to this person, I'm sure. It sounded as if your not bothered and just washed it off with increasing charity. Animals feel pain, feel hungry, give birth, feel love, etc etc etc. Thats sounds pretty human to me. "Human" is just a word. We are all equal. Maybe if there was more vegetarians in the world, people like you might show more compassion. I am really upset by your reply maybe you should try and "increasing in charity".
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If pets didn't have a soul they would all be like robots. If humans didn't have a soul we would all be like robots. Yet, dogs are as unique and different from one another as humans are. So tell me, are you saying that humans do not have a soul ever? So once we die that's all there is? I will never believe that. If you do then you are entitled to. I choose to be more open minded than that.
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