Jewish: cattle and tradition
The red heifer, the rest of the ox on the Sabbath, and the laws on the care of working animals.
Cattle appear throughout the Hebrew Bible and Jewish law. The ox ploughs, threshes and pulls the cart, and the law gives it a share of the Sabbath rest. The red heifer, whose ashes were used for purification, is one of the most discussed and mysterious commands of the Torah. The golden calf is a warning against idolatry, and cattle, as animals that chew the cud and have split hooves, are among the animals permitted as food under kashrut. Shavuot is remembered as a festival of dairy foods.
Rest and care for the ox
The Torah commands that on the Sabbath the ox and the donkey should rest along with the household. It also says not to muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, so it may eat as it works, and not to plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together, which would strain the weaker animal. Later rabbinic law developed these into a wider principle, tza'ar ba'alei chayim, which forbids causing needless suffering to animals.
The red heifer
The book of Numbers describes the parah adumah, a red heifer without blemish that had never borne a yoke. It was burned, and its ashes mixed with water were used to purify those who had been in contact with a dead body. The rabbis described it as a law whose reason is beyond human understanding. Since the destruction of the Second Temple, the rite has not been performed, and the reading of its passage is a special Sabbath, Shabbat Parah, before Passover.
The golden calf
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law, the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it. The book of Exodus tells how Moses broke the tablets of the law when he saw it. The story is read as a warning against idolatry and impatience, and is remembered in Jewish liturgy. Bull imagery was common among neighbouring peoples, which helps explain the force of the story.
Kashrut and Shavuot
Under kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, cattle are permitted as food because they chew the cud and have split hooves. Meat must come from an animal slaughtered by a trained shochet, and meat and milk are kept apart, from the command not to cook a kid in its mother's milk. On Shavuot, which marks the giving of the Torah, many families eat dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes.
Worth knowing
- Red heifer: Parah adumah, the rite of purification
- Golden calf: Warning against idolatry
- Shabbat rest: Rest for the ox as well as the household
- Tza'ar ba'alei chayim: The law against needless animal suffering
- Kashrut: Dietary laws on meat and milk
- Shavuot: Festival of dairy foods
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
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