Faith
Is the Dog Entirely Heart?
Question
Shalom and blessings,
Rabbi Daniel Baars shlit"a. In continuation of my previous questions... It is known that a dog, as its name suggests, is entirely heart. It is considered a predatory animal in nature, so why is it called entirely heart? Does this mean it has a good heart toward human beings? For general knowledge, dogs also have personalities, and some of them are not very friendly. In addition, there have also been stories of dogs attacking people. If so, how does this fit with the first human choosing the name dog?
Thank you in advance
Answer
Shalom and blessings,
Heart symbolizes friendship and symbolizes loyalty.
When a person is sad, the dog is sad with him. When a person is happy, the dog is happy with him.
The dog is a domesticated creature for thousands of years, and it is apparently the only animal that knows how to recognize human facial features and emotions. In other words - it is attuned to human beings.
Moreover, a dog has a trait of loyalty that other animals do not have - it protects its owner and is capable of risking its life to save its owner's life. Therefore it is called by people the "best friend of man."
Likewise, although the dog is a predatory animal in nature, it does not prey on human beings (unlike wolves, for example). And it is very easy to domesticate it.
Dogs attack human beings usually only to protect their owners (or their owners' territory). It is rare for dogs to chase after human beings simply in order to attack them.
But what is the case is that many dogs bark and frighten human beings. And there is a halachic discussion of this. A dog that barks and frightens is called a "wild animal," meaning that it is an animal capable of causing harm to human beings. Therefore there are halachot concerning raising dogs, with boundaries.
With blessings,
Daniel Baars
