Judaism and Fur

In a shocking development, an article actually caught my attention in this week's edition of the local Jewish paper, the Five Towns Jewish Times. It's on a topic that I have always felt strongly about, the wearing of fur. The piece addresses a question that I have always wondered about. Do we, as Jews, have a responsibility to show compassion to the animals that are, by all accounts, cruelly trapped and killed before being skinned to create coats, hats and other fashionable garments for humans? I always thought that that answer was an unequivocal "yes", and have never really felt comfortable in fur. OrthoDad feels even more strongly than I do about the subject, preferring I not wear fur at all - even a inherited coat from a relative, for which animals gave their lives many decades ago.

So it was interesting to see that the article expresses that same view. The article is not online, so I will summarize and quote enough of it to hopefully get the points across. The article was written by Richard H. Schwartz, PH.D.

His first point is that Judaism has many Torah commandments that govern the kind treatment of animals. Examples include:

One may not muzzle an ox while it is working in the field nor yoke a strong and weak animal together. Animals, as well as their owners, are meant to rest on Sabbath day.
...Perhaps the best Jewish attitude toward animals is expressed by Proverbs 12:10: "The righteous person considers the soul (life) of his or her animal." The Torah prohibits Jews from causing tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, any unnecessary pain, including psychological pain, to living creatures.

He then goes on to prove that fur-bearing animals are trapped and killed in a way that causes them much pain:

Animals caught in steel-jaw leg hold traps suffer slow, agonizing deaths. Some are attacked by predators, freeze to death, or chew off their own legs to escape. It has been said that one can get a "feel for fur" by slamming your fingers in a car door.

Judaism puts humans on a higher level than animals, and indicates that animals can be harmed and even killed if an essential human need is met. However, is the wearing of fur truly necessary for people to stay warm during winter weather?

I would have to agree with Dr. Schwartz. In this age of high-tech fabrics like Polarfleece and Thinsulate, is there really an essential need for fur? Sure, a fabulous fur coat looks better than a ski jacket - but is that really a good enough excuse for causing such suffering to all the little minks, ocelots and foxes that are trapped and killed in its creation?

PETA even has made the case that Judaism prohibits the wearing of fur in their ad campaign titled "It's a shanda to wear fur ", going so far as to quote Orthodox rabbis in the ad.

But I do have to say, with the amount of fur that I see paraded through shuls in Five Towns on an average winter Shabbos, if a local Rav would come out against the wearing of fur, the fur would really fly.

Update: Lest anyone misunderstand, I view PETA's tactics to be way beyond the pale. However, I thought that an ad that they put out targeting Jews would be an interesting addition to this post. And there's nothing in this particular ad that I disagree with.