Kosher Kitty

This past weekend, I went to a shiur on how to prepare for passover. It was at a woman, Becky's, lovely apartment in the Mission, and there were all of two of us present. But to tell you the truth, I was okay with the small turnout, being as I know little about how to prepare for Passover. I know about the going around house with a candle and a feather part, and getting rid of chametz, but only generally. I knew there was much more to know, and since the title of the gathering was "everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-preparing-for-Passover-but-didn't-think-to-ask," I figured I was in the right place.

Perched on comfy sofas with lots of pillows, Becky told us how to pour boiling water over the counters, then cover them with aluminum foil. And to get an extra set of plates - but not too expensive. No need to go overboard.

She asked me about my roommates. I don't have any roommates, I said. Just my cat. "And your cat?" She's kosher, I blithely stated. Of course, it's not really true. She's really a bit overweight. But she's fit for me. As far as I am concerned, she is kosher. It never occurred to me my cat might need to eat kosher as well!

Of course, her food is full of wheat and ash, and most certainly all kinds of unkosher meat products. Who makes kosher cat food? I wondered. And then I reminded myself that I needed to go out and get her more cat food.

Becky told me not to worry about it. Since this is one of my first years, I shouldn't drive myself crazy. Just worry about the human food for now.

But what about the Israelites? Didn't they have to leave out the chametz for their animals as well? For the people and for the beasts? On fast days, weren't the animals meant to fast also? We say now that our animals, our pets, are like part of the family. But I think for the Israelites, their animals were truly part of the clan. Even sacrifice, while seemingly cruel, was I think a kind of reverence for the fact that the animals were so much appreciated.

So the next day I did indeed to go get more cat food for my dear kitty. And as I did - I didn't think about it ahead of time - I wore my JCHS T-shirt with the Hebrew below the letters. As the girl rang up the three cans and the bag of dry food, I said, "I don't need a bag." I had a special bag attached to my bike. She smiled at me, and I couldn't tell, but I think she had a look at my shirt. Then I found myself wondering if she was Jewish, and if she was aware that the cat food I had just bought was full of leavening, and this just two days before Pesach.

Walking out of the store, I felt suddenly self-conscious and even a little bit wrong. Here I was, sporting some kind of Jewishness, and yet doing something that, while obscure, could actually be deemed un-Jewish. I was about to feed my cat chametz instead of matzoh for Passover.

Why couldn't I just give her matzoh soaked in chicken broth for eight days? Maybe I should. Maybe I should do that. Then I'd have a really kosher kitty.