This Sunday, November 6th, at 11:30 a.m., we will have our Second Annual Pet Blessing in Memory of Helen Small.

Shortly after I arrived in Mobile, our First Vice President, Michael Pereira, approached me and asked if I would consider having a Pet Blessing ceremony? Having written a Pet Blessing ceremony during my early years in Albany, Georgia, I enthusiastically responded that I would love to do that. Michael had become enamored with this idea when he and his wife were still living in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina when Rabbi Ed Cohn had done a ceremony like this at Temple Sinai.

Michael Pereira suggested that we hold it every year during the week that the Torah reading is the story of Noah and the ark. We had not done that in Albany, where we had determined the timing of the event based solely on weather considerations, but the connection is obvious.

In the story of Noah, God asks him to build an ark that can hold at least two of all sorts of different animals--from gerbils all the way up to hippopotami. The ark became a floating zoo, which kept Noah and his family extraordinarily busy just keeping all of the animals fed and taken care of.

Here are some photos from Temple B'nai Israel in Albany, Georgia. This is on the grounds of the temple behind the sanctuary.

We love our pets and particularly our dogs. There is a lot of interesting theories as to how dogs became truly part of the human family. Clearly they have been able to adapt in ways that trigger our nurturing impulses. We become enveloped by the love of our dogs and for many of us, we couldn’t imagine life any other way. Some of us feel strong emotions towards other animals – cats, and perhaps a number of other animals that have made good pets.

So, we feel the need to thank God for our wonderful animal companions who enrich our lives so much. We want to thank God for their presence in the world and their involvement in our lives.

The ceremony will be held on the front lawn of the Temple. All are invited, so please bring a leash for your dog and other equipment for different types of animals so that you can help keep everyone happy and safe. (We wouldn’t want any altercations between different types of animals or between combative members of the same species.)

We are going to be re-writing the ceremony this year and we will have copies for everyone. Please consider coming and bringing not just your dogs, but also your cats, goldfish, birds, iguanas, rabbits, gerbils and any other pets you would like to have blessed.