new kitten

My wife got a new kitten yesterday.

Mordecai, her cat of 12 years, has gone missing. We don’t know what happened to him. Probably he got hit by a car or some such.

So yesterday, she got a new kitten, Gamaliel. A great rabbinical name, Gamaliel.

Maybe he will be a great moderate voice for catdom everywhere. The great rabbi cat Gamaliel. He will bring wisdom and influence into the feline world. Cats everywhere will look up to him for teaching.

Or he may just drink a lot of milk.

Probably the latter. There is a good reason you never hear of a cat rabbi.

For one thing, cats aren’t mentioned in the Bible. Lions, tigers, I think, but not cats.

In fact, I don’t think animals are ever mentioned in a pet way. I don’t recall an affectionate remembrance of an animal. In the world of the Bible, they are beasts of burden or objects of derision. “Beware the dogs.” That sort of thing.

For another, of course, full-grown cats have a brain the size of a golf ball. They really are not capable of the thought we ascribe to them. They feel hunger, pain, ridicule and embarrassment (to a point), loyalty, pack awareness, sexual drive – but those are about it. I really don’t even think they necessarily feel love, as we see it.

So probably, Gamaliel will never pontificate on things he doesn’t understand.

Or he could be like a lot of church folks and speak most vociferously on things he doesn’t understand. Lack of understanding never stopped church folks. They are their loudest talking about stuff they don’t understand.

Of course, that is a good thing about a cat. He doesn’t know he doesn’t know. And it doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about his lack of wisdom. He doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about anything.

As long as he is fed and has water and someone to play with, he is happy.

When he doesn’t, like everyone else, he can get indignant.

And there is nothing funnier than an angry kitten. Impotence incarnate.

I miss old Mordecai. He was a good cat, very even in his disposition.

I look forward to getting to know rabbi cat Gamaliel. We will have some interesting discussions. Maybe we will discuss the nature of the universe as seen by a cat, or maybe we will talk about views of eternity when looked at by a creature with a 15 year or less life-span.

And Ella can hold her little kitty and give it treats.

Each to his/her own.