Mazel tov! Five cheetah cubs were born last month at the St. Louis Zoo. That’s exciting news in its own right—and, honestly, a great excuse to share baby cheetah photos. But here at The Jewish Light, we couldn’t help but ask: Is there a Jewish angle? Turns out, there is.
Let’s meet the cubs
Born May 5 to first-time cheetah mom Cora and dad Vader (yes, that Vader), the cubs mark the Zoo’s first successful cheetah birth in over seven years. They’re still tucked away in their maternity den, but early signs point to a healthy, thriving family.
“We’re thrilled to see Cora, a first-time mother, taking great care of her newborns,” said Julie Hartell-DeNardo, Kevin Beckmann Curator of Carnivores at the Zoo.
Cheetah litters usually range from three to four cubs—so five is a bit of a bonus. In Jewish tradition, even one healthy cub would have been enough—dayenu—but five? That’s a blessing worth noticing.
So… what’s Jewish about cheetahs?
There’s actually an entire field of thought dedicated to this very question. Zoo Torah is the name of both a book and an educational initiative by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, a British-born Israeli Modern Orthodox rabbi and the director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Also known as the “Zoo Rabbi,” Slifkin merges zoology and Jewish thought, drawing connections between the Torah and the animal kingdom—including tza’ar ba’alei chayim, the commandment to prevent animal suffering.
Cheetahs, with fewer than 7,000 remaining in the wild, are a compelling case study. Their survival is not just a biological concern, but a moral one. As Slifkin writes in “Man and Beast: The Jewish View of Animals,” “The Torah’s view is not that animals are to be conquered and used as we wish. Rather, they are part of God’s creation, and we are charged with protecting and preserving that creation.”
That aligns with the Zoo’s work with the Cheetah Species Survival Plan and its partnership with the Cheetah Conservation Fund, both focused on protecting the species from threats like habitat loss and illegal trade.
Life in the fast lane, Jewishly speaking
The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal. And while no Jewish holiday involves sprinting 70 miles an hour, there’s something fitting about how their conservation invites us to slow down and notice the world more deeply.
“There is an idea in Judaism that observing the natural world leads to greater awareness of the Creator,” Slifkin writes in “The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom.” “Every animal, by its design and behavior, reflects divine wisdom. The Talmud even instructs us to say a blessing upon seeing ‘unusual creatures.’ Every birth is a renewal of creation.”
Maybe that’s the takeaway: five cubs, one den and a small but mighty reminder that life, in all its forms, is sacred.
As for names? Still TBD. But may they grow up healthy, swift and, if we’re lucky, a little bit wise.
