Meet the Newest Member of the Team: The Noda B'Tartura

Every business needs a mascot, but few find theirs hanging out in a neighbor’s plumbing.

It started yesterday morning when my neighbors, Judy and David Pollack, had someone working on their gutters. Tucked away inside the downspout was an unexpected tenant: a healthy, cantaloupe-sized turtle who had apparently decided the drainage system was prime real estate. Knowing my boys would be thrilled, David offered him to us. (My wife, Talya, and the kids were actually at the dentist at the time, completely unaware that their household headcount was about to increase by one reptile).

Within an hour, the turtle was officially relocated to my office, settling into a makeshift ecosystem crafted from dirt, grass, and plants harvested from both of our lawns. He is now officially the new corporate mascot for Gently Ventures.

But a mascot needs a name.

Seeking inspiration, I turned to AI to look up historical Rishonim and Achronim known for their unique compassion or theological writings regarding animal welfare. I wanted a solid, scholarly pun. The AI spit out a few options, but one stood out as an absolute masterpiece:

The Noda B'Tartura.

It’s a perfect, ridiculous play on the Noda BiYehuda—the monumental 18th-century halakhic work by the legendary Chief Rabbi of Prague, Rabbi Yehezkel Landau. In a famous teshuvah (responsum) found in Yoreh Deah, Siman 10, Rabbi Landau was asked by a wealthy landowner if it was halakhically permissible to hunt animals for sport on his massive woodland estates.

Rabbi Landau issued a blistering refusal, famously writing:

"However, I am greatly amazed by the very nature of this matter. We do not find any hunter [in the Torah] except for Nimrod and Esau, and this is not the way of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... If it is not for one's livelihood, it is cruelty... Therefore, he who listens to me shall dwell safely, quietly, and serenely in his home, and not waste his time on such things." [^1]

I smiled, locked in the name, and went about my day.

Then, the lightning bolt of bashert cosmic irony hit me.

A few months ago, my neighbor David and I were chatting, and he mentioned that he wanted to learn more about a "famous rabbi" in his lineage that he had recently discovered. That ancestor?

Rabbi Yehezkel Landau. The Noda BiYehuda himself.

Out of all the blocks in the world, the literal direct descendant of the Noda BiYehuda is the man who rescued a stray animal from a downspout and handed it to me—only for me to unknowingly name it after his ancestor’s most famous ruling on animal compassion via an AI query.

I immediately texted David:

"Hi David! Thank you so much for the turtle... I’ve officially named him 'Noda B’Tartura' — a play on the Noda BiYehuda, the monumental work by your ancestor, Rabbi Yehezkel Landau. Given his famous stance on animal welfare, I thought it was only fitting that a descendant of Rabbi Landau would be the one to rescue this little guy from a garden downspout. He’s already settling in perfectly and living up to his very scholarly name!"

The universe has a spectacular sense of humor. Welcome to the team, Noda. May your workflows be steady, and your pacing deliberate.

🍽️ Shabbat Table Discussion Question

The Noda BiYehuda draws a sharp line between killing or using animals for direct human utility (livelihood, food, clothing, medicine) versus doing so for sheer sport, which he classifies as a "repulsive trait of cruelty."

What is the psychological difference between using an animal for a practical necessity versus using it for entertainment? If the end result to the animal is exactly the same, why does the Torah focus so heavily on the human intent behind the action? Does our relationship with the natural world shape our internal character, or does our internal character shape how we treat the natural world?

Shabbat Shalom!

-Dave

Dave Weinberg is the Founder & CTO of Gently Ventures where he writes about AI & Torah for Mefarshai.org, builds the tech behind Bavl.pro, and helps to bring ideas to life at JerryPress.com. Dave Lives in Silver Spring, MD with his amazing artist wife, Talya, and three-ring-circus... uuhh... three boys ;)

Footnotes

1. Rabbi Yehezkel Landau, Responsa Noda BiYehuda, II Yoreh Deah, Siman 10. Sefaria.