Exclusive: Street Goats in Bnei Brak

In Lieu of Grass, a Goat Grazes on Shrubbery

Visitors to Israel are struck by the presence of the “street cats” who live comfortably among the urban population. But only Bnei Brak, Israel’s most densely populated city, has the zchut or privilege of being home to a herd of wild goats.

It started when my 12-year-old son told me that he sees sheep on his way to school. “You see WHAT?” I said. “I told you before,” he complained. “You never listen to me.” After some discussion we determined that they must be goats, and I reluctantly let him take my camera to collect the evidence. (Read here about the last time I let one of my kids touch my camera).

Goats in Bnei Brak, Israel

Goats in Bnei Brak, Israel

I wonder about what goats are doing in the predominantly charedi city of Bnei Brak. They might be useful for garbage disposal, the next time the municipality goes bankrupt and suspends sanitation service for a few weeks. Or residents could use them as an alternative source of kosher milk.

Tzipi and Bibi have nothing on this kid

Perhaps they are meant to send us a spiritual message. Like the goats we have lost our way, forced to wander aimlessly without a true leader. Who will be the goatherd that we so desperately need? We clearly cannot rely on our politicians. Only the Holy One, Blessed Be He, can guide us through the challenges we face as a nation.

What a cutie

Related: Mrs. S. has a post by an Israeli goat owner.

Comments

  1. And I thought that goats were just common pets in yishuvim like Shiloh…

  2. I live in Bnei Brak and have never seen goats! But when I was a new olah (back in the dark ages….) I woke up one morning in my apartment in Ramat Gan to hear cows. Yes, there had been about three cows on our lawn, right in the middle of the big metropolis!

  3. B”H

    Those look awfully clean and well-taken care of for “wild” goats. Maybe they’re allowed to run around in the day, and come back home at night.

    Do they cause a lot of damage?

    I take it they’re not running around Jabotinsky St., otherwise they would’ve been picked up by now.

    Keep us updated.

  4. mominisrael says

    Batya, maybe someone abandoned them?
    Ricki and Ben-Yehuda: They’re in Kiryat Herzog, on Roth St. Quite near the Geha intersection. I asked my son whether anyone noticed him taking pictures, and he said there was no one around. Ricki, I had no idea you lived so close!

  5. mominisrael says

    Make that, Ricki’s Mom!

  6. That’s funny. I haven’t heard of urban goats! In my area (Emek Izrael) it’s cattle. Cows roam around the green areas grazing.
    When we were new, we were astonished to see a bull eating roses in a neighbors garden, but it wasn’t a big deal for them. Luckily our yard is fenced so they can’t just roam in there. But other smaller animals do.

  7. Many years ago (over 30) I lived in Bayit Vegan in Jerusalem. I used to hear a baa-ing on my way home from work most days and I thought I must be hallucinating. Until one day, I heard a boy saying “coem on Had Gadya!”, and I saw a little boy taking his pet goat on a leash for a walk! The goat was kept in the garden of an apartment block. Only in Israel! đŸ™‚

  8. That is great! Maybe they use them to mow their lawns… if anybody in Bnei Brak has a lawn to mow!

  9. Quick, get a Beit-Mikdash, we’ve got sacrifice candidates!

  10. LOL!
    Only in Israel!

    Thanks for the link.

  11. Qiriyath Hertzog? Isn’t that the Tzi’eini neighborhood? ;-}

    Yes, Rafi, there are in fact lawns in B’nei Black. Turn south off of Jabotinsky, and you’re bound to run into a few.

  12. I was annoyed with myself when a few weeks ago I couldn’t photograph a donkey in Tel-Aviv because I had neglected to put my camera back in my bag. That’s not so unusual here, but my friends in America would’ve gotten a kick out of it. But goats in Bnei Brak. Really funny.

    When I lived in Cedarhurst, there was a chicken running around someone’s front yard. We would pass it every Shabbat on our way home from shul. Until one Shabbat it wasn’t there….

  13. Well, there is a herd of feral cows that traipse confidently around Tsfat. But Tsfat is semi-rural. If it weren’t for the photos, I wouldn’t have believed that goats roam Bnei Brak.

  14. mominisrael says

    For the feed, try amotherinisrael.com/feed, it worked for me.
    YM, good idea.
    Mrs. S: You’re welcome, and thanks for linking back. I didn’t post the story about the Russian goat that produces human breast milk.
    BY: They won’t have lawns for long. Not much in BB is tzioni anymore.
    Baila: Always keep that camera on hand. Are you the only other person in the country without a camera on your cellphone?
    Miriam: Cows seem to be common.

  15. Were you trying to make a connection between being a tzi’eini and having a lawn, or were you expressing two different thoughts?

    ;-}

Trackbacks

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