Reviving a Poisoned Dog the Biblical Way

Our German Shepherd was six months old when she swallowed poison which our municpality spread in order to kill rats. My husband was out of the country when Tagar went into convulsions and began having violent spasms of diarrhea. There was no vet in Kiriat Arba that day, so my children and I put her on a folded carton and slid her into the hallway and sat around her stiff body hopelessly watching her die. It seemed that she already had rigor-mortis; her limbs stuck out straight like pieces of pipe. The diarrhea stopped as her systems began shutting down. Even the convulsions stopped. It seemed that her breathing had ceased too. Shmulik called some friends over to help bury her. By the time they came, we noticed a fluttery movement in one of her legs, Estie said, "Maybe you can do something Ema with meditation?"

A healing verse popped into my mind. It was from The Book of Kings. Elijah spreads himself out on the body of a widow's dead child and chants a phrase with God's name in it. In the Bible, the boy miraculously revived. Quickly, I made a few changes in the wording so we wouldn’t be using one of the explicit names of God. "We are going to say Chai Tagar Chai, which means "Live Tagar, live!"

"Chai Tagar Chai. Chai Tagar Chai!"

Our voices merged together as we repeated Elijah's magical plea again and again. We began to move our bodies in a rocking movement which religious Jews do. It helps propel the soul upwards, and then helps the soul re-land in the body. Tagar responded with twitches in her muzzle. Her eyes fluttered open then closed. Our plea rose in volume. Live Tagar, live!

But Elijah spread himself over the body of the child; hands on the child's hands, mouth on the child's mouth, a spiritual resuscitation! I didn't feel comfortable about putting my mouth on the puppy's mouth, but I did go and sit on her as my children continued their chanting. She twitched some more, then I got up. Slowly she raised herself on to wobbly legs and found a corner to get away from me. We cried and hugged each other.

Though it took Tagar two more weeks to finally regain her strength, she was living proof of the healing power of Biblical words.