Long Grove pet blessing may become annual tradition

Cindy Bauer’s 10-year-old cat Dude is terminally ill. Dude’s last day is Tuesday but, before he leaves this world, he received a blessing and a Hebrew name on Sunday.

Bauer, of Buffalo Grove, took her cat to Congregation Beth Judea’s first pet blessing at its Long Grove temple Sunday. The well-timed event gave Bauer a chance to send Dude off right, she said.

“Anything to bring a little peace in the world,” Bauer added.

The blessing was organized to coincide with a reading about Noah’s Ark from the Torah. Rabbi Jeff Pivo said there wasn’t a large religious significance to the event — it was mostly just for fun.

“To make explicit our connection to the animals,” Pivo said.

Pivo said the gathering gave participants a chance to feel a little bit of what Noah felt all those years ago and see the connection we have with animals.

More than 50 animals got new names and blessings as the sounds of barking dogs blended with laughing children. A crowd of mostly dog owners filled the “Ark-ing Lot” at Congregation Beth Judea. There were a few cats, like Dude, as well as a couple more exotic animals.

Cheryl Sturt, of Hawthorn Woods, carried her pet hedgehog on a Frisbee as her 3-year-old son Brian helped, her 8-year-old daughter Rebecca carried a rabbit named Tuxedo and her husband, Michael, held their two dogs on leashes.

All together the family has seven pets, including a bearded dragon that stayed home under its heating lamps. At one point the Sturts had 13 animals sharing their home.

So which animal is the favorite?

“I can’t decide,” Rebecca said, stumped. “I like Tuxedo, and the hedgehog.”

Rick Drazner, president of the congregation, got his dog blessed Sunday and gave him the Hebrew name Chaim Yankel. Chaim means life and Drazner said his little dog is full of life.

Drazner said the pet blessing was something unique and different — what he expects will become an annual tradition.

“It’s another way to have fun and get to the temple,” Drazner said.