For the Love of Cats

As I started reading ‘Rabbi’s Cat’, I was wondering to myself what the message of the story would be. The story seems to revolve around the cat and his perspective on Jewish life in Algeria. At this point I thought maybe the author just loves cats and wants to write a story revolving around the cat. Once the cat started speaking I thought of a possible deeper meaning: the cat is a metaphor for humans and the fall to sin in Genesis.

Similar to Adam and Eve who desire to be like God, the cat desires to speak as the humans in the story do. He succeeds by eating the parrot- the forbidden fruit. Similar to the account in Genesis, the cat lives a life that is not what God intended, as the rabbi points out. The story started to have a meaning at this point, and I was interested in how it would play out. However, when the cat lost the ability to speak, I was confused. If he is a metaphor, how does this fit in? Was it God’s punishment for disobeying?

I am really not sure what the point of the cat speaking was or even the message of the story, but Joann Sfar does bring up some interesting religious topics. The cat debates with the rabbis on several issues and questions traditional beliefs held in Judaism, which reflects the questions that many people face in their religions. Also, Jules’ parents are very secular, but are still considered respectable people by the rabbi in the end of the book. This addresses the question of whether people can be ‘good’ in the eyes of God even without living piously.

Again, I am not sure what the message of the story is supposed to be. It could be a metaphor for the Genesis account, a reflection of modern critiques of religions, or a simple portrayal of life. In any case the story revolves around the cat, so I conclude that the Joann Sfar just loves his cat.