The Jerusalem Post, based on reliable sources and published it, expecting never to think about the topic again."} 61:{"position":3,"content":"

Then an email from Jewish-Canadian filmmaker Fern Levitt arrived. Levitt suggested that it was wrong to celebrate Braverman’s success as a Jewish achievement because using dogs to pull sleds as sport, especially in the context of the Iditarod race, is highly problematic because it entails animal abuse, which is against “our Jewish values.”"} 62:{"position":4,"content":"

Levitt’s 2016 documentary film Sled Dogs takes place in the breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of Alaska and contains interviews with mushers, veterinarians and dog breeders to make some of the following claims."} 63:{"position":5,"content":"

The Iditarod, as it is currently run, is harmful to dogs. The practices used to maintain kennels are not in the dogs’ best interests. It would be a good thing to change the Iditarod or even, perhaps, stop it until measures are installed to ensure dogs are well looked after."} 64:{"position":6,"content":"

The experts on film explain that while sled dogs were indeed bred to pull weights and seem to enjoy doing so, the Iditarod race demands that the dogs race day after day in rough conditions, a demand they compare to asking a human being to run a marathon, and then another marathon, and then another."} 65:{"position":7,"content":"

Dog breeders who maintain kennels often tie each dog to a pole to manage such large packs. Yet dogs are not happy to spend their entire lives tied to a chain, and seek the company of humans and other dogs to explore and play."} 66:{"position":8,"content":"

Tethering is, of course, not illegal. Guard dogs might be kept on a chain to prevent them from attacking people outside the space they are defending. Yet anyone would agree that to keep a dog chained at all times would be cruel."} 67:{"position":9,"content":"

A Window to the World: Jews and sled dogs

The famous Iditarod race in Alaska raises ethical questions.

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