“Holy people you shall you be to Me: you shall not eat flesh of an animal that was torn in the field; to the dog you shall throw it.” – Shemos 22:30
The Torah tells us that if a sheep or goat is killed while grazing, it is called a treifa and should be given to the dogs to eat. Rashi explains that this is a reward for what the dogs did – when the Jews left Mitzrayim, not a single dog barked. Since that was a Kiddush Hashem, for generations all treifas are to be fed to the dogs in repayment for what they did.
This Rashi is difficult to understand, as we are dealing with animals, who are instinctual in their reactions. Granted, they can be trained to act in a particular manner, but they don’t have a conscious “I” that can weigh the different options and decide to act or not to act. They don’t have free will. In all of the physical Creation, only man was given that capacity.
One of the basic tenets of our belief system is that nothing happens by chance. Hashem created, maintains, and orchestrates this world. In truth, man can accomplish nothing in this world. Every action and every outcome is determined and controlled by Hashem.
If Reuven was predestined to live to be 120, I can neither harm him nor help him. Hashem will ensure that His decree is fulfilled – and there is nothing I can do to change it. Man is in effect powerless. This leaves him in a circumstance of being able to accomplish very little on this planet. The outcomes are already set.
To allow for reward and punishment, Hashem created a system whereby it is considered as if man determined the outcome. If I am the one acting on the scene, the result is attributed to me. It is credited to my account even though that outcome was inevitable – because Hashem had so planned it.
In our case above, if Reuven received a judgment on the previous Rosh Hashanah that his time was in fact up, then he will die this year, whether by my hands or through some other cause. However, I might well be permitted to be his murderer. I would be allowed to pull the trigger on a gun, and from that shot he will die. If this occurs, I will be held accountable. I am considered the one who killed him, even though his death was decided long before I picked up the gun. If I weren’t on the scene, he would have been hit by a car or a falling tree, but because of my choice, I am considered the one who did the act. I was allowed to become his murderer. And as such, I am responsible for his death.
So too if someone intended to help Shimon and succeeded, we understand that good was coming to Shimon because Hashem decided long ago. Had that individual not been on the scene, that same good would have come to Shimon through any one of many vehicles Hashem uses to run this world. Nevertheless, since that service came through the hands of an individual, that person is credited with the act. It is considered as if he did it.
The answer to Rashi seems to be that via the dogs there was a greater Kiddush Hashem. Everyone, both the Mitzrim and the Jews, saw a greater revelation of Hashem’s hand because as an entire nation walked out, not an animal stirred. Through the animals a greater good was brought, and for that they deserve reward. Granted they didn’t intend it – they are animals – but through them came a good, and that is attributed to them. For that, they deserve reward.