Sometimes We Find Ourselves in What We Choose to Save

By Viktor Zonis

Düsseldorf-based journalist and novelist; author of Solomon: King of a Thousand Songs; Honorary Member of the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine; former Chairman of the Progressive Jewish Community of Odesa and Director of Odesa’s Third Channel.

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY — November 2026

There are moments when a person discovers his purpose in something the rest of the world has scarcely noticed. What begins as an act of preservation becomes a journey of self-discovery.

I have often thought about this while observing the unusual path of my longtime friend, Animal Chaplain and Rabbi Mikhail Salita.

I have known Rabbi Salita for more than a decade. As the author of Solomon: King of a Thousand Songs, I devoted years to exploring the life of the biblical king and the legends surrounding his reign. Yet it was Rabbi Salita who introduced me to a detail I had never fully appreciated.

On the fifth step of King Solomon’s legendary throne stood a golden cat facing a golden rooster.

The image appears in Targum Sheni, an Aramaic interpretive work on the Book of Esther (Megillat Esther). A remarkable parallel appears in the Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 100b, where Rabbi Yohanan teaches that humanity could learn modesty from the cat and proper conduct from the rooster.

Two animals. Two ancient Jewish literary traditions. And a detail that, centuries later, would acquire unexpected meaning.

A Legacy Born in Jerusalem

In the 1990s, Holocaust survivor Doris Pollatschek developed the Kanaani, a rare domestic cat breed, in Jerusalem — the city of David and Solomon.

There is a profound human dimension to this history. A woman who survived the Holocaust devoted part of her life to creating and nurturing a new form of life in the ancient heartland of Jewish civilization.

She survived death — and chose to create life.

Recognized by the World Cat Federation in 2000, the Kanaani nevertheless remained exceptionally rare, known to relatively few people beyond specialized feline circles.

Today, its preservation has become a central mission of Rabbi Salita, who established the Royal House of Kanaani and The World Kanaani Organization under the Salita Foundation in Brooklyn, New York.

For Rabbi Salita, the breed represents more than a rare chapter in the history of domestic cats. He sees it as a symbolic continuation of the golden cat described on Solomon’s legendary throne.

This is not a claim of scientifically established ancestry. It is a cultural and theological interpretation linking Jewish literary tradition, Jerusalem’s history, and the responsibility to preserve a living heritage.

And it contains an intriguing paradox.

The Talmud associates the cat with modesty. The Kanaani, despite its symbolic royal heritage, has remained largely unknown to the wider world.

In its modesty lies its royalty.

The Meaning of Preservation

Rabbi Salita’s work extends beyond the breeding and documentation of rare cats.

He is a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) student specializing in Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Foundation, which is affiliated with the University of Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education.

His academic and spiritual interests bring together Jewish religious thought, animal ethics, and humanity’s moral responsibility toward living creatures.

Where others might see only an obscure breed, Rabbi Salita sees the legacy of a Holocaust survivor, a connection to Jerusalem, and an opportunity to give a nearly forgotten part of living history a future.

The Royal House of Kanaani is therefore not simply a breeding initiative. It is an effort to preserve a rare breed while drawing attention to the cultural and ethical questions its survival raises.

From Finland to Athens

The effort has already begun to attract international recognition.

In August 2026, Kanaani cats Haifa and Haya participated in a World Cat Federation exhibition in Finland. Following the event, both reached first place among Kanaani cats in their respective age categories in the WCF Best Cat 2026 rankings.

In October, World Book of Records London recognized a world record for the largest number of documented purebred Kanaani cats — seven.

On October 29, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso presented Rabbi Salita with an official citation recognizing his work.

The following day, the London Book of World Records honored him with its Social Impact Award, later including him in its Hall of Fame.

These distinctions have helped bring attention to a breed whose future depends on a remarkably small population.

Now the story moves to Greece.

On November 28–29, two American-born Kanaani cats, Haya and Neshama, are expected to appear at the World Cat Federation exhibition in Athens.

Their participation follows the breed’s successful appearance in Finland and represents another opportunity to introduce Kanaani to international judges, breeders, and audiences.

Rabbi Salita hopes that, over time, the Kanaani may also become a living symbol of Israeli cultural heritage and international friendship.

What We Choose to Save

As a novelist, I have always been fascinated by the way an apparently insignificant detail can reveal a larger truth.

A golden cat on the fifth step of Solomon’s legendary throne. A woman who survived the Holocaust and created a rare breed in Jerusalem. A rabbi in Brooklyn who chose to preserve it. Two cats preparing to appear before international judges in Athens.

These are not identical stories, nor do they belong to the same historical era. Yet they are connected by a question that transcends geography and time:

What do we choose to preserve, and what does that choice reveal about us?

The golden cat of Solomon belongs to the world of Jewish literary tradition. The modern Kanaani belongs to the living world, where its future depends on human care.

Between them stands the enduring importance of memory — not simply remembering what has been lost, but accepting responsibility for what can still be saved.

He set out to preserve a rare breed and discovered a calling that brought together his faith, his scholarship, and his compassion for animals.

Sometimes, in giving something else a future, we discover the meaning of our own.