Dogmatic about his Dog

A Torah scholar in Eretz Yisrael, R' Yitzchak, who was involved in kiruv,¹ would travel to various cities and try to bring secular Jews closer to Hashem.² One day while he was driving in Hertziliya, he heard people clamoring.

Confounded, he brought his car to a halt where he discovered that he had driven over a dog, killing it. It was the dog owner, Yosef, who was screaming at him. R' Yitzchak apologized profusely, telling Yosef that it was unintentional. He then told Yosef, "I am willing to pay the value of the dog and I'll even give you extra money for all the distress."

Yosef was thunderstruck, as such behavior was aberrant and an anomaly. The response and offer of R' Yitzchak was a Kidush Hashem.³ Yosef declined R' Yitzchak's monetary offer and he exchanged phone numbers with him. R' Yitzchak began to learn with Yosef and little by little he made an impact on him and his family.

One day Yosef proposed an offer. He told R' Yitzchak that he had a big basement and he and his wife wanted to donate this basement to be sort of a Beis Midrash where R' Yitzchak would give a shiur that people would attend. However, the family wanted to put a plaque with the words I'zichron Igor, as a remembrance to their dog Igor, who was the cause of all this.

The question posed to a posek if it was appropriate to dedicate and call the Beis Midrash after a dog. After researching the topic by looking up the relevant sources, the posek deliberated and came to a conclusive ruling: Since the will of the family is to observe Torah and mitzvos⁴ and to this end they are willing to dedicate this Beis Midrash, it is ok to acquiesce to their request to name it after their dog.