Last chance to help us make Israel a greener, environmentally healthier land: Until the end of April you can vote online for the upcoming World Zionist Congress. The results determine, among other things, the division of power at the Jewish National Fund’s international board.

For the past decade I have sat on the JNF board, largely because of the support and intervention of the Green Zionist Alliance – a wonderful group of young environmentalists who decided to get involved and improve Israel’s environmental performance. This support has allowed me to represent them and pursue any number of important green initiatives which include:

· creating new sustainable forestry policies for the JNF,

· putting bike lanes on the organization’s agenda,

· creating a brand new “affirmative action” program to systematically reach out to Israel’s Arab minorities to finance environmental projects,

· increasing the organizational commitment to green building and solar energy,

· leading the fight to prevent JNF funding over the green line,

· expanding funding for forestry and agricultural research as well as river restoration projects, and

· fighting for good government and transparency.

There is a lot more that needs to be done. Whether or not I can continue depends on whether the “GZA” – or Aytzim as they call themselves these days gets enough votes. It only takes ten dollars to register and 3 minutes online to vote. (The polls close this Thursday April 30th). Here’s a link to Vote Green Israel: www.worldzionistcongress.org

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. And thanks to all of you who have already voted green for the support. – Alon Tal

(Considered by many to be the leading environmentalist in Israeli history, Alon Tal is a co-founder of the Green Zionist Alliance)

About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff role models, we foster our campers’ positive Jewish identity and genuine commitment to tikkun olam (healing the world). Our 3 acre educational farm and orchard are based on principles of permaculture, sustainable and organic farming. We produce annual vegetables, perennials, and tend educational gardens as well as animals.

About the Farm Educator Apprenticeship: This is a paid six-month apprenticeship for young adults seeking hands-on experience. In the Spring build your knowledge based on agriculture, farm-based education and Jewish community. In the Summer, work at our 8-week intensive summer camp as Jewish Farm Educators. In the fall, take ownership and integrate your new skills by diving deeper into independent projects.  Live on-site at our beautiful camp, one hour north of New York City. By joining the farm staff at Eden Village, apprentices will hold two main responsibilities – tending our growing spaces and educating in our all of our programming through the spring, summer and fall. Apprentices will also have an opportunity to dive deeper into one of four focus areas: perennials, annuals, animals, and educational gardens. In these specialties apprentices will gain a deeper understanding of certain aspects of farming and will take on leadership and special projects to booster their learning and the learning of campers and program participants.

Details: April 14th, 2015 – October 22nd 2015, Apprentices receive full room and board at Eden Village, as well as a modest stipend. Extensive experience is not necessary but experiential curiosity is required. We recommend you explore our website thoroughly to get more information about our apprenticeship, farm, camp, and more at Eden Village Camp.

More questions? Explore the FAQ page. For all other questions, contact farm@edenvillagecamp.org

An election has started that gives you a chance to have a say about Israel’s environmental future. While most Jews are unaware of it, they are entitled to a voice about Israel’s future. That voice is the World Zionist Congress, which meets every four years in Jerusalem with the mandate to fund programs and create policies that will help achieve the goals of the Jewish People.  The Congress was initially set up by Theodor Herzl and led directly to the establishment of the State of Israel.  It has been a partner with the Government of Israel since that time but sadly, very few Jews know that they have a chance to speak up through their vote. if you are Jewish and over 18 years of age, you can make your voice heard by voting!

The voting takes place from January 14, 2015 through April 30, 2015.  Every Jewish person over age 18 is entitled to vote for the slate of his or her choice.  As with the first Zionist Congress held in 1897, there is a nominal charge to vote ($5 for persons under the age of 30 and $10 for those above the age of 30).  The charge is used to defray the costs of the election.

The 37th Zionist Congress will meet in October 2015 and will include 525 delegates representing Jews in many nations around the world. The United States will field 145 delegates who represent a variety of political organizations.  My slate is called Green Israel, which includes Ayztim–Ecological Judaism;, the Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology.org, and Shomrei Breishit. We are focused on taking action to protect Israel’s environment, increase the country’s use of renewable energy, and to help Israel become a global leader in sustainable practice.

Why Vote for Green Israel?

Many groups will be competing to participate in the 37^th World Zionist Congress but few can have the impact that Green Israel can. While competing groups would like to have their voice heard on political issues involving Israel and its foreign or religious policy objectives, they may not have any significant impact because the Israeli Knesset has exclusive control over these issues. The Green Israel slate can make a difference on issues regarding land since the World Zionist Organization controls the Jewish National Fund, which owns over 14% of the actual land of Israel. What is done on that land (which includes nature preserves as well as cities) can be directly influenced by the World Zionist Congress. In other words, Green Israel can make a real impact and not just a symbolic one. We can create more environmentally friendly practices and help Israel be more energy independent if we can garner enough votes.

The Green Zionist Alliance (GZA) is the first environmental group to ever participate in the World Zionist Congress. Now Green Israel, which has become the umbrella slate for Aytzim, the  GZA and our other Jewish environmental partners, has been embraced by all streams of the Zionist movement — left to right, secular to religious, Reform to Orthodox. From the early Zionist pioneers to Israel’s modern environmental, water-saving, and renewable energy technologies, ecological sustainability has been a fundamental tenet of Zionism. Those who love the land of Israel must work to protect it. Voting for the Green Israel slate will help ensure that environmental sustainability stays at the forefront of Israel’s future.

To learn more about GZA’s past work and past legislation as well as about the resolutions we are planning to bring to the 37th Congress, please see: http://www.aytzim.org/congress .

Please vote for a green Israel by voting for the Green Israel slate at: http://worldzionistcongress.org .

This ia a free opportunity for young adults 19-29 to come together in an interfaith setting for Jews, Christians and Muslims to live, farm and study together from June 1st – July 23rd 2015 at the Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY, with time for mentoring and vocational discernment. It is a Multifaith, Peace, Justice and Earthcare program. We seek students who are grounded in their religious tradition, serious about spriiuality and the state of the planet, and open to learnig and living in an intentional community setting. This is our 6th annual program run by the Community of Living Traditions on the Stony Point Center 32 acre campus.

For more details and to apply go to: www.stonypointcenter.org/SummerInstitute Deadline is March15, 2015

17 Cricketown Rd, Stony Point, NY 10980 845-786-5674

Reviewed by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Currently most Jews eat meat and other animal products and relatively few Jews seem concerned about the cruel mistreatment of animals on factory farms and in other areas. However, David Sears landmark book, now in its just released second edition, with its many examples of Jewish teachings about compassion for animals, has the potential to change all of this.

The Vision of Eden is a compilation of translations from various sources, ranging from the classic texts of Judaism to contemporary rulings in Jewish law, much of which has never before been translated to English. It also includes a number of essays by Sears that serve as prefaces to the translations and provide general overviews that discuss and analyze the source material. It is a companion volume to the author’s  book, “Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition: A Source Book,” which was published by Jason Aronson, Inc., in 1998.

This book has great potential to start a respectful dialogue on vegetarianism, the proper treatment of animals, and related issues in the Jewish community. Here are some reasons:

1. Rabbi Sears has the background, wisdom, sensitivity, compassion, and commitment to effectively raise the consciousness of the Jewish community concerning Jewish teachings on animals. As a Breslav Chassid, his commitment to Jewish law and tradition cannot be challenged. No one can claim that he is just one more animal welfare advocate who doesn’t care about Judaism and is not concerned about human problems.

2. The author’s knowledge of Hebrew and Kabbalistic, Chassidic, and other Jewish sources has enabled him to find teachings that are not commonly known. His book will enable religious communities to discover the rich treasures of material about compassion to animals that will challenge them to live up to the highest ideals of Judaism.

3. His book goes beyond those of other Jewish scholars who have written about Jewish teachings on animals because he combines his extensive knowledge of Judaism with an awareness of how far realities related to how society treats animals differ from the demands of Jewish teachings, and he is committed to making others aware of the need to end these discrepancies.
4. Because of its scholarly merits and firm grounding in Torah and rabbinic tradition, The Vision of Eden will be a respectful but powerful message to the Jewish community that it will not be able to easily ignore.  Because of the authenticity and authority of his sources, no intellectually honest person who reads his book would be able to say,  “Animals, animals — why don’t you worry about people first?”  While not a polemic (in working for completeness and objectivity, Sears discusses some passages that favor meat-eating), his book shows that the vast majority of Jews, including those who take Jewish law seriously, are negligent with regard to important Torah teachings related to animals. Many in the Jewish community will be interested in the book because of the uniqueness of a Chassid writing about Jewish teachings on animal welfare. Hence, it has the potential to raise the consciousness of the Jewish community with regard to animal-based diets, wearing fur coats, animal experimentation and other animal-related issues, and to get these issues onto the agenda of the Jewish community.

4. David Sears’ book also has great potential to eventually influence other religious communities and the general public.

As Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, stated in an approbation in the book, “Every reader of this unique and holy book will benefit extensively from it. Indeed, this book, The Vision of Eden, makes one feel that he has been handed a key to open the closed gates of the Garden of Eden that were shut to us ever since Adam was expelled …”

It is essential that rabbis, Jewish teachers, and other influential members of the Jewish community and other communities become aware of the teachings in Sears’ book and put them into practice. The revitalization of Judaism and the sustainability of our imperiled planet depend on it.

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph. D, is the author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Judaism and Global Survival, Who Stole My Religion?, and Mathematics and Global Survival. He has over 200 articles on the Internet at www.jewishveg.com/schwartz, and frequently speaks and contributes articles on environmental, health, and other current issues. He is professor emeritus of mathematics at the College of Staten Island, president emeritus of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), and president of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV).

Chanukah commemorates the single small container of pure olive oil — expected to be enough for only one day — which, according to the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), miraculously lasted for eight days in the rededicated Temple.

A switch to vegetarianism would be using our wisdom and compassion to help inspire another great miracle: the end of the tragedy of world hunger, therefore ensuring the survival of tens of millions of people annually. Currently, from one-third to one-half of the world’s grain, and about three-quarters of major food crops in the U.S. (e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans, oats), is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while almost a billion poor people chronically suffer from malnutrition and its debilitating effects, tens of thousands of them consequently dying each day, one every few seconds.

Chanukah represents the victory of the idealistic and courageous few, over the seemingly invincible power and dominant values of the surrounding society. We learn through both our religious studies and history that might does not make right, even if it sometimes rules the moment. Therefore, quality is more important than quantity; spirituality is more vital than materialism, though each is necessary. “Not by might and not by power, but by My spirit,” says Zechariah 4:6, part of the prophetic reading for Shabbat Chanukah. Today, vegetarians are relatively few in number, though growing, but the highest ideals and spirit of Judaism are on their side.

According to the Book of Macabees, some Macabees lived on plant foods — to “avoid being polluted” (by eating non-kosher meat)— when they hid in caves and in the mountains to escape capture. Further, the major foods associated with Chanukah, latkes  (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts), are vegetarian foods — as is chocolate gelt — and the vegetable oils that are used in their preparation are a reminder of the pure vegetable oil (olive) used in the lighting of the Temple’s Menorah.

The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus. One day’s oil was able to last for eight days in the Temple, a miracle of resource conservation. Conservation and energy-efficiency are sacred acts and vegetarianism allows resources to go much further, since far less oil, water, land, topsoil, chemicals, labor, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets, while far less waste, pollution, and greenhouse gases are produced. For example, it can require up to 78 calories of non-renewable fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from factory-farmed beef, whether kosher or otherwise, but only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans.

In addition to resource conservation and economic efficiency, a switch toward vegetarianism would greatly benefit the health of individuals, the condition of our environment, and would sharply reduce the suffering and death of billions of animals. Further, the social, psychological, and spiritual benefits should not be underestimated. Many people who switch to a vegetarian diet report feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually better. And more and more Jews and others are doing just that!

Chanukah also represents the triumph of idealistic non-conformity. Like the Hebrew prophets, the Macabees fought for their inner beliefs, rather than conforming to external pressure. They were willing to proudly exclaim: this we believe, this we stand for, this we are willing to struggle for. Like the great Prophets and the celebrated Macabees, vegetarians represent this type of progressive non-conformity by an inspired minority. At a time when most people, especially in wealthier countries, think of animal products as the main part of their meals, vegetarians are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more compassionate, more environmentally sustainable, and ethical choice, one that better fits with our religious values and philosophical beliefs.

The word Chanukah means dedication, while the Hebrew root of the word means education. Each year, we should re-educate ourselves about the horrible realities of factory farming and slaughterhouses, as well as re-dedicate and beautify our inner temples. We can do this by practicing  the powerful Jewish teachings and highest values of Judaism, as another way to “proclaim the miracle” of Chanukah and Jewish renewal. These sacred values and holy deeds ( mitzvot) include compassion for others, including animals ( tsa’ar ba’alei chayi, preserving one’s health (pekuach nefesh), conservation of resources  (bal tashchit), proper spiritual intention (kavanah ), righteousness and charity (tzedakah), peace and justice (shalom v’tzedek), being partners in creation (shomrei adamah), healing our world(tikkun olam), and increasing in matters of holiness (ma’alin bakodesh v’ayn moridim), going from strength to strength, just as Hillel successfully argued that we should light the menorah for the eight days in ascending order).

Chanukah commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the Syrian-Greeks. In our time, vegetarianism can be a step toward deliverance of society from various modern plagues and tragedies, including global warming, world hunger, deforestation, air and water pollution, species extinction, resource depletion, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, rising health care costs, and lost productivity, among others.

One way to achieve the wonderful aspirations of Judaism is by switching to a vegetarian diet. A shift toward vegetarianism can also be a major factor in the rededication and renewal of Judaism, as it would further demonstrate that Jewish values are not only relevant but essential to everyday personal life and global survival.

The letters on a Diaspora dreidel), are an acronym for nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there. May the celebration of this joyous holiday inspire another miracle within each of us.

May we all have a happy, healthy, and miraculous Chanukah!

For more information, please visit the Jewish Vegetarians of North America web site at www.JewishVeg.com and The Vegetarian Mitzvah site at www.brook.com/jveg.

Daniel Brook, Ph.D., teaches sociology and political science and his e-books, including An Alef-Bet Kabalah and Social Truthscan be found at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/brook. He also maintains The Vegetarian Mitzvah at www.brook.com/jveg, Eco-Eating at www.brook.com/veg, is a member of the Advisory Committee of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, and can be contacted via brook@brook.com.

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is the author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Judaism and Global Survival, Who Stele My Religion?, and over 200 articles and 25 podcasts located at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz. He is president emeritus of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) (www.JewishVeg.com), president of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV) (www.serv-online.org), and can be contacted via President@JewishVeg.com

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Vayetzei dish

This post originally appeared on Neesh Noosh: A Jewish Woman’s Year Long Journey to Find Faith in Food.

In Vayetzei, we read that Jacob leaves Beer-sheva at sunset to travel to Laban’s house. Jacob is at Laban’s house for 20 years, during which time he faces many challenges and uncertainties that shroud his life in darkness. After the 20 years there, he leaves Laban’s house at sunrise.

The Etz Hayim commentary describes “the 20 years at Laban’s house as a ‘dark night for the soul,’ years spent struggling with the dark forces represented by Laban’s treachery and Jacob’s confronting his own attracting to deceit” (p. 166).

However, despite the challenges and darkness that Jacob deals with in the 20 years, he also connects with God.  Etz Hayim continues, “when the Sages attribute to Jacob the institution of the evening prayer (Ma’ariv), they may be crediting him as the first person able to find God in the midst of darkness” (p. 166)

La Cienega farmers market. Pomegranate

Jacob’s time of darkness was an opportunity for him to find God. And, as  Yael Shy comments, “Jacob leaves us with the challenge of recognizing our encounters with God in all God’s forms.” There are many dark and challenging parts of our lives and society. Our food system is one. How is it possible that the wealthiest nation in the world has 45.3 million citizens living in poverty and 49.1 million hungry people?  In addition, for 29 million Americans who live in low-income areas, the nearest supermarket is more than a mile away. When someone is poor, without transportation and/or living in a low-income area without a supermarket, it significantly hampers one’s ability to eat nutritious food. Despite, this dark aspect of our society, there are countless individuals who recognize this challenge and are re-imagining our food system.

Black wild rice

Rabbi Brad Artson writes in The Bedside Torah, about the “power of imagination” in Vayetzei. He writes that, “through the power of imagination, each of us retains the ability to transform the world. . . . Our religion trains us to visualize a better world. . . .[and] as with Jacob, our imagination can provide the necessary first step toward transforming our world and ourselves” (p. 47-48).

Many Americans are envisioning and transforming our food systems to ensures that poverty and hunger are eliminated and that all people have regular access to nutritious foods.

One such person is Karyn Moskowitz of New Roots in Louisville, KY. She’s featured in  Faith in Food: Changing the World One Meal at a Time, a fabulous new book by Susie Weldon and Sue Campbell that shares inspiring, exciting stories of global food activists who, guided by their faith, are re-imagining their food systems Karyn’s organization runs “Fresh Stops” which works with residents who are low-income and live in neighborhoods without access to fresh produce. Through New Roots, residents pool their money and SNAP (food stamps) benefits to bulk purchase fresh produce from local farms. Without this program, participants would not be eating these healthful foods.

My mandarin tree

The recipe I created this week symbolizes Jacob’s journey from sunset to sunrise, with darkness in the middle of his journey. The dish is anchored on both ends by a citrus mixture, symbolizing sunset/sunrise and black wild rice in the center to represent darkness.  The pomegranate seeds mixed with the rice are a reference to God’s recognition of Jacob’s hard work tending to Laban’s ” streaked, speckled and mottled flock.”  After presenting on a platter, to symbolize the journey, one can then blend everything together in a bowl to enjoy.

Wild Rice, Citrus, Pomegranate Dish

Ingredients

2 Valencia oranges, chopped
2 Mandarin oranges, chopped
1 cup black wild rice
1/2 Pomegranate seeds
1 handful mint, chopped
olive oil
salt

Vayetzei, part 2

Preparation

1. Cook rice over medium heat until done.

2. Chop oranges into small pieces. Finely chop mint and blend with oranges.

3. When rice is done, fold in seeds, drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Place in center of platter and citrus mixture on each end.

4. After serving, blend ingredients together.

B’tayavon!

Elul is here. It represents a chance for heightened introspection, an opportunity to do teshuva and improve our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to make positive changes.

How should we respond to Elul today? How should we respond when we hear reports almost daily of severe, often record-breaking, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and storms; when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history, far above the 350 ppm that climate experts believe is safe, when polar ice caps and glaciers are melting far faster than projections of climate experts; when some climatologists are warning that we could be close to a tipping point when climate change could spiral out of control with disastrous consequences, unless major changes are soon made; when we appear to also be on the brink of major food, water, and energy scarcities; and when, despite all of the above, so many people are in denial, in effect “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as we approach a giant iceberg”?

I believe that we should make it a priority to do all that we can to awaken the world to the dangers and the urgency of doing everything possible to shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path. We should urge that tikkun olam (the healing and repair of the world) be a central focus in all aspects of Jewish life today.

We should contact rabbis, Jewish educators, and other Jewish leaders and urge that they increase awareness of the threats and how Jewish teachings can be applied to avert impending disasters. We should write letters to editors, call talk shows, question politicians, and in every other way possible, stress that we can’t continue the policies that have been so disastrous.

The afternoon service for Yom Kippur includes the book of Jonah, who was sent by God to Nineveh to urge the people to repent and change their evil ways in order to avoid their destruction. Today the whole world is Nineveh, in danger of annihilation and in need of repentance and redemption, and each one of us must be a Jonah, with a mission to warn the world that it must turn from greed, injustice, and idolatry, so that we can avoid a global catastrophe.

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of College of Staten Island, author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet, other books, and 200 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz, President Emeritus, Jewish Vegetarians of North America (www.JewishVeg.com); President, Society Of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV), and associate producer of A SACRED DUTY (www.aSacredDuty.com).

It features talks by Rabbi David Rosen, Professor Yael Shemesh of Bar Ilan University, Rabbi MK Dov Lipman, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, director of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Rabbi Adam Frank, my older daughter Susan Kleid, and me. It is just under 41 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwFKE359y5k&feature=youtu.be

There wre also 2 prerecorded talks:

Rabbi Adam Frank’s prerecorded greetings:(2 minutes and 25 seconds) is at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DsHFLswnTc&feature=youtu.be

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz’s prerecorded greetings: (1 minute and 36 seconds) is at:

I will always be a vegan because animal-based diets contribute significantly to heart disease, several forms of cancer, diabetes, and other killer diseases.

I will always be a vegan because animal-based agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, deforestation, water pollution, rapid species losses, and other environmental threats to humanity.

I will always be a vegan because animal-based diets require far more land, water, energy, and other resources per person than vegan diets.

I will always be a vegan because of the widespread, horrific mistreatment of billions of animals on factory farms before they are slaughtered.

I will always be a vegan because, at a time when an estimated 20 million people worldwide die annually of hunger and its effects and almost a billion of the world’s people are chronically hunger, 70 percent of the grain produced in the U.S. is fed to animals destined for slaughter.

I will always be a vegan because in an increasingly thirsty world, with glaciers melting, aquifers shrinking, and lakes drying, it takes up to 14 times as much water for a person on an animal-based diet than for a person on a plant-based diet.

I will always be a vegan because it is my way to protest against the "madness and sheer insanity" that animal-based diets represent.

I will always be a vegan because it is arguably the most important thing I can do for my health, animals, the environment, the efficient use of natural resources, hungry people, and efforts toward a more peaceful, just world.

I will always be a vegan because only if many people become vegans will we have a chance to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path.

I will always be a vegan because there are so many delicious, nutritious vegan foods that can keep me in good health, without having to harm animals or damage the environment.

1. Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Today the entire world is threatened by destruction by a variety of environmental threats, and modern intensive livestock agriculture is a major factor behind most of these environmental threats.

2. In Megilat Eichah (Lamentations), which is read on Tisha B'Av, the prophet Jeremiah warned the Jewish people of the need to change their unjust ways in order to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. In 1992, over 1,700 of the world's most outstanding scientists signed a "World Scientists Warning to Humanity," stating that 'human beings and the natural world are on a collision course," and that "a great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated." Vegetarians join in this warning, and add that a switch toward vegetarianism is an essential part of the "great change" that is required.

3. On Tisha B'Av, Jews fast to express their sadness over the destruction of the two Temples and to awaken us to how hungry people feel. So severe are the effects of starvation that the Book of Lamentations (4:10) states that "More fortunate were the victims of the sword than the victims of famine, for they pine away stricken, lacking the fruits of the field." Yet, today over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter, as an estimated 20 million people worldwide die annually because of hunger and its effects.

4. During the period from Rosh Chodesh Av to Tisha B'Av known as the "nine days," Jews do not eat meat or fowl, except on the Sabbath day. After the destruction of the second Temple, some sages argued that Jews should no longer eat meat, as a sign of sorrow. However, it was felt that the Jewish people would not be able to obey such a decree. It was also believed then that meat was necessary for proper nutrition. Hence, a compromise was reached in terms of Jews not eating meat in the period immediately before Tisha B'Av.

5. Jewish sages connected the word "eichah" (alas! what has befallen us?) that begins Lamentations and a word that has the same root "ayekah" ("Where art thou?"), the question addressed to Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. Perhaps failure to properly hear and respond to "ayekah" in terms of stating "Hineni" – here I am, ready to carry out God's commandments so that the world will be better – causes us to eventually have to say and hear "eichah."

Vegetarians are also respectfully asking "where art thou?" What are we doing re widespread world hunger, the destruction of the environment, the cruel treatment of farm animals, etc.? Perhaps failure to properly hear and respond to "ayekah" in terms of stating "Hineni" – here I am, ready to carry out God's commandments so that the world will be better – causes us to eventually have to say and hear "eichah."

6. The book of Lamentations was meant to wake up the Jewish people to the need to return to God's ways. Since vegetarianism is God's initial diet (Genesis 1:29), vegetarians are also hoping to respectfully alert Jews to the need to return to that diet.

7. Rabbi Yochanan stated "Jerusalem was destroyed because the residents limited their decisions to the letter of the law of the Torah, and did not perform actions that would have gone beyond the letter of the law" ('lifnim meshurat hadin') (Baba Metzia 30b). In the same way, perhaps, many people state that they eat meat because Jewish law does not forbid it. Vegetarians believe that in this time of factory farming, environmental threats, widespread hunger, and epidemics of chronic degenerative diseases, Jews should go beyond the strict letter of the law and move toward vegetarianism.

8. Tisha B'Av has been a time of tears and tragedy throughout Jewish history. Animal-based diets are also related to much sorrow today due to its links to hunger and environmental destruction.

9. Tisha B'Av is not only a day commemorating destruction. It is also the day when, according to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will be born, and the days of mourning will be turned into joyous festivals. According to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, the Messianic period will be vegetarian. He based this view on the prophecy of Isaiah, "The wolf will dwell with the lamb . . .the lion will eat straw like the ox . . . and no one shall hurt nor destroy in all of God's holy mountain" (Isaiah 11: 6-9).

10. The readings on Tisha B'Av help to sensitize us so that we will hear the cries of lament and change our ways. Vegetarians are also urging people to change their diets, to reduce the cries of lament of hungry people and of animals.

11. The first Temple was destroyed because the people committed three cardinal sins: idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed (Yoma 9b). Animal-based diets today have links to these sins; (1) we have made our stomachs an idol and will do almost anything to appease it; (2) a diet that wastes so much grain and other agricultural resources while millions of people lack adequate food can be considered immoral; (3) there is much bloodshed from the 9 billion farm animals that are slaughtered annually in the United States alone to satisfy people's appetites for meat.

12. After the destruction of the second Temple, the Talmudic sages indicated that Jews need not eat meat in order to rejoice during festivals. They stated that the drinking of wine would suffice, (Pesachim 109a)

13. More than a day of lamentation, Tisha B'Av is also a day of learning – learning essential lessons about our terrible past errors so that they will not be repeated. Vegetarians believe that if people learned the very negative realities related to the production and consumption of meat, many would change their diets so as to avoid continuing current errors.

14. After the destruction of Jerusalem, while sighing and searching frantically for food, the people proclaimed, "Look God and behold what happened to me because I used to be gluttonous!" (Lamentations 1:11). Today too, gluttony (excessive consumption of animal and other products) is leading to widespread hunger and destruction.

15. The Book of Lamentations ends with "Chadesh yamenu k'kedem – make new our days as of old." We can help this personal renewal occur by returning to the original human diet, the vegetarian diet of Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden), a diet that can help us feel renewed because of the many health benefits of plant-based diets.

16. The Book of Lamentations has many very graphic descriptions of hunger. One is: "The tongue of the suckling child cleaves to its palate for thirst. Young children beg for bread, but no one extends it to them." Today, major shortages of food in the near future are being predicted by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington DC think tank, and others, and one major reason is that people in China, Japan, India, and other countries where affluence has been increasing are moving to animal-centered diets that require vast amounts of grain.

What might these seven be?

Already nominated: bread (like challah for Shabbat, should this be a “woven” bread? round, for the cycles, as is a traditional Rosh Hashanah challah? how about woven into seven spirals?), an apple, honey, wine, pomegranates.

What might the others be, and why?

I would add to this Shmita Seder plate charoset, on the grounds (as I have previously suggested) that it is the embodiment of Shir HaShirim which bears the recipe for charoset — nuts, apples, wine, apricots, spices.

I suggest that the whirling spirals of Shabbat => Seventh moonth/Tishrei => Shabbat shabbaton (Shmita) => Yovel, each one a whirl in the spiral of healing, are all aiming toward Shir HaShirim and its embodiment, charoset.

That, I suggest, is the fruitful fulfillment of all history, Gan Eden for grown-ups and a grown-up human race. No “mashiach” needed for these messianic days because we all, adam and adamah, women and men, anoint each other.

Shabbat first comes into human practice with manna. Why? I think, because the misdeed of Eden was about eating — gobbling up the Earth’s abundance without any self-restraint. (“From one tree you shall not eat….”) . This misdeed brings about the end of the abundance: “Every day of your life you shall toil with the sweat pouring down your face to barely eat, because the Earth will bring forth thorns and thistles. And women will be subordinated to men.”)

Shabbat comes with Manna precisely to begin the first stages of the reversal of the post-Edenic disaster. This food comes freely from YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh, the Interbreath of Life. It can only come after Pharaoh has been overthrown and slavery — the worst version of endless toil — has been dissolved.

And this manna comes with an intrinsic limit on over-eating — if you gather too much, the extra rots — and it comes with a built-in “operant conditioning” that you can’t work for it on Shabbat and don’t need to, because extra comes on the sixth day, it does not rot, and none comes on Shabbat. Abundance flowers again, and this time self-restraint is built in. The first step in reversing the post-Eden disaster.

The second step is the seventh moonth, in which we celebrate four festivals, one at each phase of the moon. The third and fourth steps are Shmita and Yovel. And then we glimpse Pardes, the free and joyful Garden of Shir HaShirim, in which we are playfully loving with and in the Earth, in which a woman leads the story and is not subordinate to men, and in which the Erotic — sexuality — is not shameful as in the adolescent Eden, but playful and joyful.

In Eden for grown-ups, the Parental God of Eden does not need to appear because we have grown up to spiritual maturity. Even “YHWH,” the Breath of Life, does not need to be specifically named, because the whole Song is the Name of God.

So this whole spiral of Shabbat => Tishrei => Shmita => Yovel aims toward => the Pardes of Yom sheh-Kulo Shabbat (the day that is fully Shabbat) == Shir HaShirim.

Charoset makes six on the Shmita Seder plate. We might say it is really the seventh, but if so it leaves open the question — What, dear chevra, might be the sixth?

This year, this summer, we are in the “sixth year” of the cycle, “Friday afternoon” of the week, yearning toward Shabbat. Perhaps we are experiencing the torments of that time, the frantic rush that so many of us experience as we try to be ready for Shabbat. For Shabbat shabbaton.

Shabbat shabbaton shalom,
Arthur

The Rav was regarded as a seminal figure in the modern Orthodox community. Over a nearly 50-year career, he ordained almost 2,000 Orthodox rabbis, and served as a mentor, guide, and role model for tens of thousands of Jews.

Given the Rav’s great respect and influence among so many in the modern Orthodox community, his strong support for vegetarianism is very significant.

That strong support is indicated in his statement, “There is a distinct reluctance, almost an unwillingness, on the part of the Torah to grant man the privilege to consume meat. Man as an animal-eater is looked on askance by the Torah. There are definitive vegetarian tendencies in the Bible.”

Based on Genesis 1:29, God’s initial strictly vegan dietary regimen, the Rav indicated that people were initially to eat plant foods. But, he pointed out, people overreached and “acquired new drives and began to display new demands,” so “God … gave in and compromised with man,” and permitted the eating of meat. Thus, according to the Rav, “Man-animal became life-killer, an animal-eater. He became bloodthirsty and flesh-hungry,” and “a concession was made [by God] to an evil drive [in people].”

The Rav points out that, consistent with the concession God made to allow people to eat meat, the Torah displays a dislike for meat eaters, and associates the strong desire for meat with ta’avah, lust and “illicit demand.” He stresses that when the Israelites cried out for meat in the desert, God reluctantly supplied quail, but while the people were about to chew on the flesh between their teeth, a great plague broke out and many people died at a place named Kivrot ha-Ta’avah, “the Graves of Lust.” When the Israelites were in the desert after the exodus from Egypt, meat could only be eaten if it was part of a sacrificial service. Later, when their borders were expanded, permission to eat meat was expanded, but the meat was called basar ta’avah, the “meat of lust.” According to the Rav, “while the Torah tolerates [meat-eating], it is far from fully approving it.’

In summary, according to the Rav, vegetarianism is the ideal, and to be most consistent with Judaism, Jews should be vegetarians. However, he acknowledged that, because of their lust for flesh, most took advantage of the Torah’s reluctant permission to eat meat.

Unfortunately, most Jews are unaware of the Rav’s teachings on vegetarianism, and relatively few Jews are vegetarians. It is the purpose of this article to increase that awareness with the hope that many more Jews will apply the Rav’s teachings and become vegetarians.

Why is this important? Several reasons:

• Jews would be adopting the diet most consistent with basic Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people.
• Jews would be showing the relevance of Judaism’s eternal teachings by applying them to our diets.
• Jews would be healthier, because animal-based diets have been linked to heart disease, several types of cancer, and other killer diseases.
• Jews would be contributing toward a healthier planet, since animal-based agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, soil erosion, rapid species extinction, deforestation, water pollution, and many other environmental threats.
• It would, according to some Jewish sages, hasten the coming of the Messiah when, according to Isaiah (11:6-9), “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, …, the lion will eat straw like the ox, … and no one shall hurt nor destroy in all of God’s holy mountain.”

The Rav was one of the most influential Jews in modern history. If his influence expanded to convincing many Jews to become vegetarians, it would arguably be his greatest contribution, because it would result in a healthier, more compassionate, just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable world.

Despite his strong support of vegetarianism and other factors mentioned above, the Rav was reportedly not a vegetarian. It is puzzling why he would act contrary to his own teachings, so it is hoped that this article will result in Jews who worked with and studied with the Rav coming forward to throw some light on this apparent mystery. The fact that the Rav’s vegetarian views were not published until 2005 (in the book, “The Emergence of Ethical Man,” edited by Michael S. Berger (Ktav), from which the quoted statements above were taken) may be a factor.

——————–
[Please note that this is a work in progress as I am seeking additional information about the Rav's vegetarian views and practices. Suggestions and new information always welcome.] ]]> https://beta.jewcology.com/2014/04/the-vegetarian-views-of-the-rav/feed/ 0 https://beta.jewcology.com/2014/04/vegetarianism-for-a-more-peaceful-world/ https://beta.jewcology.com/2014/04/vegetarianism-for-a-more-peaceful-world/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2014 21:23:06 +0000 http://jewcology.org/2014/04/vegetarianism-for-a-more-peaceful-world/ The universal dream of a peaceful, non-violent world will never be realized as long as we continue to consume the flesh of animals.

Simply put, the senseless, mind-boggling, global slaughter of over 65 billion chickens, cows, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks and other farm animals and an even greater number of fish and other sea creatures constitutes the largest source of pain, suffering, bloodshed, and killing on our planet.

It is a bloodbath of inconceivable magnitude.

Through the consumption of flesh, we desensitize ourselves to all forms of suffering and violence. But through the adoption of plant-based diets, we nurture our bodies and souls and embrace compassion.

Most people seldom if ever give the agonies and violence in animal agriculture a thought, but throughout history, some distinguished individuals saw connections between animal-based diets and the potential for violence and war.

U. Nu, former prime minister of Burma, said: “World peace, or any other kind of peace, depends greatly on the attitude of the mind. Vegetarianism can bring about the right mental attitude for peace. In this world of lusts and hatred, greed and anger, force and violence, vegetarianism holds forth a way of life which, if practiced universally, can lead to a better, more just, and more peaceful community of nations.”

George Bernard Shaw, the greatest Irish playwright, poetically wrote:

“We’re sick of war, we do not want to fight.
The thought of it now fills our heart with dread,
And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead.
Like carrion crows, we live and feed on meat,
regardless of the suffering and pain
we cause by doing so. If thus we treat
defenseless animals, for sport or gain,
how can we hope in this world to attain
the PEACE we say we are so anxious for?
We pray for it, o’er hecatombs of slain,
to God, while outraging the moral law.
Thus cruelty begets its offspring–War.”

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the great 19th Century German rabbi, stressed that non-flesh based foods are the preferable source of sustenance food to help make the human body an instrument of the soul and to implement its aims of holiness and moral freedom. He indicated that every food that makes the body too active in a carnal direction makes people more indifferent and less sensitive to the loftier impulses of the moral life.

He also stated, “The boy who, in crude joy, finds delight in the convulsions of an injured beetle or the anxiety of a suffering animal will soon also be dumb toward human pain.”

Albert Einstein stated: “The vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”

There is another important connection between vegetarianism and efforts to establish a more peaceful world.

The ancient Jewish sages noted that the Hebrew words for bread (lechem) and war (milchamah) come from the same root. From this connection they deduced that when there is a shortage of grain, water, and other necessities, people are more likely to go to war.

Battles over scarce resources have occurred throughout human history, from disputes over well water in the early chapters of Genesis to conflicts over oil more recently.

Since animal-based diets require far more land, grain, water, fuel, and other resources per person than plant-based (vegan) diets, this makes violence and war more likely. For example, it takes up to 14 times as much water to produce food for a person on an animal-based diet than one on a vegan diet. Also, while nearly a billion people worldwide are chronically hungry, 70 percent of the grain produced in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter. With many experts projecting major scarcities of food, water, and energy soon, this does not bode well for a peaceful future.

The following dialogue from Plato’s Republic between Socrates (S) and Glaucon (G) dramatizes the relationship between the consumption of meat and war:

S: …and there will be animals of many other kinds, if people eat them?
G: Certainly.
S: And living in this way we shall have much greater need of physicians than before?
(G) Much greater.
S: And the country which was enough to support the original inhabitants will be too small now, and not enough?
G: Quite true.
S: then we will want a slice of our neighbors’ land for pasture and tillage, and they will want a slice of ours, if, like ourselves, they exceed the limit of necessity, and give themselves up to the unlimited accumulation of wealth?
G: That, Socrates, will be inevitable.
S: And so, we shall go to war, Glaucon. Shall we not?
G: Most certainly.

In view of the enormous waste of grain and other resources related to livestock agriculture, the following statement by former Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon is relevant: “Hunger and famine will do more to destabilize this world; [they are] more explosive than all atomic weaponry possessed by the big powers. Desperate people do desperate things.”

This is why I have jokingly argued that the slogans of the vegetarian movement and the peace movement should be the same: “All we are saying is give PEAS a chance.”

There are many causes for war and violence, and it would be simplistic to suggest that a shift toward vegetarianism, by itself, would eliminate all conflicts. However, by adopting a diet that reduces the current massive mistreatment of animals and shows concern and loving kindness for the hungry people of the world through more equitable sharing of God’s abundant harvests, we can play a significant role in helping to move the world toward a more harmonious, peaceful world, when “nations shall not learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4)

But at the same time, many continue eating other foods that, by Torah standards, are hardly ideal.

On Passover, Jews are prohibited from eating, owning, or otherwise benefiting from chometz, foods such as breads, cakes, and cereals, that are made from one of the five grains (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats) that ferment from contact with liquid. These prohibitions are based on several Torah verses and are observed with great care by religious Jews.

Many Jews spend weeks before Passover cleaning their houses, cars, and other possessions to make sure that not even a crumb of chometz will remain during the holiday. Moreover, many Ashkenazi Jews accept the additional stringency of abstaining from eating kitniyot, a category of grains and legumes, including rice, corn, lentils and beans.

So important are the chometz prohibitions that, while a common greeting on other Jewish festivals is “chag sumach” (may you have a joyous holiday), on Passover it is often “”chag kasher v’sameach” (may you have a kosher and joyous holiday).

I believe that Jews should be highly commended for the great dedication to Jewish commandments and traditions shown by their adherence to chometz prohibitions. But I would like to suggest that they could be even more consistent with Jewish values and teachings by giving up foods that Jews eat on Passover (and at other times), including meat, fish, dairy products and eggs.

Please consider:

1. Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives. But numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, many forms of cancer, and other chronic, degenerative diseases.

2. Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, the inflicting of unnecessary pain on animals. Yet most farm animals — including those raised for kosher consumers — are raised on factory farms where they live in cramped, confined spaces, and are often drugged, mutilated, and denied fresh air, sunlight, exercise, and any enjoyment of life. That’s all before they are transported, often under abominable conditions, to slaughterhouses and violently and cruelly killed.

3. Judaism teaches that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God’s partners and co-workers in preserving the world. In contrast, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to climate change, soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, species extinction, and other environmental damage.

4. Judaism mandates bal tashchit, that we are not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, and that we are not to use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose. But animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of grain, land, water, energy, and other resources. For example, it takes up to 20 times as much land, 14 times as much water, and 10 times as much energy to feed a person on an animal-based diet than to feed a person on a plant-based diet.

5. Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people. Yet more than 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to farmed animals, while an estimated 20 million people worldwide die due to hunger and its effects each year.

One could say “dayenu” (it would be enough) after any of the points above, because each one constitutes by itself a serious conflict between Jewish values and current practice. Thankfully, more and more Jews are shifting to a plant-based diet, recognizing that the Jewish case for vegetarianism and veganism is quite compelling.

After all, if God is concerned about us getting rid of every speck of chometz that we can, He surely must want our diets to avoid harming our health, inflicting suffering and violence on animals, damaging the environment, and depleting our natural resources. It is time to apply Judaism’s important teachings to our diets, demonstrating the relevance of Judaism’s eternal teachings to current issues, and helping move our precious, but imperiled, planet onto a sustainable path.

Since Passover is the holiday of freedom, it presents a wonderful opportunity to free ourselves from harmful eating habits and to shift to ones that are beneficial for our health and for our souls.

First, although JVNA believes that every person should be a vegan and that there should be NO slaughter of animals at all, we also oppose efforts to single out shechita for special criticism. There are many factors in the shechita process designed to minimize pain. Animals are to be killed by a shochet (ritual slaughterer), a religious Jew who is especially trained and certified. He ideally kills the animal with a single stroke, using a very sharp knife that is inspected frequently to make sure there are no imperfections, with the intention of minimizing pain.

Unfortunately, as in non-kosher slaughterhouses, shechita is not always carried out perfectly under current mass production conditions. The horrible treatment of animals several years ago at the largest kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, revealed by undercover videos, is one example. However, such violations should be addressed though better regulations and more diligent inspection, rather than by banning shechita.

Those who argue that shechita should be banned are ignoring the many problems related to stunning, their preferred approach to slaughter. These are thoroughly covered in the book, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry, by Gail Eisnitz. Through many interviews with slaughterhouse workers and USDA inspectors, she carefully documents in gut wrenching, chilling detail the widespread, unspeakable torture and death at U.S. slaughterhouses where animals are stunned prior to slaughter.

The book discusses cases where animals are dismembered while still alive when the stunning is not properly performed, which frequently happened under the frenzied slaughterhouse conditions . Here is the testimony of one worker, on cow slaughter: "A lot of times the skinner finds a cow is still conscious when he slices the side of its head and it starts kicking wildly. If that happens, … the skinner shoves a knife into the back of its head to cut the spinal cord." (This paralyzes the animal, but doesn't stop the pain of being skinned alive.)

And of another worker, on calf slaughter: "To get done with them faster, we'd put eight or nine of them in the knocking box at a time… You start shooting [with the stunning gun], the calves are jumping, they're all piling up on top of each other. You don't know which ones got shot and which didn't… They're hung anyway, and down the line they go, wriggling and yelling" (to be slaughtered while fully conscious).

Many workers admit to becoming sadistic and cruel under the horrible conditions of their daily efforts.

Eisnitz's closing comment, "Now you know, and you can help end these atrocities," is still applicable today. While her research involved only U.S. slaughterhouses, it is likely in today’s highly competitive markets that conditions in other country’s slaughterhouses are not very different.

While concern for animal welfare during the final minutes prior to slaughter is commendable, efforts to ban shechita ignore the many abuses that occur for months on factory farms. Just a few examples: (1) Male chicks at egg-laying hatcheries are killed almost immediately after birth, since they can’t lay eggs and have not been genetically programmed to produce much flesh. (2) Dairy cows are artificially impregnated annually on what the dairy industry calls "rape racks," so that they will be able to continue 'giving' milk, and (3) their babies are taken away almost immediately, often to be raised as veal under very cruel conditions.

If governments really want to improve conditions for as many animals as possible, as they should, they should take steps to reduce the consumption of meat and other animal products. Besides reducing the number of animals suffering on factory farms, this would have additional benefits: *

* There would be a reduction in the widespread heart disease, several types of cancer, and other diseases afflicting so many people. *

*There would be a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. While the world is increasingly threatened by climate change, a 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, "Livestock's Long Shadow," indicated that animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalents) than is emitted by the cars and all other means of transportation worldwide combined. * There would be a reduction in environmental problems, including deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, loss of biological diversity, and desertification.

* Resources would be used more efficiently. In an increasingly thirsty and energy-dependent world, a person on an animal-based diet requires up to 14 times as much water (mainly for irrigating feed crops) and 10 times as much energy as a person on a vegan (only plants) diet. *

* There would potentially be a reduction in the number of hungry people. At a time when food prices are skyrocketing, an estimated 20 million people are dying annually worldwide from hunger and its effects, and almost a billion of the world’s people are chronically hungry, 70 percent of the grain produced in the United States and 40 percent produced worldwide are fed to farmed animal. What makes that even more shameful is that the corn, soy, and oats that are high in fiber and complex carbohydrates are converted into animal products that are devoid of these nutrients, but high in cholesterol and saturated fat that are very harmful to health.

So, rather than focusing on banning shechitah, governments have the opportunity to do far more that not only would be very beneficial to defenseless animals, but would also help produce a healthier, environmentally sustainable world.

During the time of Moses, it was the general practice among all nations to worship by means of sacrifice. There were many associated idolatrous practices. The great Jewish philosopher Maimonides stated that God did not command the Israelites to give up and discontinue all these manners of service because “to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used to.” For this reason, God allowed Jews to make sacrifices, but “He transferred to His service that which had served as a worship of created beings and of things imaginary and unreal.” All elements of idolatry were removed. Maimonides
concluded:

“By this divine plan it was effected that the traces of idolatry were blotted out, and the truly great principle of our Faith, the Existence and Unity of God, was firmly established; this result was thus obtained without deterring or confusing the minds of the people by the abolition of the service to which they were accustomed and which alone was familiar to them.”

The Jewish philosopher Abarbanel reinforced Maimonides’ argument. He cited a Midrash that indicated that the Jews had become accustomed to sacrifices in Egypt. To wean them from these idolatrous practices, God tolerated the sacrifices but commanded that they be offered in one central sanctuary:

“Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said ‘Let them at all times offer their sacrifices before Me in the Tabernacle, and they will be weaned from idolatry, and thus be saved.’” (Rabbi J. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 562)

Rabbi J. H. Hertz, the late chief rabbi of England, stated that if Moses had not instituted sacrifices, which were admitted by all to have been the universal expression of religious homage, his mission would have failed and Judaism would have disappeared.

With the destruction of the Temple, the rabbis state that prayer and good deeds took the place of sacrifice.

Rashi, a leading Torah commentator indicated that God did not want the Israelites to bring sacrifices; it was their choice. He bases this on the haphtorah (portion from the Prophets) read on the Sabbath when the book of Leviticus that discusses sacrifices is read:

“I have not burdened thee with a meal-offering, Nor wearied thee with frankincense.” (Isaiah 43:23)

Biblical commentator David Kimhi (1160-1235) also stated that the sacrifices were voluntary. He ascertained this from the words of Jeremiah:

“For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices; but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.’” (Jeremiah 7:22-23)

David Kimchi, notes that nowhere in the Ten Commandments is there any reference to sacrifice, and even when sacrifices are first mentioned (Lev. 1:2) the expression used is “when any man of you brings an offering,” the first Hebrew we ki being literally “if,” implying that it was a voluntary act.

Many Jewish scholars such as Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook believe that animal sacrifices will not be reinstated in messianic times, even with the reestablishment of the Temple. They believe that at that time human conduct will have advanced to such high standards that there will no longer be need for animal sacrifices to atone for sins. Only non-animal sacrifices (grains, for example) to express gratitude to God would remain. There is a Midrash (rabbinic teaching based on Jewish values and tradition) that states: “In the Messianic era, all offerings will cease except the thanksgiving offering, which will continue forever. This seems consistent with the belief of Rabbi Kook and others, based on the prophecy of Isaiah (11:6-9), that people and animals will be vegetarian in that time, and “no one shall hurt nor destroy in all My Holy mountain.”

Sacrifices, especially animal sacrifices, were not the primary concern of God. As a matter of fact, they could be an abomination to God if not carried out together with deeds of loving kindness and justice. Consider these words of the prophets, the spokesmen of God:

“What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6)

“‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs or of he-goats…bring no more vain oblations…. Your new moon and your appointed feasts my soul hates…and when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.’” (Isaiah 1:11-16)

“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Yea, though you offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept them neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy song; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries. But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”(Amos 5:21-4)

Deeds of compassion and kindness toward all creation are of greater
significance to God than sacrifices: “To do charity and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (Prov. 21: 3)

Perhaps a different type of sacrifice is required of us today. When Rabbi Shesheth kept a fast for Yom Kippur, he used to conclude with these words:

“Sovereign of the Universe, You know full well that in the time of the Temple when a man sinned he used to bring a sacrifice, and though all that was offered of it was fat and blood, atonement was made for him. Now I have kept a fast and my fat and blood have diminished. May it be Thy will to account my fat and blood which have been diminished as if I have offered they before thee on the altar, and do Thou favor me.” (Berachot 17a)

2. When the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt, won’t the sacrificial services be restored and won’t people have to eat meat?

As indicated above, Rav Kook and others believe that in the Messianic epoch, human conduct will have improved to such a degree that animal sacrifices will not be necessary to atone for sins. There will only be non-animal sacrifices to express thanks to God.

As also indicated, based on the prophecy of Isaiah (11:6-9), Rav Kook and others believe that the Messianic period will be vegetarian.

While most Jewish scholars assume that all Jews ate meat during the time that the Temple stood, it is significant that some (Tosafot, Yoma 3a, and Rabbenu Nissim, Sukkah 42b) assert that even during the Temple period it was not an absolute requirement to eat meat! Rabbenu Nissim characterizes the “requirement” to eat the meat of festival offerings as mitsvah min ha-muvhar, that is the optimum way of fulfilling the mitzvah of rejoicing on the festival, but not an absolute requirement.

Moshe Halevi Steinberg, in the responsa previously mentioned points out that vegetarianism for health reasons did not conflict with halacha even in Temple times. He indicates that one could be a vegetarian the whole year, and by eating a kazayit (olive-size portion which, due to its size, would not damage his health) of meat, he would fulfill the mitzva of eating the meat of sacrifices. Even a kohen (priest) could be vegetarian except when his turn came to eat of the sacrifices during his period of duty (about 2 weeks), when he, too, could eat just a kazayit. He actually could eat even less according to the Hatani Sofer, since many kohanim could join together to eat the required amount, so that the vegetarian kohen could eat even less than a kazayit.

R. Steinberg notes that among the things listed as disqualifying a kohen from service in the Temple, vegetarianism is not included, since he could arrange the problem of the eating of the sacrifices in one of the ways listed above. However, R. Steinberg adds, a kohen who became a vegetarian because his soul recoiled against eating meat would not have been allowed to serve in the sanctuary since if he forced himself to swallow a kazayit of meat, it would not fulfill the halachic definition of “eating.”

3. Doesn’t the Torah mandate that Jews eat korban Pesach (the Passover sacrifice) and other korbanos (sacrifices)?

Without the Temple, these requirements are not applicable today. And, as indicated, Rav Kook felt, based on the prophecy of Isaiah, that there will only be sacrifices involving vegetarian foods during the Messianic Period.

4. In Jewish literature, it is stated that with the advent of the Messiah a banquet will be given by God to the righteous which the flesh of the giant fish, leviathan, will be served. Isn’t this inconsistent with the idea that the Messianic period will be vegetarian?

These legends concerning the leviathan are interpreted as allegories by most commentators. According to Maimonides, the banquet is an allusion to the spiritual enjoyment of the intellect. Abarbanel and others consider the expressions about the leviathan to be allusions to the destruction of the powers that are hostile to the Jews.

1. According to the Talmud, Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, was a vegetarian while she lived in the palace of King Achashverus. She was thus able to avoid violating the kosher dietary laws while keeping her Jewish identity secret.

2. During Purim it is a mitzvah to give “mat’not evyonim” (added charity to poor and hungry people). In contrast to these acts of sharing and compassion, animal-based diets involve the feeding of over 70 percent of the grain in the United States to animals, while an estimated 20 million people die of hunger and its effects annually.

3. During the afternoon of Purim, Jews have a “seudah” (special festive meal), when family and friends gather to rejoice in the Purim spirit. Serving only vegetarian food at this occasion would enable all who partake to be consistent with Jewish mandates to preserve health, protect the environment, share with hungry people, conserve resources, and treat animals with compassion (as well as the vegetarian practices of Queen Esther).

4. Jews make noise with “gorgers” and other noisemakers, to drown out the infamous name of Haman when it appears during the reading of the Megillah (Book of Esther). Today, vegetarians are “making noise” in attempting to educate people and drown out the very well funded propaganda of the beef and dairy industries.

5. On Purim, Jews emphasize unity and friendship by sending gifts of food (“shalach manor”) to friends. Vegetarians act in the spirit of unity and concern for humanity by having a diet that best shares the earth’s abundant resources.

6. Because Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people, it is the most joyous Jewish holiday. By contrast, animals on factory farms never have a pleasant day, and millions of people throughout the world are too involved in trying to obtain their next meal to be able to experience many joyous moments.

7. Mordecai, one of the heroes of the Purim story, was a nonconformist. As the book of Esther states, “And all of the king’s servants . . . bowed down and prostrated themselves before Haman . . . But Mordecai would not bow down nor prostrate himself before him” (Esther 3:2). Today, vegetarians represent non-conformity. At a time when most people in the wealthier countries think of animal products as the main part of their meals, when McDonald’s and similar fast food establishments are still popular, vegetarians are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more humane diet.

8. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the wicked Haman. Today, vegetarianism can be a step toward deliverance from modern problems such as hunger, pollution, and resource scarcities.

9. Purim commemorates the time when conditions for the Jews changed from sorrow to gladness and from mourning to rejoicing. Today, a switch to vegetarianism could result in similar changes for many people, since plant- based diets would reduce health problems, pollution, water scarcities, and hunger.

10. Jews hear the reading of the Megillah twice during Purim, in order to reeducate themselves about the terrible threats to the Jewish people and their deliverance. Jewish vegetarians believe that if Jews were educated about the horrible realities of factory farming and the powerful Jewish mandates about taking care of our health, showing compassion to animals, protecting the environment, conserving resources, and helping hungry people, they would seriously consider switching to vegetarian diets.

11. Hamantashen, the primary food associated with Purim, is a vegetarian food.

In view of these and other connections, I hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of the beautiful and spiritually meaningful holiday of Purim by making it a time to begin striving even harder to live up to Judaism’s highest moral values and teachings by moving toward a vegetarian diet.

In addition to institutionalized abuses that are integral to the raising of animals for food, many undercover videos have revealed sadistic mistreatment of animals by workers.

But instead of taking the necessary steps to put an end to such abuses, the animal food industries would rather cover them up and keep the public in the dark as to how animals are treated on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. Their latest efforts involve the imposition of “ag-gag” laws, legislation that would criminalize the undercover videotaping of conditions at factory farms or slaughterhouses.

What do they have to hide? Apparently, quite a lot, or this legislation wouldn’t be so powerfully backed.

Rather than improving conditions for animals, something that would reduce their profits, the agribusiness industry prefers to enlist the government in keeping its “dirty secrets” of animal abuses, environmental hazards, and unsafe working conditions.

Amazingly, in this land of democracy and freedom, anti-whistle-blowing bills have passed in six states since 1990 (Iowa, Utah and Missouri, North Dakota, Montana and Kansas) and additional ones were proposed in eleven states in 2013 (Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Vermont). So far, none of the additional laws have passed.

In addition to being opposed by animal welfare groups, ag-gag laws are strongly contested by environmental, food justice, food safety, workers rights, civil liberties, public health, journalistic and First Amendment organizations. These groups include Humane Society of the US (HSUS), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Amnesty International USA, Farm Sanctuary, Food and Water Watch, Food Chain Workers Alliance, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, International Labor Rights Forum, National Consumers League, and United Farm Workers. Their statement of opposition includes: “These bills represent a wholesale assault on many fundamental values shared by all people across the United States. Not only would these bills perpetuate animal abuse on industrial farms, they would also threaten workers’ rights, consumer health and safety, law enforcement investigations and the freedom of journalists, employees and the public at large to share information about something as fundamental as our food supply.”

In addition to many local newspapers, the New York Times, Boston Globe and New Haven Register have editorialized against ag-gag laws.

These anti-whistleblower bills raise the key question, “What does animal agriculture have to hide?” What is going on behind the scene? Isn’t the public entitled to know how their food is produced? Perhaps there is some truth in Paul McCartney’s statement, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”

Our sages define the Jewish people as “rachmanim b’nei rachmanim (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors),” emulating the ways of God, Whose “compassion is over all His works.” (Psalms 145:9) Especially since Judaism places great stress on the production, preparation and consumption of food, for both ritualistic and ethical reasons, we should play an active role in opposing ag-gag laws and working to sharply reduce or eliminate abuses of farmed animals.

Some of the ways to do this are by spreading information about the available undercover videos of animal abuses, writing letters opposing op-ed laws to editors and state legislators, and increasing awareness that vegetarianism (and even more so, veganism) is most consistent with Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people, and that animal-based diets are having devastating effects on human health and the environment.

By Helene Defossez; translated from the French by Katie Chabriere: illustrated by Marc Defossez; New York: Lantern Books, 2014

Reviewed by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

A Plate of Resistance is a very welcome addition to the rapidly growing number of books on vegetarianism and veganism.

The book is relatively slim – only 141 pages, including a foreword, preface, bibliography, notes, and a list of background resources – and it does not aim to present a comprehensive coverage of all aspects of vegetarianism. What it does provide is a passionate, carefully argued, very readable case for why people should break through the present myopia and apathy, recognize the realities behind the production and consumption of meat and other animal products, and shift toward humane, healthy, compassionate, environmentally sustainable vegetarian diets.

The author speaks with the moral passion of the biblical prophets. She urges readers to join her in following the “emotions of the heart,” expressing an “impatience toward apathy,” rebelling “against all forms of injustice,” and recognizing and expressing the “importance of cooperation, solidarity, and caring for each other.” She expresses incomprehension and deep frustration at the inability or unwillingness of most people to recognize the irrationalities of raising and consuming animals.

Helping the book stand out compared to many other books that are centered on facts and statistics is that it is very personal and human, argued with great sensitivity and compassion. The author tells how her longtime vegetarian journey began at eight years of age, when she saw a rabbit beheaded, and was reinforced a few years later when “I saw a fish pulled from the water struggling for oxygen and twisting its body in a last desperate effort to live, … and when I saw the fisherman finishing the poor creature off by whacking it violently against the trunk of a tree.” Her childhood compassion grew into a lifelong philosophy and activism centered on efforts to increase awareness of the need to reduce abuses of animals.

Defossez skillfully combats rationalizations that meat eating is natural, traditional, and consistent with reason. In addition to presenting basic arguments for vegetarianism based on health and compassion, she also stresses that providing a decent world for future generations depends on a shift away from animal-based diets and agriculture, since the raising of animals for slaughter on factory farms is a major contributor to climate change, deforestation, the wasteful use of land, grain, and water, and other environmental problems.

The book’s title and subtitle have deep meaning in today’s world. When one has vegan food on one’s plate it is indeed “a plate of resistance,” resistance to a system that is taken for granted by most people but is abusive to billions of farmed animals, harmful to human health, and devastating to the environment. The book’s argument that vegetarianism is a “response to world violence” is very relevant today as military experts warn that climate change, increased greatly by animal-based agriculture, can multiply violence, as many millions of desperate hungry, thirsty refugees flee from severe droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods.

A Plate of Resistance has the potential of inspiring veg activists to become more active and non-vegetarians who feel somewhat guilty about their diets to give up eating meat and other animal products. I highly recommend it.

From the following I learned that I should be an environmental activist, working to help preserve the world:

In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: “See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

From the following and the rabbinic commentaries on it I learned that I should avoid destruction and should conserve resources:

When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy (lo tashchit) the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them, but you must not cut the down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, that you may build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall. (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20)

The following helped convince me that I should be a vegan:

And God said: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

From the following I learned that as a Jew I should strive to serve as a positive example:

And they came to Elim, where were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees; and they encamped here by the waters. (Deuteronomy 15:27) Rabeynu Bachya saw a much deeper message. He stated that the 12 springs represented the 12 tribes and the 70 palm trees represented the 70 then nations of the world. He stated that just as the 12 springs nourished the 70 palm trees, the 12 tribes (the Jewish people) should serve to “nourish” the world by serving as a good example.

From the following I learned to consider the consequences of my actions on future generations:

While the sage Choni was walking along a road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Choni asked him: “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” “Seventy years,” replied the man. Choni then asked: “Are you so healthy a man that you expect to live that length of time and eat its fruit?” The man answered: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise, I am planting for my children.” (Ta’anis 23b)

From the following I learned how important it is to be involved in the natural world:

In order to serve God, one needs access to the enjoyment of the beauties of nature – meadows full of flowers, majestic mountains, flowing rivers. For all these are essential to the spiritual development of even the holiest of people. (Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides, cited by Rabbi David E. Stein in A Garden of Choice Fruits, Shomrei Adamah, 1991).

From the following I learned the importance of acting on my knowledge and beliefs:

Whoever has more wisdom than deeds is like a tree with many branches but few roots, and the wind shall tear him from the ground… Whoever has more deeds than wisdom is like a tree with more roots than branches, and no hurricane will uproot him from the spot. (Pirke Avot 3:17)

From the following I learned the importance of working for a more peaceful world:

And He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide concerning mighty nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken. (Micah 4:3-5)

Last but far from least, from the following I leaned how the Torah is a guide to a happy, productive, and fulfilling life:

1. And God said: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

2. In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: “See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

3. When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy (lo tashchit) the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them, but you must not cut the down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, that you may build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall. (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20)

4. And they came to Elim, where were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees; and they encamped here by the waters. (Deuteronomy 15:27) Rabeynu Bachya saw a much deeper message. He stated that the 12 springs represented the 12 tribes and the 70 palm trees represented the 70 then nations of the world. He stated that just as the 12 springs nourished the 70 palm trees, the 12 tribes (the Jewish people) should serve to “nourish” the world by serving as a good example.

5. Happy is the man … who delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. (Psalms 1: 1-3)

6. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12)

7. Rabbi Shimon said, “The shade spread over us by these trees is so pleasant! We must crown this place with words of Torah.” (Zohar, 2:127a)

8. While the sage Choni was walking along a road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Choni asked him: “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” “Seventy years,” replied the man. Choni then asked: “Are you so healthy a man that you expect to live that length of time and eat its fruit?” The man answered: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise, I am planting for my children.”

9. Shimon bar Yochai taught that “if you are holding a sapling in your hand, and someone says that the Messiah has drawn near, first plant the sapling, and then go and greet the Messiah.” (Avot d’Rebbe Natan 31b)

10. For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people. (Isaiah 65:22)

11. He will be like a tree planted near water… (Jeremiah 17:8)

12. R’ Abba taught: There is no greater revealing of redemption than that which the verse states: “And you, mountains of Israel, you shall give forth your branches and you shall bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they shall soon come.” (Ezekiel 36:8; Talmud Sanhedrin 98a)

13. It is forbidden to cut down fruit-bearing trees outside a besieged city, nor may a water channel be deflected from them so that they wither. Whoever cuts down a fruit-bearing tree is flogged. This penalty is imposed not only for cutting it down during a siege; whenever a fruit-yielding tree is cut down with destructive intent, flogging is incurred. It may be cut down, however, if it causes damage to other trees or to a field belonging to another man or if its value for other purposes is greater. The Law forbids only wanton destruction… Not only one who cuts down trees, but also one who smashes household goods, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops up a spring, or destroys articles of food with destructive intent transgresses the command “you must not destroy.” Such a person is not flogged, but is administered a disciplinary beating imposed by the Rabbis. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:8,10)

14. Rabbi Simon said, “There is no plant without an angel in Heaven tending it and telling it, ‘Grow!’” (Genesis Rabba 10:7).

15. And I will restore my people Israel and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine, they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit. (Amos 9:14)

16. Israel is like the date palm, of which none is wasted; its dates are for eating, its lulavim are for blessing; its fronds are for thatching; its fibers are for ropes; its webbing for sieves; its thick trunks for building – so it is with Israel, which contains no waste. (Genesis Rabbah 41)

17. And G-d said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is on the earth,” and it was so. And the earth blossomed with grass, herbs and trees, and G-d saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-13)

18. Everyone will sit under their vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid; for the Lord of Hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4)

19. And God said: “Let the earth put forth grass, herb-yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit of its kind.” “Fruit tree” means the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which put forth blossoms and fruit. “Bearing fruit” is the tzaddik, the basis of the world. ‘Of its kind’ means all the human beings who have in them the spirit of holiness, which is the blossom of that tree. This is the covenant of holiness, the covenant of peace — and the faithful enter into that kind and do not depart from it. The Tzaddik generates, and the tree conceives and brings forth fruit of its kind. (Zohar – Bereishit 33a)

20. “My teacher [the holy Arizal] used to say that one must intend while eating the fruits [at the Tu B'Shvat Seder] to repair the sin of Adam who erred by eating fruit from the tree.” (Rabbi Chaim Vital)

21. In order to serve God, one needs access to the enjoyment of the beauties of nature – meadows full of flowers, majestic mountains, flowing rivers. For all these are essential to the spiritual development of even the holiest of people. (Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides, cited by Rabbi David E. Stein in A Garden of Choice Fruits, Shomrei Adamah, 1991).

22. Once, when Rav Abraham Kook was walking in the fields, lost deep in thought, the young student with him inadvertently plucked a leaf off a branch. Rav Kook was visibly shaken by this act, and turning to his companion he said gently, “Believe me when I tell you I never simply pluck a leaf or a blade of grass or any living thing, unless I have to.” He explained further, “Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and breathing forth a secret of the divine mystery of the Creation.” For the first time the young student understood what it means to show compassion to all creatures. (Wisdom of the Mystics)

23. No part of the date palm is wasted:
The fruit is eaten,
the embryonic branches (lulav) are used for the Four Species of Sukkot,
the mature fronds can cover a sukka,
the fibers between the branches can make strong ropes,
the leaves can be woven into mats and baskets,
the trunks can be used for rafters.
Similarly, no one is worthless in Israel:
some are scholars,
some do good deeds,
and some work for social justice.
(Midrash Numbers Rabba 3.1)

22. Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and bringing forth a secret of the divine mystery of creation (Rav Kook)

23. The tree of life has five hundred thousand kinds of fruit, each differing in taste. The appearance of one fruit is not like the appearance of the other, and the fragrance of one fruit is not like the fragrance of the other. Clouds of glory hover above the tree, and from the four directions winds blow on it, so that its fragrance is wafted from world’s end to world’s end.” (Yalkut Bereishit 2)

24. The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that “On Tu B’Shevat most of the winter rain has already passed, and the roots of the trees begin to suckle from the new rains of the current winter, and no longer suckle from last year’s rains.”

25. How can a person of flesh and blood follow God? … God, from the very beginning of creation, was occupied before all else with planting, as it is written, “And first of all [mi-kedem, usually translated as "in the East"], the Eternal God planted a Garden in Eden [Genesis 2:8] Therefore … occupy yourselves first and foremost with planting (Leviticus Rabbah 25:3).

26. [The Torah compares humans to trees] because, like humans, trees have the power to grow. And as humans have children, so trees bear fruit. And when a human is hurt, cries of pain are heard throughout the world, so when a tree is chopped down, its cries are heard throughout the world. (Rashi)

27. When a tree that bears fruit is cut down, its moan goes from one end of the world to the other, yet no sound is heard (Pirket de-R. Eliezar 34)

28. Whoever has more wisdom than deeds is like a tree with many branches but few roots, and the wind shall tear him from the ground… Whoever has more deeds than wisdom is like a tree with more roots than branches, and no hurricane will uproot him from the spot. (Pirke Avot 3:17)

29. I shall bring you an example of what this resembles. It is like a man, who wanders in the desert, weak with hunger, exhaustion and thirst, and finds a tree with sweet fruits and shady leaves, beneath which is a source of water. He eats the fruit, drinks the water and rests in the shade. When it comes time to leave, he thinks: “O, tree, how shall I thank you? If I say, “May your fruit be sweet” – they are already sweet; shall I say, “May your shade be beautiful?” – it is so; or, “May your roots find moisture?” – they already have it. So I shall say, “May everything which comes from you resemble you.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit, p.5)

30. It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches. (Gittin 57a)

31. Rabbi Yaakov Said: “When A Person Walks On A Journey Reviewing [A Passage Of The Torah], And Interrupts His Study To Remark: ‘How Beautiful Is This Tree! How Beautiful Is This Plowed Field!’ [The Torah] Considers It As If He Were Guilty Of A Mortal Sin.” (Pirke Avot 3:9)

32. A tree of life to those who hold fast to it,
and all who cling to it find happiness. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace. (Proverbs 3:17-18)

33. And I will turn the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. (Amos 9:14)

34. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. (Ezekiel 34:27-28)

35. And He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide concerning mighty nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken.
For let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever. (Micah 4:3-5)

36. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together; That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

While four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk at the Passover Seder, the four cups drunk at the Tu Bishvat Seder vary in color from white to pink to ruby to red.

While Passover is a holiday of springtime, Tu Bishvat considers the changing seasons from winter to autumn, as symbolized by the changing colors of the wine or grape juice, to remind us of God’s promise of renewal and rebirth.

While Passover commemorates the redemption of the Israelites, Tu Bishvat considers the redemption of humanity; the kabbalists of Safed who inaugurated the Tu Bishvat Seder regarded the eating of the many fruits with appropriate blessings and kavannah (intentions) on Tu Bishvat as a tikkun (repair) for the sin of Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

While other Jewish holidays honor or commemorate events and people, Tu Bishvat honors trees, fruits, and other aspects of nature.

While people generally eat whatever fruits are in season, on Tu Bishvat people eat fruits from Israel, especially the seven species and other fruits mentioned in the Torah.

While people generally take the environment for granted, on Tu Bishvat there is an emphasis on the proper stewardship of the environment.

While people do not generally think about trees in the winter, there is much interest in trees on Tu Bishvat, although the spring is still months away.

While people generally think of Israel as the land of the Bible, as the Jewish people’s ancestral home, and as the modern Jewish homeland, on Tu Bishvat people think of Israel in terms of its orchards, vineyards, and olive groves.

While people generally think of fruit as something to be purchased at a supermarket or produce store, on Tu Bishvat people think of fruit as tokens of God’s kindness.

While people generally try to approach God through prayer, meditation, and study, on Tu Bishvat people try to reach God by eating fruit, reciting blessings with the proper concentration, and by considering the wonders of God’s creation.

While many people eat all kinds of food, including meat and dairy products, during most Jewish holidays and on most other days, the Tu Bishvat Seder in which fruits and nuts are eaten, along with the singing of songs and the recitation of Biblical verses related to trees and fruits, is the only sacred meal where only vegetarian, actually vegan, foods are eaten as part of the ritual.

While people generally look on the onset of a new year as a time to assess how they have been doing and to consider their hopes for the new year, Tu Bishvat is the New Year for Trees, when the fate of trees is decided.

While most Jewish holidays have a fixed focus, Tu Bishvat has changed over the years from a holiday that initially marked the division of the year for tithing purposes to one in which, successively, the eating of fruits, then the planting of trees in Israel, and most recently responses to modern environmental crises have became major parts of the holiday.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach once quipped that the most important Jewish holidays are the ones that are least celebrated. While there has been increasing interest in Tu Bishvat recently, this holiday that is so rich in symbolism and important messages for today is still not considered to any great extent by most Jews. Let us hope that this will soon change and that an increased emphasis on Tu Bishvat and its important lessons will help revitalize Judaism and help shift our precious, but imperiled, planet to a sustainable path.

As indicated in my article below, a major societal shift by Jews (and others) to veg diets is essential to efforts to avert a looming climate catastrophe, major food, water, and energy scarcities, and other potential environmental disasters.

“Environmental Catastrophes or a Sustainable Future? It Depends on Our Food Choices” at
http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/EnvironmentalCatastrophesOr.html

My experience has shown that it is not easy to get Jews (and others) to make dietary changes. However, we have a powerful case because animal-based diets and agriculture violate basic Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people. This is discussed in my article “Should Jews be Vegetarians?” at
http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/should_jews.html and many more of my articles at www.Jewishveg.com/schwartz.

Unfortunately, in spite of our trying to spread this message for many years, it is apparent that our progress has not been sufficient. I think we need to start a major campaign to contact many rabbis, Jewish educators, Hillel directors, editors of Jewish publications, and others, and respectfully urge them to address the many moral issues related to the production and consumption of meat and other animal products. Because shifts to plant-based diets are so important, we should be persistent and use many different approaches, including letters to editors, calls to talk shows, and questions to online “Ask the Rabbi” websites. One approach is indicated in my article, “A Dialogue Between a Jewish Vegetarian Activist and a Rabbi” at http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/dialogue.html

One specific approach is to continue and expand our efforts to restore the ancient New Year for Animals (Rosh Hashanah LaBeheimot) and to transform it into a day dedicated to increasing awareness of Judaism’s beautiful teachings about compassion to animals and how far the realities of factory farming and other animal abuses is from these teachings. This is discussed in my article, “An Audacious Initiative to Restore the Ancient New Year for Animals” at http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/AudaciousInitiative.html

Other specific suggestions are in my article, “Ten Ways to Create a Vegetarian World”” at http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/tenways.html

Since dietary shifts are so important to leaving a decent world for future generations, suggestions about the approaches mentioned above are very welcome.

==========

Jewish Vegetarian Activist: Shalom rabbi..

Rabbi: Shalom. Good to see you.

JVA: Rabbi, I have been meaning to speak to you for some time about an issue, but I have hesitated because I know how busy you are, but I think this issue is very important.

Rabbi: Well, that sounds interesting. I am never too busy to consider important issues. What do you have in mind?

JVA: I have been reading a lot recently about the impacts of our diets on our health and the environment and about Jewish teachings related to our diets. I wonder if I can discuss the issues with you and perhaps it can be put on the synagogue’s agenda for further consideration.

Rabbi: I would be happy to discuss this with you. But, I hope that you are aware that Judaism does permit the eating of meat. Some scholars feel that it is obligatory to eat meat on Shabbat and holidays.

JVA: Yes, I recognize that Judaism permits people to eat meat. Jewish vegetarians do not argue that Jews must be vegetarians. We recognize that people have a choice, but we feel that this choice should consider basic Jewish teachings and how animal-based diets and modern intensive livestock agriculture impinge on these teachings. For example, we should recognize the current and increasing tension between the permission to consume animals for human benefit and the extremely cruel treatment they now receive in preparation for such consumption on factory farms, which have become more prevalent in response to population increase and efficiency and cost concerns. With regard to eating meat on Shabbat and holidays, according to the Talmud (T. B. Pesachim 109a), since the destruction of the Temple, Jews are not required to eat meat in order to rejoice on sacred occasions. This view is reinforced in the works Reshit Chochmah and Kerem Shlomo and Rabbi Chizkiah Medini’s Sdei Chemed, which cites many classical sources on the subject. Several Israeli chief rabbis, including Shlomo Goren, late Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, and Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa, have been or are vegetarians. Also, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom is a vegetarian, as is Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland.

Rabbi: we also should recognize that there is much in the Torah and the Talmud about which animals are kosher and about the proper way to slaughter animals. So eating meat is certainly not foreign to Judaism.

VJA: Yes, that is certainly true. But, there is also much in the Torah and our other sacred writings that point to vegetarianism as the ideal Jewish diet. For example, as the Torah verse below indicates, God’s initial intention was that people be vegetarians.

And God said: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” Genesis 1:29

The foremost Jewish Torah commentator, Rashi, states the following about God’s first dietary plan: “God did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature to eat its flesh. Only every green herb were they to all eat together.” Most Torah commentators, including Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, Maimonides, Nachmanides, and Rabbi Joseph Albo, agree with Rashi.

In addition, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel and a major Jewish 20th century writer and philosopher, believed that the messianic period would also be vegetarian. He based this on Isaiah’s powerful prophecy that “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, … the lion shall eat straw like the ox…. and no one shall hurt nor destroy in all of God’s holy mountain… ” (Isaiah 11:6-9). Hence the two idea times in Jewish thought – the Garden of Eden and the messianic period – are vegetarian.

Rabbi: I have to tell you one thing that concerns me. Jews historically have had many problems with some animal rights groups, which have often opposed shechita (ritual slaughter) and advocated its abolishment. Some have even made outrageous comparisons between the Holocaust and the slaughter of animals for food.

JVA: Jews should consider switching to vegetarianism not because of the views of animal rights groups, whether they are hostile to Judaism or not, but because it is the diet most consistent with Jewish teachings. It is the Torah, not animal rights groups, which is the basis for observing how far current animal treatment has strayed from fundamental Jewish values. As Samson Raphael Hirsch stated: “Here you are faced with God’s teaching, which obliges you not only to refrain from inflicting unnecessary pain on any animal, but to help and, when you can, to lessen the pain whenever you see an animal suffering, even through no fault of yours.”

Rabbi: Another concern is with two teachings in Genesis: The Torah teaches that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26) and that only people are created in the Divine Image (Genesis 1:26, 5:1). I fear that vegetarians are promoting a philosophy inconsistent with these Torah teachings, hence potentially reducing the sacredness of human life and the dignity of human beings.

JVA: I think that if we explain how Judaism interprets these important verses, we can go a long way to reduce this potential problem. As you know, Jewish tradition interprets “dominion” as guardianship, or stewardship: we are called upon to be co-workers with God in improving the world. Dominion does not mean that people have the right to wantonly exploit animals, and it certainly does not permit us to breed animals and treat them as machines designed solely to meet human needs. This view is reinforced by the fact that immediately after God gave humankind dominion over animals, He prescribed vegetarian foods as the diet for humans (Genesis 1:29). While the Torah states that only human beings are created “in the Divine Image,” animals are also God’s creatures, possessing sensitivity and the capacity for feeling pain. God is concerned that they are protected and treated with compassion and justice. In fact, the Jewish sages state that to be “created in the Divine Image,” means that people have the capacity to emulate the Divine compassion for all creatures. “As God is compassionate,” they teach, “so you should be compassionate.”

Rabbi: Yes, these are good points, but some vegetarians elevate animals to a level equal to or greater than that of people. This is certainly inconsistent with Judaism.

JVA: Vegetarians’ concern for animals and their refusal to treat them cruelly does not mean that vegetarians regard animals as being equal to people. There are many reasons for being vegetarian other than consideration for animals, including concerns about human health, ecological threats, and the plight of hungry people. Because humans are capable of imagination, rationality, empathy, compassion, and moral choice, we should strive to end the unbelievably cruel conditions under which farm animals are currently raised. This is an issue of sensitivity, not an assertion of equality with the animal kingdom.

Rabbi: Another issue to be considered is that, with all the problems facing humanity today, can we devote much time to consider animals and which diets we should have?

JVA: Vegetarian diets are not beneficial only to animals. They improve human health, help conserve food and other resources, and put less strain on endangered ecosystems. In view of the many threats caused or worsened by today’s intensive livestock agriculture (such as deforestation, global climate change, and rapid species extinction), working to promote vegetarianism may be the most important action that one can take for global sustainability. In addition, a switch toward vegetarianism would reduce the epidemic of heart disease, various types of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases that have been strongly linked to the consumption of animal products.

Rabbi: Perhaps I am playing the devil’s advocate here, but by putting vegetarian values ahead of Jewish teachings, aren’t vegetarians, in effect, creating a new religion with values contrary to Jewish teachings.

JVA: Jewish vegetarians are not placing so-called ‘vegetarian values’ above Torah principles but are challenging the Jewish community to apply Judaism’s splendid teachings at every level of our daily lives. Vegetarians argue that Jewish teachings about treating animals with compassion, guarding our health, sharing with hungry people, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and seeking peace, are all best applied through vegetarian diets.

Rabbi: What about the Torah teachings about animal sacrifices and that Jews have to eat korban Pesach (the Passover sacrifice) and parts of other animal sacrifices?

JVA: The great Jewish philosopher Maimonides believed that God permitted sacrifices as a concession to the common mode of worship in Biblical times. It was felt that had Moses not instituted the sacrifices, his mission would have failed and Judaism might have disappeared. The Jewish philosopher Abarbanel reinforced Maimonides’ position by citing a midrash (rabbinic teaching) that indicates God tolerated the sacrifices because the Israelites had become accustomed to sacrifices in Egypt, but that He commanded they be offered only in one central sanctuary in order to wean the Jews from idolatrous practices. Rav Kook and others believed that in the Messianic period, human conduct will have improved to such a degree that animal sacrifices will not be necessary to atone for sins. There will only be non-animal sacrifices to express thanks to God.

Rabbi: You have correctly pointed out that Jews must treat animals with compassion. However, the restrictions of shechita minimize the pain to animals in the slaughtering process, and thus fulfill Jewish laws on proper treatment of animals.

JVA: Yes, but can we ignore the cruel treatment of animals on “factory farms” in the many months prior to slaughter. Can we ignore the force-feeding of huge amounts of grain to ducks and geese to produce foie gras, the removal of calves from their mothers shortly after birth to raise them for veal, the killing of over 250 million male chicks immediately after birth at egg-laying hatcheries in the U.S. annually, the placing of hens in cages so small that they can’t raise even one wing, and the many other horrors of modern factory farming?

Rabbi: As a rabbi, I feel that I must point out that if Jews do not eat meat, they will be deprived of the opportunity to fulfill many mitzvot (commandments).

JVA: By not eating meat, Jews are actually fulfilling many mitzvot: showing compassion to animals, protecting health, conserving resources, helping to feed the hungry, and preserving the earth. And by abstaining from meat, Jews reduce the chance of accidentally violating several prohibitions of the Torah, such as mixing meat and milk, eating non-kosher animals, and eating forbidden fats or blood. There are other cases where Torah laws regulate things that God would prefer people not do at all. For example, God wishes people to live in peace, but he provides commandments relating to war, knowing that human beings will quarrel and seek victories over others. Similarly, the Torah laws that restrict taking female captives in wartime are a concession to human weakness. Indeed, the sages go to great lengths to deter people from taking advantage of such dispensations.

Rabbi: Judaism teaches that it is wrong not to take advantage of the pleasurable things that God has put on the earth. Since He put animals on the earth, and it is pleasurable to eat them, is it not wrong to refrain from eating meat?

JVA: Can eating meat be pleasurable to a sensitive person when he or she knows that, as a result, their health is endangered, grain is wasted, the environment is damaged, and animals are being cruelly treated? One can indulge in pleasure without doing harm to living creatures. There are many other cases in Judaism where actions that people may consider pleasurable are forbidden or discouraged – such as the use of tobacco, drinking liquor to excess, having sexual relations out of wedlock, and hunting.

Rabbi: As you know the laws of kashrut (dietary laws) are very important in Judaism. But, a movement by Jews toward vegetarianism would lead to less emphasis on kashrut, and eventually possibly a disregard of these laws.

JVA: I believe that there would be just the opposite effect. In many ways, becoming a vegetarian makes it easier and less expensive to observe the laws of kashrut. This might attract many new adherents to keeping kosher, and eventually to other important Jewish practices. As a vegetarian, one need not be concerned with mixing milchigs (dairy products) with fleichigs (meat products), waiting three or six hours after eating meat before being allowed to eat dairy products, storing four complete sets of dishes (two for regular use and two for Passover use), extra silverware, pots, pans, etc., and many other considerations incumbent upon the non-vegetarian who wishes to observe kashrut.

Rabbi: I must express a concern for the livelihood of some of my congregants and other Jews. If everyone became vegetarian, butchers, shochtim (slaughterers), and others dependent for a living on the consumption of meat would lack work.

JVA: There could be a shift from the production of animal products to that of nutritious vegetarian dishes. In England during World War II, when there was a shortage of meat, butchers relied mainly on the sale of fruits and vegetables. Today, new businesses could sell tofu, miso, felafel, soy burgers, and vegetarian cholent (Sabbath hot dish). Besides, the shift toward vegetarianism will be gradual, providing time for a transition to other jobs. The same kind of question can be asked about other moral issues. What would happen to arms merchants if we had universal peace? What would happen to some doctors and nurses if people took better care of themselves, stopped smoking, improved their diets, and so on? Immoral or inefficient practices should not be supported because some people earn a living in the process.

Rabbi: If vegetarianism solves some problems, doesn’t it create others. For example, if everyone became vegetarian, wouldn’t animals overrun the earth?

JVA: Respectfully, this concern is based on an insufficient understanding of animal behavior. For example, there are millions of turkeys around at Thanksgiving not because they want to help celebrate the holiday, but because farmers breed them for the dinner table. Dairy cows are artificially inseminated annually so that they will constantly produce milk. Before the establishment of modern intensive livestock agriculture, food supply and demand kept animal populations relatively steady. An end to the manipulation of animals’ reproductive tendencies to suit our needs would lead to a decrease, rather than an increase, in the number of animals. We are not overrun by animals that we do not eat, such as lions, elephants, and crocodiles.

Rabbi: Instead of advocating vegetarianism, shouldn’t we alleviate the evils of factory farming so that animals are treated better, less grain is wasted, and less health-harming chemicals are used.

JVA: The breeding of animals is “big business.” Animals are raised the way they are today because it is very profitable. Improving conditions, as suggested by this assertion, would certainly be a step in the right direction, but it has been strongly resisted by the meat industry since it would greatly increase already high prices. Why not abstain from eating meat as a protest against present policies while trying to improve them? Even under the best of conditions, why take the life of a creature of God, “Whose tender mercies are over all His creatures” (Psalms 145:9), when it is not necessary for proper nutrition?

Rabbi: If vegetarian diets were best for health, wouldn’t doctors recommend them?

JVA: Unfortunately, while doctors are devoted to the well-being of their patients, many lack information about the basic relationship between food and health, because nutrition is not sufficiently taught at most medical schools. Also, many patients are resistant to making dietary changes. The accepted approach today seems to be to prescribe medications first and, perhaps, recommend a diet change as an afterthought. However, there now seems to be increasing awareness on the part of doctors about the importance of proper nutrition, but the financial power of the beef and dairy lobbies and other groups who gain from the status quo prevents rapid changes. Experts on nutrition, including the American and Canadian dietetic associations stress the many health benefits of plant-centered diets.

Rabbi: Some of my congregants would respond: I enjoy eating meat. Why should I give it up?

JVA: If one is solely motivated by what will bring pleasure, perhaps no answer to this question would be acceptable. But, as you well know, Judaism wishes us to be motivated by far more: doing mitzvot, performing good deeds and acts of charity, sanctifying ourselves in the realm of the permissible, helping to feed the hungry, pursuing justice and peace, etc. Even if one is primarily motivated by considerations of pleasure and convenience, the negative health effects of animal-centered diets should be taken into account. One cannot enjoy life when one is not in good health.

Rabbi: Well, I am sure that there are other questions that should be addressed. But I think that you have made the case for at least having a broad discussion of the Jewish and universal issues related to our diets. Why don’t you form a committee with members of different viewpoints and set up a forum at which all of the issues related to our diets can be discussed?

No offense to any Neanderthals.

But The Beet-Eating Heeb, for one, might have to revise his assessment of Israel’s Rabbinical leadership.

On one issue that is near and dear to BEH’s heart, and probably to yours as well, the newly elected Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel recently made a very enlightened statement. And BEH is all for giving credit where credit is due.

Chief Rabbi Lau, after viewing televised footage of horrific abuses of animals at (yet another) kosher slaughterhouse, issued an unusually strong statement of condemnation.

His statement came in response to seeing chickens packed in filthy cages without food or water, writhing turkeys tossed into metal boxes with their throats cut, and several other forms of cruelty at a Soglowek slaughterhouse in Northern Israel.

“As a human being and as a Jew, I was shocked by the footage, by the brutal behavior of those employees toward helpless animals,” said Lau, according to Israel’s Ynet website. “Such things shouldn’t happen. The Torah forbids us to act in this way and obliges us to be extra vigilant with regard to animal welfare. We cannot remain silent in the face of such things. We will act firmly and sternly against this factory.”

The slaughterhouse, after a brief closure, has reopened. It remains to be seen whether Soglowek will improve its practices.

Nonetheless, Lau’s tough talk heartened The Beet-Eating Heeb for two reasons.

The rabbi specifically invoked “tzar baalei chaim,” the Jewish prohibition on inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals. He acknowledged the reality that the laws of kosher slaughter only apply to the last seconds of an animal’s life. What happens in the modern factory farm and during transport to the slaughterhouse typically involves multiple forms of cruelty, but is not governed by kashrut.

Second, Lau’s response to the Soglowek scandal stands out in vivid contrast to how America’s kashrut establishment has reacted to similar situations in U.S. slaughterhouses.

The most obvious example is the infamous Agriprocessors case, in which undercover investigators from 2004-2008 documented shocking cruelty at what was then the world’s largest glatt-kosher slaughterhouse. In response, the Orthodox Union, the country’s largest kosher-certification agency, repeatedly denied that anything was amiss.

Indeed, the Orthodox Union engaged in a public-relations campaign on behalf of Agriprocessors, essentially telling kosher consumers, and veterinary experts, not to believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.

Don’t take The Beet-Eating Heeb’s word for it, although you certainly can. Documentary evidence of the OU’s shenanigans can be found in the archives of the OU’s own Website.

Why would Orthodox rabbis bend over backwards to defend the perpetrators of cruelty?

BEH can answer in one word: Money.

The OU is the United States' largest certifier of kosher products. It’s a very big business. The amount of money that the OU collects from kosher certification is not available on Guidestar, but suffice it to say, the total amount has quite a few zeros.

Agriprocessors was the sordid intersection of the country’s largest slaughterhouse and largest kosher certifier. Compassion, ethics, and concern for animals didn’t stand much of a chance. Neither did Judaism or Jewish values, for that matter.

Mark BEH’s words. There will be another Agriprocessors. There will be another videotaped, well-documented case of heart-wrenching, stomach-turning cruelty at a large American kosher slaughterhouse.

After all, kosher slaughter in the modern, factory-farming era resembles an assembly line. Make that a disassembly line. The point is, the sheer volume of animals, and the rapid line speed of the slaughter, all but ensures that cruelty will occur.

We can only hope that next time, America’s Orthodox rabbinate will not sacrifice compassion on the altar of economic expediency.

For the first time since 1888 and then not again for about 78,000 years (!), Chanukah and American Thanksgiving coincide this year on Thursday, November 28. Some are calling it Thanksgivukah. Some are calling it another miracle! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Hope springs eternal. Indeed, it's always been an integral part of Jewish and American history, spirituality, and politics. Without hope, there wouldn’t be a Chanukah; without hope, there might not even be a Jewish community; without hope, there might not be democracy or America. That’s the power of radical hope!

Thanksgiving was established as a national holiday by President Lincoln 150 years ago, although various days of thanksgiving were celebrated since the early 1600s in America. Chanukah has been celebrated for 2178 years. The two holidays are united in our gratitude for Light, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Latkes.

Jewish survival is a miracle of hope. Increasing light at the darkest time of the year to celebrate Chanukah and Jewish survival is also a miracle. Each year, we should be grateful for our miracles and we should work and hope for further miracles.

We sincerely hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of this spiritually meaningful holiday of Thanksgivukah by making it a time to strive even harder to live up to Judaism's and America’s highest moral values and teachings. For most of us, we certainly don’t need more "things" in our homes or more food in our bellies; instead, we need more meaning, purpose, gratitude, and spirit in our lives. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. One significant way we can do this, on a daily basis, is by moving towards vegetarianism.

Chanukah commemorates the single small container of pure olive oil — expected to be enough for only one day — which, according to the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), miraculously lasted for eight days in the rededicated Temple on the 25th of Kislev 165 BCE, exactly two years after it was defiled by the Syrian-Greeks, who were ruled by the tyrannical King Antiochus IV. In kabalistic (Jewish mystical) thought, according to Avi Lazerson, "oil is symbolic of chochmah (wisdom), the highest aspect of the intellect from which inspirational thought is derived."

A switch to vegetarianism would be using our wisdom and compassion to help inspire another great miracle: the end of the tragedy of world hunger, therefore ensuring the survival of tens of millions of people annually. Currently, from one-third to one-half of the world’s grain, and about three-quarters of major food crops in the U.S. (e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans, oats, alfalfa), is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while about one billion poor people chronically suffer from malnutrition and its debilitating effects, tens of thousands of them consequently dying each day, one every few seconds.

Hundreds of millions of turkeys are bred in unnatural and brutal conditions, leading to injuries and ill health first for them and eventually for their consumers. Maimonides, the great rabbi, physician, and scholar known as the Rambam, who wrote that the pain of people is the same as the pain of other animals (Guide for the Perplexed), ruled that one must literally sell the clothes one is wearing, if necessary, to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the menorah and celebrating the miracle (Hil. Chanukah 4:12). Uniting physical needs and spiritual needs is vitally important for the body, the mind, and the spirit. In the joyous process of celebrating our holidays, other beings shouldn’t have to be enslaved, tortured, and killed by our tyranny over them. No one should ever have to die on our account.

Chanukah represents the victory of the idealistic and courageous few, over the seemingly invincible power and dominant values of the surrounding society. We learn through both our religious studies and history that might does not make right, even if it sometimes rules the moment. Therefore, quality is more important than quantity; spirituality is more vital than materialism, though each is necessary. "Not by might and not by power, but by My spirit," says Zechariah 4:6, part of the prophetic reading for Shabbat Chanukah. Today, vegetarians are relatively few in number, though growing, but the highest ideals and spirit of Judaism and America are on their side.

According to the Book of Macabees, some Macabees lived on plant foods — to “avoid being polluted” — when they hid in caves and in the mountains to escape capture. Further, the major foods associated with Chanukah, latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts), are vegetarian foods — as is chocolate gelt! — and the vegetable oils that are used in their preparation are a reminder of the pure vegetable oil (olive) used in the lighting of the Temple’s Menorah.

The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus. One day's oil was able to last for eight days in the Temple, a miracle of resource conservation. Conservation and energy-efficiency are sacred acts and vegetarianism allows resources to go much further, since far less oil, water, land, topsoil, chemicals, labor, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets, while far less waste, pollution, and greenhouse gases are produced. For example, it can require up to 78 calories of non-renewable fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from factory-farmed beef, whether kosher or otherwise, but only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans. We increasingly need to incorporate this ecological ethic into the fabric of America, Israel, and everywhere else.

Reducing our use of oil by shifting away from the mass production and consumption of meat — thereby making supplies last longer, freeing us from our dangerous dependence on oil as well as oily authoritarian governments, and diminishing the availability of petro-dollar funds for terrorists and others — would surely be a fitting way to celebrate Thanksgivukah. By conserving oil, commemorating how one’s day’s worth of oil lasted for eight, and by reducing our dependence on it, we can create what Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center calls a “green menorah”, green Chanukah, and a green Thanksgiving. In this way, we support ethical lifestyles and holy communities on this holiday and throughout the year.

In addition to resource conservation and economic efficiency, a switch toward vegetarianism would greatly benefit the health of individuals, the condition of our environment, and would sharply reduce the suffering and death of billions of animals and millions of people. Further, the social, psychological, and spiritual benefits should not be underestimated. Many people who switch to a veg diet report feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually better. And more and more Jews and others are doing just that!

Chanukah also represents the triumph of idealistic non-conformity. Like the Hebrew prophets, the Macabees fought for their inner beliefs, rather than conforming to external pressure. They were willing to proudly exclaim: this we believe, this we stand for, this we are willing to struggle for. Like the great Prophets and the celebrated Macabees, and like our revolutionary leaders and abolitionists, vegetarians represent this type of progressive non-conformity by an inspired minority. At a time when most people, especially in wealthier countries, think of animal products as the main part of their meals, vegetarians and vegans are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more compassionate, more environmentally sustainable, and ethical choice, one that better fits with our religious values and philosophical beliefs.

Jewish sages compare candles to our souls and the light to the Torah (Proverbs 20:27), noting that the fire of a candle always strives to go upward. In this way, we kindle souls with the ethical light of our tradition. Candles are lit for each of the eight nights of Chanukah, symbolizing a turning from darkness to light, from despair to hope, from oppression to miracles. According to the prophet Isaiah, the role of Jews is to be a "light unto the nations" (Isaiah 42:6). "Light is sown for the righteous" (Psalm 97:11) and, as our sages have said, it only takes a little light to dispel much darkness. Veg activists are like the shamesh, the servant candle, which helps to spread light without itself being diminished. We do not lose anything by helping others and ourselves; indeed, we gain in righteousness. Vegetarianism and veganism can be an effective way of adding light and hope to the darkness of a world still suffering with factory farms and slaughterhouses — and their attendant negative consequences — as well as with other systems and symbols of violence and oppression.

The word Chanukah means dedication, while the Hebrew root of the word means education. Thanksgiving, of course, implies giving thanks. Each year, we should re-educate ourselves about the horrible realities of factory farming and slaughterhouses, as well as re-dedicate and beautify our inner temples, giving thanks for what we have. We can do this by practicing the powerful Jewish teachings and highest values of Judaism, as another way to “proclaim the miracle” of Chanukah and Jewish renewal. These sacred values and holy deeds (mitzvot) include compassion for others, including animals (tsa’ar ba’alei chayim), preserving one’s health (pekuach nefesh), conservation of resources (bal tashchit), proper spiritual intention (kavanah), righteousness and charity (tzedakah), peace and justice (shalom v’tzedek), being partners in creation (shomrei adamah), healing our world (tikkun olam), and increasing in matters of holiness (ma'alin bakodesh v’ayn moridim, going from strength to strength, just as Hillel successfully argued that we should light the menorah for the eight days in ascending order).

Chanukah commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the Syrian-Greeks. In our time, vegetarianism can be a step toward deliverance of society from various modern plagues and tragedies, including global warming, world hunger, deforestation, air and water pollution, species extinction, resource depletion, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, rising health care costs, and lost productivity, among others. That’s a lot to be thankful for.

The letters on a diaspora dreidel, those we use in America, are an acronym for nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there. May the celebration of this joyous holiday inspire another miracle and deepened gratitude within each of us.

May we all have a happy, healthy, thankful, and miraculous Thanksgivukah!

For more information, please visit the Jewish Vegetarians of North America web site at www.JewishVeg.com, The Vegetarian Mitzvah site at www.brook.com/jveg, and Farm Sanctuary at www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/turkeys-used-for-meat.

Dan Brook, Ph.D. teaches sociology and political science. Dan is the author of An Alef-Bet Kabalah at www.smashwords.com/books/view/1653, editor of Justice in the Kitchen at http://justicecookbook.wordpress.com, and maintains The Vegetarian Mitzvah at www.brook.com/jveg, Eco-Eating at www.brook.com/veg, is a member of the Advisory Committee of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, and can be contacted via brook@brook.com. More info at about.me/danbrook.

This statement by the recently elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau, along with his promise to look into the kashrus status of facilities where abuses of animals occur, has the potential to greatly change the ways that animals are raised and slaughtered, as well as the eating habits of Jews.

Chief Rabbi Lau expressed his outrage and concerns after seeing a video shown on Israeli television’s channel 10 Kolbotek program on October 29. The video had undercover footage taken by an activist for Israel’s leading animal rights group “Anonymous for Animal Rights.” It showed widespread abuses at the Soglowek slaughterhouse, one of Israel’s largest kosher chicken and turkey slaughterhouses, where about 30,000 chickens and turkeys are slaughtered daily.

The video showed chickens in filthy, feces-filled, cramped cages, left for up to 19 hours without food or water. Some chickens had their limbs or their heads stuck between the bars of their cages. Chickens were handled very roughly, yanked by their limbs, and tossed onto conveyer belts that took them to the slaughter area, actions that seriously injured many chickens.

Because of these major abuses, the Israeli organizations Anonymous for Animal Rights and Let Animals Live demanded that the head of veterinary services at the Israeli Agriculture Ministry suspend permits for transportation to the slaughterhouse and close the slaughterhouse doors. They also filed a complaint to the police against Soglowek for serious violations of Israel’s Animal Welfare Law. Their complaint stated, “Chickens are falling from their cages onto the conveyor belt, sometimes from a great height – one under the other, one on top of the other, a terrifying mass of flapping wings and flying feathers.”

Chief Rabbi Lau’s outrage about the shocking video scenes is indicated by very powerful statements he made to Ynet, a major Israeli media outlet: “As a human being and as a Jew I was shocked by the footage, by the brutal behavior of those employees toward helpless animals. Such things shouldn’t happen. The Torah forbids us to act in this way and obliges us to be extra vigilant with regard to animal welfare. We cannot remain silent in the face of such things.” He indicated that the severe mistreatment of the chickens made their kosher status questionable. “We will act firmly and sternly against this factory . . . there are also serious problems of Kashrut here. The brutal use of sticks must have caused the birds internal injuries, and there’s no doubt that the dying chickens are not fit for Kosher slaughter . . . we’ll act firmly in this case. We will set up rules regarding imposing sanctions on such companies, and take steps that may even lead to the revocation of the Kashrut certificates.”

Rabbi Lau’s strong statements are very consistent with basic Jewish teachings on compassion to animals, including: (1) “God’s compassion is over all His works [including animals]” (Psalms 145:9); (2) “the righteous person considers the lives of his or her animals” (Proverbs 12:10); (3) the great Jewish heroes Moses and King David were deemed suitable to be leaders because of their compassionate care of sheep when they were shepherds; (4) farmers are not to yoke a strong and a weak animal together nor to muzzle an animal while the animal is threshing in the field; (5) the Ten Commandments indicate that animals, as well as people, are to rest on the Sabbath day; (6) and much more, summarized in the Torah mandate that Jews are to avoid causing tsa’ar ba’alei chaim (pain to animals).

These powerful teachings stand in sharp contrast to the widespread, egregious abuses of farmed animals, including ones raised for kosher slaughter, which occur daily on factory farms in the United States and Israel. Here are just a few examples: (1) Egg-laying hens are kept in cages so small that they can’t raise even one wing and part of their beaks are painfully seared off to prevent them from harming other birds by pecking from frustration in their very unnatural conditions. (2) Male chicks at egg-laying hatcheries fare even worse as they are killed almost immediately after birth, since they can’t lay eggs and have not been genetically programmed to produce much flesh. (3) Dairy cows are artificially impregnated annually on what the dairy industry casually calls “rape racks,” so that they will be able to continue ‘giving’ milk, and their babies are taken away almost immediately, often to be raised as veal under very cruel conditions.

As pointed out by no less a person than Chief Rabbi Lau, these severe contradictions between Judaism’s powerful teachings on compassion to animals and the daily brutal mistreatment of millions of animals on factory farms must soon end. Just as Jews are forbidden to eat non-kosher meat, we should also not eat meat and other animal products from animals that have been cruelly treated. Rabbinic kashrut certification should not be enough if the treatment of the animals is not considered.

Rabbi Lau later decided that the kosher status of the chickens was not affected by the abuses, perhaps partly because it would have made the ovens, pots, dishes, and silverware of many religious Jews non-kosher. But his strong initial statement of outrage should still be a wakeup call for Jews to do everything in our power to stop the violations of Jewish law related to the raising of animals. We should demand that our rabbis and kashrut supervisors no longer turn a blind eye to the mistreatments.

For many years Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), of which I am president emeritus, has been working to increase awareness of the contradictions between Judaism’s powerful teachings on compassion to animals and the horrible ways that animals are raised on factory farms. We have been urging Jews to shift to plant-based diets, This would not only reduce abuses to animals, but also would be most consistent with Jewish teachings on preserving human health, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people.

Shifts to diets based on eating an abundance of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes are especially important today because animal-based diets are a major contributor to climate change, which could soon spin out of control with catastrophic results, according to climate experts.

Shifts by Jews to more compassionate, plant-based diets can show the relevance of Judaism’s eternal teachings to current issues and help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path.

1. Chanukah represents the triumph of non-conformity. The Maccabees stuck to their inner beliefs, rather than conforming to external pressure. They were willing to say: This I believe, this I stand for, this I am willing to struggle for. Today, vegetarians represent non-conformity. At a time when most people in the wealthier countries think of animal products as the main part of their meals, when the number of fast food establishments is growing rapidly, when almost all celebrations involve an abundance of animal foods, vegetarians are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more humane diet.

2. Chanukah represents the victory of the few, who practiced God’s teachings, over the many, who acted according to the values of the surrounding society. Today vegetarians are a small minority in most countries, but Jewish vegetarians believe that vegetarianism is the dietary approach most consistent with God’s original diet (Genesis 1:29) and with Jewish mandates to preserve our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, preserve natural resources, and share with hungry people.

3. Chanukah commemorates the miracle of the oil that was enough for only one day, but miraculously lasted for eight days. Today, with science academies worldwide and the vast majority of climate scientists warning of an impending climate catastrophe, it sometimes seems as if only a miracle will prevent it. However, many recent studies have shown that animal-based agriculture is a major contributor to the warming of the planet, so shifts to vegetarian diets can make a major difference.

4. The ratio of eight days that the oil burned compared to the one day of burning capacity that the oil had is the same ratio (8 to 1) that is often given for the pounds of grain that are necessary to produce a pound of beef in a feed lot The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus, and vegetarian diets make resources go much further, since far less water, fuel, land, pesticides, fertilizer, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets.

5. Chanukah also commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Syrian-Greeks defiled it. The Hebrew root of the word Chanukah means dedication. Today, a shift to vegetarianism can be a major factor in the rededication and renewal of Judaism, because it would show that Jewish values are relevant to everyday Jewish life and to addressing current problems, such as hunger, pollution, resource scarcity, climate change, and huge health care expenditures.

6. Candles are lit during each night of Chanukah, symbolizing a turning from darkness to light, from despair to hope. According to the prophet Isaiah, the role of Jews is to be a “”ight unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). Vegetarianism is a way of adding light to the darkness of a world with slaughterhouses and factory farms, as well as other places of oppression.

7. On the Sabbath during Chanukah, the prophetic portion indicates that difficulties can best be overcome “not by might and not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Today, Jewish vegetarians are arguing that the way to a better world is not by exercising our power over animals, but by applying the spirit of God, “whose tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9).

8. At the morning services during each day of Chanukah, there is a recitation of Hallel, the psalms of praise from Psalm 113 to 118. During the Sabbath of Chanukah and every other Sabbath during the year, the morning service has a prayer that begins, “The soul of all living creatures shall praise God’s name.” Yet, it is hard for animals to join in the praise of God when almost 10 billion animals are killed annually in the U. S. for their flesh after suffering greatly on factory farms.