Richard Schwartz – Page 5

Can We Avert a Climate Catastrophe?

April 12, 2022 1 Comment

by Richard Schwartz The most critical issue facing the world today is the possibility of a climate catastrophe that threatens all life on our planet. This article discusses the seriousness of the threats; why they are likely to become far more severe in the future; and what needs to be done to provide a chance to avert the looming catastrophe. First, it is important to recognize how strong the scientific consensus about climate change is. Science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and virtually all the peer-reviewed papers on the issue in respected scientific journals agree that climate change is largely caused by human activities, and poses great threats to humanity. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization composed of climate experts from many countries, warned that “unprecedented changes” are necessary by 2030 to have a chance at averting a climate catastrophe. The world is already seeing the effects of climate change. Every decade since the 1970s has been hotter than the previous decade and all of the 22 hottest years since temperature records were kept in 1880 have been since 1998. There was a tie between 2020 and 2016 as the hottest year world wide. June 2021 was the hottest June on record and July 2021 was the hottest month on record, putting 2021 on track to possibly becoming the hottest year on record. There have been many negative effects of the increased temperature. Glaciers worldwide are rapidly melting, threatening future food production which depends on glacial water for irrigation. Greenland and polar ice caps are also melting rapidly, raising sea levels and increasing the potential for future flooding. Already coastal cities, including Miami, Florida, have experienced “sunny day flooding” during high tides. Permafrost is also starting to melt, potentially releasing massive amounts of trapped greenhouse gases, which would accelerate climate change. There has also been an increase in the frequency and severity of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods. Many such events happened over a short period in the summer of 2021. California has been subjected to so many severe climate events recently that its former governor, Jerry Brown, stated that, “Humanity is on a collision course with nature.” Unfortunately, there are many reasons why prospects for the future are even more frightening, including: While all the recent severe climate events have occurred at a time when the global temperature has risen about 1.1 degrees Celsius (about two degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial revolution, climate experts project that this increase will be at least three degrees Celsius by the end of this century, triggering far worse climate events; Climate experts fear that self-reinforcing positive feedback loops (vicious cycles) could result in an irreversible tipping point when climate spins out of control, with catastrophic results; Military experts are warning that there will likely be tens of millions of desperate refugees fleeing from severe heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods, and other climate events, and that will make instability, terrorism, and war far more likely. Israel is especially threatened by climate change because the Middle East is becoming hotter and drier than most areas, increasing the potential for future violence, and the coastal plain where most of Israel’s population and infrastructure are located could be inundated by a rising Mediterranean Sea. Because of the above factors, averting a climate catastrophe must become a central focus for civilization today. Every aspect of life should be considered in terms of reducing “carbon footprints.” Positive steps are shifting away from fossil fuels to solar, wind, and other renewable forms of energy. More efficient cars, lightbulbs, and other items are being designed. Public transportation is being improved so that more people will use it; more recycling, and composting is also being encouraged. However, there is one approach that has the greatest potential to help avert a climate catastrophe and that is through a societal shift toward vegan diets. Such a shift has a major advantage that the approaches mentioned above do not have. They provide the only approach that not only significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, because there would be far less cows and other farmed animals emitting methane, a very potent greenhouse gas with up to 120 times the ability to heat up the planet as CO2 per unit weight. A shift toward vegan diets also has the potential of dramatically reducing CO2 presently in the atmosphere by reforesting the over a third of the world’s ice-free land that is currently being used for grazing and raising feed crops for animals. This could reduce the current 420 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere to a much safer level below 350 ppm, a threshold value, according to climate experts. Taking this possibility into account, systems engineer Sailesh Rao, PhD, argues in his paper, “Animal Agriculture Is the Leading Cause of Climate Change,” published in the Journal of Ecological Society, that shifts toward vegan diets could, in effect, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases by at least 87%, greatly lessening climate threats. There have been other studies that show how important dietary shifts are to efforts to reduce climate change. As long ago as 2006, the UN Food and Agriculture organization’s report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” concluded that animal-based agriculture emitted more greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalents) than all the world’s transportation systems combined, and a 2009 cover story in World Watch magazine, “Livestock and Climate Change,” by two environmentalists associated with the World Bank, argued that the livestock sector is responsible for at least 51 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, it is much easier to be a vegan today because of the abundance of plant-based substitutes for meat and other animal products in supermarkets and other food markets, some with the appearance, texture and taste so similar to that of the animal products that even long

How kosher plant-based diets help heal our imperiled planet and why it’s so important during Passover.

April 10, 2022 No Comments

by Richard Schwartz Take a look at the following 3 articles: 1. Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Diets That Hurt Us and the Planet 2. How Applying Passover Messages Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet 3. Passover and Vegetarianism or Veganism ============= 1. Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Diets That Hurt Us and the Planet Jews commendably go to extraordinary lengths before and during Passover to avoid certain foods, in keeping with Torah mitzvot. 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 sameach” (may you have a joyous holiday), on Passover it is often “chag kasher v’sameach” (may you have a kosher and joyous holiday). 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 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, 13 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 nine 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, God 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, for our souls, for animals, and for our imperiled planet. 2. Applying Passover Messages Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet There are many Passover-related messages that can be applied to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path: 1. Today’s environmental threats can be compared in many ways to the Biblical ten plagues: • When we consider the threats to our land, water, and air, we can easily enumerate ten modern “plagues”. For example: (1) climate change; (2) depletion of the ozone layer; (3) destruction of tropical rain forests; (4) acid rain; (5) soil erosion and depletion; (6) loss of biodiversity; (7) water pollution; (8) air pollution; (9) an increase of severity of storms and floods; (10) increased use of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, and other toxic chemicals. • The Egyptians were subjected to one plague at a time, while the modern plagues are threatening us simultaneously. • The Jews in Goshen were spared the Biblical plagues, while today every person on earth is imperiled by the modern plagues. • Instead of an ancient Pharaoh’s heart being hardened, our hearts today have been hardened by the greed, materialism, and waste that are at the root of current environmental threats. • God provided the Biblical plagues to free the Israelites, while today we must apply God’s teachings in order to save ourselves and our precious but

Ten Ways to Create a More Vegan World

April 3, 2022 No Comments

There is increasing evidence that animal-based diets are causing an epidemic of life-threatening diseases, contributing to climate change and other environmental threats to humanity, and having other negative effects. Despite the increasing need for a shift toward veganism to counteract these problems, progress has been relatively slow. It is time to consider new strategies to promote veganism more effectively. The ten ideas suggested below are designed to start dialogues that will lead to positive changes. It is my hope that this article will elicit additional suggestions and effective initiatives. 1. Set a Goal and a Time Table Toward a More Vegan World We should not be satisfied with the relatively slow progress currently being made toward veganism, in view of all the recent disturbing reports of potential environmental catastrophes ahead. One possibility is to declare a goal, such as a much more vegan world by 2030. This could inspire our efforts by providing something to work toward. We can’t expect that every person will be a vegan by 2030, or any other time. However, we can work, with a heightened sense of urgency, to see that everyone is at least aware of the many reasons for becoming a vegan, with the hope that many will change based on that knowledge. This initiative could involve setting realistic but challenging goals for reaching people, such as leafletting, Zoom events, discussions, meetings, and others. 2. Make People Aware That a Shift Toward Veganism Is Beneficial for People as Well as Animals Many people resist vegan arguments, asserting that they can’t be concerned about animals when people face so many problems. We should stress that a shift to veganism would be very beneficial to people as well as animals. Among the arguments we should use are: · Animal-based diets increase risk factors for many life-threatening diseases, including heart disease, several types of cancer, and stroke. · Animal-based agriculture contributes significantly to climate change and to many other environmental threats to humanity. · The feeding of 70 percent of the grain produced in the United States (and over a third of the grain produced worldwide) to farmed animals contributes to an estimated nine million of the world’s people dying annually from hunger and its effects, and over ten percent of the world’s people being chronically hungry. 3. Make People Aware That a Shift Toward Veganism is a Societal Imperative Today With humanity threatened as never before from climate change, widening water shortages, rapid species extinction, destruction of tropical rain forests and other valuable habitats, and many other problems, we should make people aware that all of these threats and many more are significantly worsened by the following: we are raising 70 billion farmed animals for slaughter annually worldwide; much of the world’s grain is used to fatten farmed animals; it takes up to 13 times as much water, ten times as much energy, and over 20 times as much land for an animal-based diet than it does for a vegan diet; and much more. We should also stress that diseases caused by the consumption of animal product results in soaring medical expenditures, which are contributing to record budget deficits and the perceived need to cut basic social services. Importantly, the approach that has the greatest potential to help avert a climate catastrophe is a societal shift toward vegan diets. Such a shift has two major advantages that other approaches above do not have. 1) It would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, because it is far more efficient to feed plants to people than to feed them to animals who would later be consumed by people. Also, there would be far fewer cows and other farmed animals emitting methane. This is especially significant because (a) methane is about 80 times as potent per unit weight in heating up the atmosphere as CO2 and (b) unlike CO2, which remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, most methane dissipates in 10 years and almost all is gone in 20 years. It would further reduce greenhouse emissions from nitrogen (which is almost 300 times more potent then carbon dioxide per unit weight in heating the atmosphere), because there would be far less need for chemical fertilizer to help produce feed crops. 2) It would dramatically reduce the CO2 presently in the atmosphere by permitting reforestation of over a third of the world’s ice-free land, which is currently being used for grazing and raising feed crops for animals. This could reduce the current 420 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere to a safe level below 350 ppm, sharply decreasing climate threats. For a detailed analysis, see “Animal Agriculture Is the Leading Cause of Climate Change” by Sailish Rao in the Journal of Ecological Society. Fortunately, it is much easier to be a vegan today because of the abundance of plant-based substitutes for meat and other animal products in supermarkets and other food venues, some with the appearance, texture, and taste so similar to that of the animal products that even long-time meat-eaters can’t tell the difference. 4. Inform People That a Shift Toward Veganism is a Spiritual Imperative Today Most people profess to be religious, and many claim to base their lives on moral values related to their religions. We should respectfully discuss with such people how animal-based diets and agriculture contradict basic religious mandates to preserve our health, treat animals compassionately, preserve the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people, and seek and pursue peace. We should stress such biblical teachings as “God’s mercies are over all His works” (Psalms 145:9), “the righteous person considers the lives of his or her animals” (Proverbs 12:10), that animals as well as people are to be permitted to rest on the Sabbath day (part of the Ten Commandments), and similar teachings from other holy books and teachers. The universal “golden rule” should be applied to vulnerable humans harmed by the widespread production and consumption of meat and other animal products as

Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Slavery To Diets That Are Harmful To Us and Our Planet

March 30, 2022 No Comments

Some Jews commendably go to extraordinary lengths during Passover to avoid certain foods, in keeping with Torah mitzvot. But at the same time, many continue eating other foods that, by Torah standards, are far from 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 weeks before Passover are spent cleaning houses, cars, and other possessions to try 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 sameach” (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 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. Indeed, an essential part of efforts to avert a climate catastrophe is a major shift toward vegan diets because it would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to there being far less cows emitting methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, but would also enable reforestation of the over a third of the ice-free land currently used for grazing and growing feed crops for animals, which would sequester much atmospheric CO2, bringing it from its current very dangerous level to a safe one. 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. What makes this even more scandalous is that healthy foods like corn soy, and oats, high in fiber and complex carbohydrates and devoid of cholesterol and saturated fat, are fed to animals, resulting in meat an other animal products with the opposite characteristics. 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. Since Passover is the holiday of freedom, it presents a wonderful opportunity to apply Judaism’s eternal teachings to free ourselves from harmful eating habits and to shift to ones that are beneficial for our health and would help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. And it is easier than ever to do this because of the abundance of plant-based substitutes, with the appearance, texture, and taste so close to that of the animal products that even long time meat-eaters can’t tell the difference.

An Open Letter To Rabbis

March 28, 2022 No Comments

Shalom dear Rabbis, Because of your collective wisdom, dedication to Jewish values, and valuable contacts, you are in a position to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. This would help leave a decent, habitable, environmentally sustainable world for future generations. To paraphrase Mordechai’s plea to Queen Esther when the Jews of Shushan were in danger of annihilation, perhaps you were put into your present position for just such a purpose. As you well know, Judaism stresses pikuach nefesh, the principle that everything possible must be done to save a life, even if Jewish law has to be violated to do so. To avoid pikuach nefesh on a massive scale involving all of humanity today, two important realities must be recognized and acted on. These are the very strong scientific consensus that the world is rapidly approaching a climate catastrophe and everything possible must be done to avert it, and the only possible way to avert this catastrophe is, along with other positive changes, a society-wide shift towards plant-based diets. Your help in getting these messages out and encouraging people to act on them can determine whether or not future generations will have a decent, habitable, environmentally sustainable world. Please let me explain, first about the seriousness of climate threats and then about the essential component of the solution. Science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and virtually all peer-reviewed papers on the issue in respected peer-reviewed scientific journals agree that climate change is largely caused by human activity and poses a great threat to humanity. An October 2018 report by the respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization composed of leading climate experts from many countries, warned that the world may have only until 2030 to make “unprecedented changes” in order to avert far more severe climate events. A 2022 report by the IPCC had such a dire warning that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres claimed that it is a “Code Red for Humanity” and “delay is death.” He added: “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable that the world is heading rapidly toward a climate catastrophe.” The world is already seeing many indications of climate change. The world’s average temperature has significantly increased in recent years. Every decade since the 1970s has been hotter than the previous decade, and each of the 22 years in this century are among the 23 hottest years since temperature records worldwide started being kept in 1880. 2020 tied 2016 as the hottest year on record. The seven hottest years all occurred in the past seven years. Just as a person with a high fever suffers from many of its effects, there have been many negative effects of increased global temperature. Polar icecaps, glaciers worldwide, and permafrost have been melting rapidly, even faster than many past alarming scientific projections. Unprecedented rainfall in parts of Greenland has caused extremely rapid melting. This has caused an increase in ocean levels worldwide with the potential for major flooding. Already there have been “sunny day” flooding due to high tides in Miami, Florida and other coastal cities. Glaciers are “reservoirs in the sky,” providing important water for irrigating crops every spring, so their retreat will be a major threat to future food supplies for an increasing world population. There has also been an increase in the number and severity of droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods. In just a few weeks in the summer of 2021, there were major, sometimes unprecedented, wildfires in many places, including California, Greece, and even Siberia, and there were deadly floods in western Europe, India, and China. California has been subjected to so many severe climate events recently that its former governor, Jerry Brown, stated, “Humanity is on a collision course with nature.” Unfortunately, prospects for the future are truly terrifying. The severe climate events mentioned above occurred due to a temperature increase of about 1.1 degrees Celsius (about two degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial revolution, but climate experts are predicting a possible tripling of that temperature increase by the end of the century, which would greatly increase the destructiveness of climate events. Also, climate experts believe that self-reinforcing positive feedback loops (vicious cycles) might soon result in an irreversible tipping point wherein climate change will spin out of control, with disastrous consequences, unless major positive changes soon occur. For example, when there are major wildfires, trees, which absorb and store CO2, are destroyed, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. Further, additional energy will be required to replace destroyed cars, homes, and other structures Another example of a vicious cycle occurs when ice, a very good reflector of the sun’s rays, melts. The darker soil or water underneath absorbs much more of the sun’s energy, causing more ice to melt. Climate scientists maintain that 350 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric CO2 is a threshold value for climate stability, However, the world has now reached 420 ppm, the highest value in human history, and the CO2 level continues to increase by over two ppm per year. Another major concern is that millions of desperate people displaced by climate change will increase political instability, terrorism and war. Already there have been civil wars in the Sudan and Syria after farms failed due to extensive droughts. Reducing climate change is especially important for Israel, as a rising Mediterranean Sea could inundate the coastal plain where much of Israel’s population and infrastructure are located, and the hotter and drier Middle East that climate experts are projecting makes terrorism and war in the region more likely. Given the threats to human life and given Jews being tasked to be “a light unto the nations,” we should be leading efforts to avert a

There is no ‘Planet B’ – My book review of “Vegan Voices” in the March 25 Jerusalem Post magazine

March 27, 2022 No Comments

The French writer Victor Hugo famously wrote, “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, through very insightful essays by dedicated vegan activists, provides many reasons why the time has come for a societal shift to veganism. These include: * There has been an explosion in the number of plant-based substitutes for meat and other animal products, some with the appearance, texture, and taste so similar to the animal products that even long-time meat eaters can’t tell the difference. * Many people, especially those in the younger generation, are shifting toward vegan diets. * People are becoming increasingly aware of the seriousness of climate threats, and the importance of shifts to vegan diets as an essential part of efforts to avert a climate catastrophe. They are also recognizing more and more that such shifts would not only reduce emissions of methane, a very potent green-house gas, but would also permit the reforestation of the over a third of the ice-free land area currently used for grazing and raising feed crops for animals. This would result in the sequestering of atmospheric CO2, reducing it from its current very dangerous level to a safe one. * There is increasing awareness of the horrible conditions for animals on factory farms. * There is also increasing awareness that animal-based diets and agriculture contribute significantly to heart disease, several forms of cancer, strokes, and other life-threatening diseases; rapid species extinction, deforestation, coral reef destruction, water and air pollution, and other environmental problems; the very wasteful use of land, water, energy, and other resources; and the potential of future pandemics. Because of the above, Vegan Voices was published at an opportune time. Its editor, Joanne Kong, DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts), author of If You’ve Ever Loved An Animal, Go Vegan, has assembled 51 dedicated vegans, all of whom contribute interesting, inspiring, stories of how they became vegans and were motivated to become committed activists. Once they learned the truth about the many negative effects of animal-based diets, each was compelled to share vegan messages to a largely unaware, unconcerned world. Collectively, the cases they make are compelling and I believe that any non-vegan who reads the book with an open mind would have a hard time continuing on an animal-based diet. Among the included vegans who have had major impacts on the world are: Professor T. Colin Campbell, leader of the China, Cornel, Oxford study that the NY times dubbed the “grand prix of epidemiology,” Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and director of People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Will Tuttle, PhD, author of the acclaimed, The World Peace Diet, a book that has been translated into many languages, and Karen Davis, founder and director of United Poultry Concerns and author of several books including Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs.” Among the interesting stories of how people became vegans are that of Ori Shavit, a food critic, who on what she thought initially would be a disastrous dinner when her date told her he was a vegan, listened to his arguments and be-came a vegan activist; T.Colin Campbell whose research was initially to find ben-efits of animal-based protein so people would eat more meat, but learned that such protein actually has very negative health effects; and Ingrid Newkirk, celebrating her birthday at a lobster house, suddenly bursting into tears as she rec-ognized at her first bite that lobsters have feelings and should not be mistreated and eaten. The book’s foreword was written by Victoria Moran, podcaster, founder and director of Main Street Vegan, and author of many books about veganism. In the forward, she discusses how much better a vegan world would be than our current world. The book’s overall message can be summed up by a statement in the preface by Dr. Kong,: “Veganism is a revolution of the heart, a call for a world of greater peace, health, and harmony created through expanding our circles off compassion,” combined with the statement in her eloquent, inspiring afterword: “As I reflect upon the essays in this book, it is clear me that fundamental changes are vital, as humankind moves forward from present-day challenges and threats, … whether they are related to the coronavirus, climate change and environmental devastation, food justice, world hunger, poverty, disease, or rising social inequities.” While I have been promoting vegetarianism and now veganism for over 40 years and have read many books and articles on the subject, I still found much new information, many new concepts, and much inspiration from this wonderful book. I plan to reread the book many times in the future, perhaps a few essays a week, because every essay has me wanting to shout, “Yes, yes, this is so true and so important and we have to do all we can to get this message to a wider audience.” Each essay is a gem, very worth reading. Taken together, the 51 essays make an extremely powerful case. When I read a book, I like to underline what I think are important points for fu-ture reference. For many of the essays in Vegan Voices, I found myself underlining almost the entire essay, sometimes with more than one line, and putting asterisks in the margins to give even greater emphasis. At this critical time, when the world faces a devastating pandemic, a looming climate catastrophe, an epidemic of diet-related diseases, shortages of water and other resources, Vegan Voices has the potential to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. So, it is essential that its powerful messages be widely read and heeded. If you are a vegan or have a basically plant-based diet, read it and be inspired. If you have not yet adopted such a diet, read it and learn in a very reader-friendly way how you can improve your health, bring more compassion into the world, and help leave a decent, habitable, environmentally sustainable world for future generations. In view of the severity of current climate

Parshat Tzav: Meat Consumption in Temple Days and Today

March 15, 2022 No Comments

When the Jewish people were in the wilderness before they entered the land of Israel, the consumption of meat was associated with holiness. Every piece of meat consumed came from an animal sacrificed in the Mishkan (Sanctuary), an act meant to bring the worshiper closer to God. The word korban (sacrifice) is related to le-karev, to come close. Through the sacrifice, worshipers felt that they were giving themselves vicariously to God and being received by Him. If an animal was slaughtered in a place other than the altar of the Sanctuary, it was deemed unlawful bloodshed, and the perpetrator was deserving of Divine punishment. (Leviticius 17:3,4) The consumption of meat was not something taken for granted, as it generally is today. Worshipers were very much involved with the entire process. Each sacrifice had a definite purpose: to offer thanksgiving, to atone for a sin, to commemorate a holy day (such as the Korban Pesach, or Paschal Lamb), or to make one feel closer to God. Those offering a sacrifice felt that they were giving up something from their prized possessions. People owned animals as sources of labor or food, as well as a form of capital; hence slaughtering them in connection with the Temple rites was a sacrifice of a precious source of income and food. The animal was not considered just a distant commodity as is generally the case in today’s world of corporate agriculture; rather, it was a creature that the owner raised and saw on a daily basis, and whose needs were a matter of personal responsibility and even concern. Since a mother animal and its offspring could not be slaughtered on the same day (Leviticus 22:26-28), those who offered sacrifices needed to be aware of familial relationships among animals to be offered as sacrifices. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat, points out that worshipers were very much involved in the sacrificial process. For sin offerings, they were required to lean their hands on the animal, and make a confession prior to the act of slaughter. Rabbi Riskin explains that the emotional result on the one who brought the sacrifice and watched it being killed was to contemplate that because of their sin they deserved to be the ones on the altar. Thus they would experience feelings of teshuvah (repentance) and become transformed, worthy of a renewed lease on life. (Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, “There, But For the Grace of God,” Jerusalem Post International edition, March 28, 1998) The relatively small number of sacrifices performed daily meant that attention was given to the death of each animal. Sanctity was related to physical wholeness and perfection. The Kohanim (Priests) had to be free of bodily imperfections, and the animals to be sacrificed had to be free of blemishes. Hence, the notion of holiness was given physical expression in the concept of holiness of body and limb. Far different is the eating of meat today. Rather than an infrequent act, many people in modern societies consume meat daily, if not more than once a day. Instead of an individual sacrifice of one person’s animal in a special ceremony, animals are currently raised by mass-production procedures on “factory farms” in huge numbers. In place of slaughter by a Kohen (Priest) focusing his intention in the Sanctuary imbued with holiness, today the slaughter is generally done by a shochet (ritual slaughterer) who slaughters hundreds of animals a day in an industrial facility. Because of these major changes, the large-scale production and widespread consumption of meat today have negative effects that did not occur in the days of the Sanctuary. In some cases, these negative effects violate or compromise Halakhah (Jewish law), and often contravene the ethical sensitivities that the Torah wishes to instill in us. Mistreatment of animals While the Torah forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, 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, before they are slaughtered and eaten. Negative health effects The Torah mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives. Yet, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases. In addition, modern methods of raising animals have raised new health threats, including the potential for the human variant of “mad-cow’s disease,” bird flu, E-coli contamination, and other negative effects from the use of large amounts of hormones, pesticides, and other chemicals. Negative environmental effects Judaism teaches that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalms 24:1), and that we are meant to be God’s partners and co-workers in preserving the world. In conflict with this ethic, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to global warming, soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats and other environmental damage. As a recent indication of just how significant this is, a November 2006 report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization indicated that animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (18 percent, in CO2 equivalents) than the entire transport sector. Inefficient use of resources While the Torah mandates bal tashchit, that we are not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of grain, land, water, energy, and other precious resources. As one example, it is estimated that over half of the world’s population will live in areas chronically short of water by the middle of this century; yet animal-based diets typically require up to 14 times as much water than diets completely free of animal products. Contributions to widespread hunger While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States and over 40% of the grain grown worldwide are fed

A Vegan View of the Biblical Animal Sacrifices

March 8, 2022 No Comments

“Now we come to the great embarrassment.” Those were the opening words of a sermon delivered years ago by an assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Staten Island, referring to the biblical animal sacrifices discussed in Parshat Vayikra (Leviticus). In his book, Jewish Law as Rebellion: A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Dean of the David Cardozo Academy, states: “Does Judaism really need animal sacrifices? Would it not be better off without them? After all, the sacrificial cult compromises Judaism. What does a highly ethical religion have to do with the collection of blood in vessels and the burning of animal limbs on an altar? No doubt Judaism should be sacrifice-free. Yet it is not. . . How much more beautiful the Torah would be without sacrifices!” The great Jewish philosopher Maimonides believed that the sacrifices were a concession to the common practices in biblical times, when all nations worshiped by means of animal sacrifices. He stated that God did not command the Israelites to discontinue 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 accustomed.” For this reason, God allowed Jews to make sacrifices, but, “He transferred to His service that which had previously served as a worship of created beings and of things imaginary and unreal.” All elements of idolatry were removed. Instead, limitations were placed on sacrifices. They were confined to one central location (instead of each family having a home altar), and the human sacrifices and other idolatrous practices of the neighboring pagan peoples were forbidden. 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 (rabbinic teaching) that indicated that the Jews had become accustomed to animal sacrifices in Egypt. 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 late Chief Rabbi of England, stated that if Moses had not instituted sacrifices, which were believed by all to have been the universal expression of religious homage, his mission would have failed and Judaism would have disappeared. Biblical commentator David Kimhi (1160–1235) argued that the sacrifices were voluntary. He ascertained this from the words of Jeremiah (7:22–23): “For neither did I speak with your forefathers nor did I command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice. But this thing did I command them, saying: Obey Me so that I am your God and you are My people, and you walk in all the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you.” Kimhi noted that nowhere in the Ten Commandments is there any reference to sacrifice, and even when sacrifices are first mentioned (Leviticus 1:2), the expression used is “when any man of you brings an offering,” the first Hebrew word ki being literally “if,” implying that it was a voluntary act. Many Jewish scholars, such as Rav Kook, think that animal sacrifices will not be reinstated in Messianic times, even with the establishment of the third Temple. They believe that at that time human conduct will have advanced to such high standards there will no longer be a 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 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 Rav Kook and others, based on the prophecy of Isaiah (11:6–9), that people and animals will be vegan in that time, when “‘they shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount.’” Sacrifices, especially animal sacrifices, are not the primary concern of God. Indeed, they could be an abomination to God if not carried out together with deeds of loving kindness and justice. Consider the following words of the prophets, the spokesmen of God: * “For I desire loving-kindness, and not sacrifices.” (Hosea 6:6) * “Of what use are your many sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord. “I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and the blood of bulls and sheep and he-goats I do not want. . . .You shall no longer bring vain meal offerings. . . Your New Moons and your appointed seasons My soul hates; . . . and when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you, even when you pray at length, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood.” (Isaiah 1:11–16) “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offeringsI will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:21–24) Deeds of compassion and kindness toward all creation are of greater significance to God than sacrifices: “Performing charity and

Interview with Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, a long-time vegan activist.

March 6, 2022 No Comments

by Richard Schwartz Rabbi Gabriel Cousens functions as a Holistic Physician, Homeopath, Psychiatrist, Family Therapist, Ayurvedic Practitioner, and Chinese Herbalist. In addition, he’s a world-leading diabetes researcher, ecological leader, spiritual master, founder, and director of the Tree of Life Foundation and Tree of Life Center US. In addition, he’s a bestselling author of There Is a Cure for Diabetes, Conscious Eating, Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and Awakening of Kundalini, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, Creating Peace by Being Peace, Torah as a Guide to Enlightenment, and Depression Free for Life. He is considered one of the leading live-food vegan medical doctors, holistic physicians and the world expert on spiritual nutrition. Dr. Cousens is also recognized as “the fasting guru and detoxification expert” by the New York Times. Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island.He is the author of Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalising Judaism;Judaism and Vegetarianism; Judaism and Global Survival; Mathematical and Global Survival; and Who Stole My Religion? He is also the author of Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet. Richard is the President Emeritus of Jewish Veg (http://www.jewishveg.org/); and the President of the Society Of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV).

Compassion in the Jewish Tradition

March 4, 2022 No Comments

Compassion is one of Judaism’s highest values. God is referred to in synagogue services as Ha–rachaman (the compassionate one) and as Av harachamim (Father of compassion). Since Judaism teaches that human beings, uniquely created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), are to emulate God’s positive attributes, we should also be compassionate. The Talmud states that Jews are to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors) and that one who is not compassionate cannot truly be of the seed of Abraham, our father (Bezah 32b). It also states that Heaven grants compassion to those who are compassionate to others, and withholds it from those who are not (Shabbat 151b). The Baruch Sheh’amar prayer, recited daily in the morning (Shacharit) services, states that, “Blessed is the One (God) Who has compassion on the earth; blessed is the One Who has compassion on the creatures [animals and people].” Hence, in emulating God, we should also exhibit concern and compassion toward the earth’s environment and all of God’s creatures. The important ashrei psalm, recited three times daily, states that “God is good to all, and His compassion is over all His works.” According to Rabbi Dovid Sears, author of A Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism, this verse is “the touchstone of the rabbinic attitude toward animal welfare. Referring to the Talmudic teaching that we are to emulate God’s ways, Rabbi Sears states, “Therefore, compassion for all creatures, including animals, is not only God’s business; it is a virtue that we too must emulate. Moreover, compassion must not be viewed as an isolated phenomenon, one of a number of religious duties in the Judaic conception of the Divine service. It is central to our entire approach to life.” In the spirit of the above teachings, the Chofetz Chaim, a sage of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, writes: “The existence of the entire world depends on this virtue [our capacity to imitate God’s compassion and other positive attributes] … Hence, whoever follows in this path will bear the Divine image on his person; while whoever refrains from exercising this virtue and questions himself, ‘why should I do good to others?’ removes himself completely from God, the Blessed One.” (“Loving Kindness” by the Chafetz Chaim, chapter 2) We are not only to have compassion for Jews, but for all who are in need: “Have we not one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10) We are instructed to feel empathy for strangers, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19) The birkat ha-mazon (the grace recited after meals) speaks of God compassionately feeding the entire world. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a noted sage and biblical commentator of the 19th century, writes very eloquently about the importance of compassion: “Compassion is the feeling of empathy which the pain of one being of itself awakens in another; and the higher and more human the beings are, the more keenly attuned are they to re-echo the note of suffering which, like a voice from heaven, penetrates the heart, bringing to all creatures a proof of their kinship in the universal God. And as for the human being, whose function it is to show respect and love for God’s universe and all its creatures, his heart has been created so tender that it feels with the whole organic world … so that if nothing else, the very nature of his heart must teach him that he is required above everything else to feel himself the brother of all beings, and to recognize the claim of all beings to his love and beneficence.” (Horeb, chapter 17, section 125) He continues: “Do not suppress this compassion, this sympathy especially with the sufferings of your fellowman. It is the warning voice of duty, which points out to you your brother in every sufferer, and your own sufferings in his, and awakens the love which tells you that you belong to him and his sufferings with all the powers that you have. Do not suppress it! … See in it the admonition of God that you are to have no joy so long as a brother suffers by your side.” (Ibid., Section 126) Another example of the importance of compassion in the Jewish tradition is its prominent location in God’s statement to Moses as God passed before him and proclaimed: “Hashem, Hashem, God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6) The Jewish stress on compassion finds expression in many groups and activities found in Jewish communities: a Bikur Cholim Society to provide medical expenses for the sick, and to visit them and bring them comfort and cheer; a Malbish Arumim Society to provide clothing for the poor; a Hachnasat Kalah Society to provide for needy brides; a Bet Yetomin Society to aid orphans; a Talmud Torah Organization to support a free school for poor children; a Gemilat Chesed Society to lend money at no interest to those in need; an Ozer Dalim Society to dispense charity to the poor; a Hachnasat Orchim Society to provide shelter for homeless travelers; a Chevrah Kaddishah Society to attend to the proper burial of the dead; and Essen Teg Institutions to provide food and shelter for poor students who attend schools in the community. Judaism also stresses compassion for animals. Among the many laws in the Torah which mandate kindness to animals are the following: a farmer is commanded not to muzzle his ox when he threshes corn (Deuteronomy 25:4) and not to plow with an ox and a donkey together (Deuteronomy 22:10), since the weaker animal would not be able to keep up with the stronger one; animals must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath Day (Exodus 20:10, 23:12), a teaching so important that it

Why Jews Should Be Vegans

February 19, 2022 No Comments

This article was originally published in the February 18, 2022 Jerusalem Post There is a widely accepted aspect of modern life that contradicts many Jewish teachings and harms people, communities, and the planet — the mass production of meat and other animal products and their widespread consumption. Animal-based diets conflict with Judaism in at least six important areas: 1. While Judaism mandates that people should diligently preserve their health and their lives, numerous peer-reviewed studies in respected medical journals have linked animal-based diets to heart disease, stroke, several forms of cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. Also, the widespread mistreatment of animals makes future pandemics more likely, with its associated negative health effects. 2. While Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, 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, before they are slaughtered and eaten. Two examples of animal abuses are: Dairy cows are artificially impregnated annually on what the industry calls “rape racks,” so that they can continuously give milk, and the calves are taken away shortly after birth, a very traumatic experience for both the mother and her baby. At egg laying hatcheries, male chicks are killed immediately after birth because they can’t lay eggs and they have not been genetically programmed to have much flesh, as “broilers” are. The hens are kept in spaces so small that they can’t raise even one wing and all their natural instincts are thwarted, resulting in them pecking at other birds in their frustration. Rather than providing more space, the industry cuts off the. hens’ beaks, without providing anesthetics or pain killers. 3. While Judaism teaches that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God’s co-workers in preserving the world, 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, as well as other environmental damage. Climate change is an existential threat to the world, and the best way to avert a climate catastrophe is through a societal shift to vegan diets. This is the only approach that not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, because there would be far less methane, a gas about 80 times as potent per unit weight as carbon dioxide in heating the atmosphere, emitted from cows. It would simultaneously enable the reforestation of the over a third of the world’s ice-free land that is currently being used for grazing and growing feed crops for animals. This would result in the sequestering of much atmospheric carbon dioxide, bringing it down from its current dangerous level to a safe one. 4 While 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, animal-based agriculture requires the wasteful use of grain, land, water, energy, and other resources. For example, it takes up to 13 times more water for a person on an animal-based diet than for a person on a vegan diet, largely due to vast amounts of water needed to irrigate land used to grow feed crops. 5. While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while an estimated nine million people worldwide die annually because of hunger and its effects each year andnd over ten percent of the world’s people are chronically malnourished. What makes this even more shameful is that healthy foods, such as corn, soy, and oats, high in fiber and complex carbohydrates and devoid of cholesterol and saturated fat, are fed to animals, resulting in meat and other animal products with the opposite characteristics. 6. While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by wasting valuable resources, help to perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that eventually lead to instability and war. According to climate experts, there will be tens of millions of desperate refugees fleeing from heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods, and other effects of climate change, and this will make terrorism and war more likely, according to military experts. Long term droughts have already led to civil wars in Syria and the Sudan. One might say that the slogans of the peace movement and the vegan movement might be the same: all we are saying is give peas a chance. In view of these important Jewish mandates to preserve human health, attend to the welfare of animals, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help feed hungry people, and pursue peace, and since animal-centered diets seriously violate and contradict each of these responsibilities, Jews (and others) should sharply reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products. One could say dayenu (it would be enough) after any of the arguments above, because each constitutes by itself a serious conflict between Jewish values and current practice that should impel my fellow Jews to seriously consider adopting a plant-based diet. Combined, these arguments make an urgently compelling case for our Jewish community to address these issues. To reinforce the above arguments, God’s original dietary regimen was vegan (Genesis 1:29) and the Messianic period will also be vegan, according to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook and other Jewish scholars, based on Isaiah 11:6-9, “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb . . . the lion shall eat straw like the ox . . . and no one shall hurt nor destroy on all of god’s holy mountain.” In order to leave a decent, habitable, healthy, environmentally sustainable

Powerful sermon sent to me by NJ rabbi, Shammai Engelmayer

January 30, 2022 No Comments

Shammai’s Shabbat Sermon for Mishpatim I’m going to begin with a word of caution. Some of what I have to say may be difficult to listen to. You’ll understand why soon enough. Today’s parashah unveils the Sefer Ha-B’rit, the Book of the Covenant—the foundation document for God’s mamlechet kohanim v’goi kadosh, God’s kingdom of priests and holy nation. It makes up the three complete chapters that are the bulk of Parashat Mishpatim. As you’ve heard me say in the past, in essence, these chapters are our constitution, our God-commanded constitution, the preamble for which—the Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten Statements, the so-called Ten Commandments—we read last Shabbat. Towards the end of today’s parashah, we ratify this constitution with two words spoken by all the people: na-aseh v’nishma, we will do and we will listen. We’re so anxious, at least at that moment, to take up our role as God’s kingdom of priests that we say we’ll do whatever that constitution requires of us even before we hear what it is that it requires of us. The Sefer Ha-B’rit, the Book of the Covenant, deals mainly with our responsibilities towards all people—citizen or stranger, man or woman, low-born or high-born, Israelite or anyone else. We’ve studied this parashah in depth in the past, and we’ll surely do so again. Today, though, I want to concentrate on one often overlooked aspect of this constitution of ours: What it has to say about our responsibilities to all the other living creatures who share this planet with us—all creatures great and small other than humans. From the very first chapter of Sefer B’reishit, the Book of Genesis, we’re told, albeit obliquely at first, that they, too, have feelings, just as we do, that they’re capable of understanding and even can reason things out for themselves, although not to the extent that we’re able to do. Why else would God give them two commandments to fulfill that God gave to us, as well: to be fruitful and multiply, and to be vegetarians? As the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l, wrote, “Judaism regards animals as sentient beings. They may not think or speak [in the way we humans do], but they do feel. They are capable of distress. There is such a thing as cruelty to animals, and as far as possible it should be avoided….[Just as it is with humans,] Animals, too, have feelings and they must be respected.” Not only must we respect all non-human living creatures, the Torah insists that we humans also must be sensitive to their feelings, to their emotional health as well as their physical well-being. The Torah issues several commands to make sure that we are so sensitive. There is, for example, the commandment, the mitzvah, in Sefer D’varim, the Book of Deuteronomy, regarding the mother bird. That law requires us to “let the mother go,” in its words, before we can take the eggs from its nest. Maimonides, the Rambam, explained the reason for that law this way: “Animals feel very great pain, there being no difference regarding this pain between humanity and the other animals. For the love and the tenderness of a mother for her child is not dependent on reason, but upon the activity of the imaginative faculty, which is found in most animals just as it is found in humanity….” That’s what the Torah demands, but that’s not the world we live in. Let’s talk turkey. Just on Thanksgiving alone, Americans consume an estimated 46 million turkeys each year, according to the National Turkey Federation. Here, though, are some other statistics we should be aware of: ï 64 percent of those turkeys, somewhere around 29.4 million of them, are locked up while they’re alive in environments that lack fresh air. In too many cases, these turkeys breathe in dangerous levels of ammonia instead. ï 61 percent of those turkeys are also denied any access to sunlight. They spend 20 hours a day exposed to continuous, artificial light instead. ï 63 percent of those turkeys are often forced to endure painful mutilations to prevent aggressive behaviors due to overcrowding. This includes such things as beak-trimming and other physical alterations, and very often all such things are done without any pain killers. ï 61 percent of turkeys are fed growth enhancement drugs and supplements to fatten them up, and they’re also often fed non-therapeutic antibiotics. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, thousands of those turkeys experience extreme hot or cold temperatures as they’re being transported to the slaughterhouse. Thousands of them also experience starvation, dehydration, suffocation, or death from blunt force trauma on the way to their deaths. Life’s not much better for the egg-laying chickens we depend on. The egg industry in the United States uses around 380 million hens to produce the eggs we buy. About 95 percent of these hens are packed into what’s called battery cages that are 15 inches high, and eight of these cages are stacked one on top of the other. There are usually six hens to a cage, although sometimes as many as 10 hens are shoved into them. On average, each hen in one of those cages has less living space than an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. That’s not an exaggeration. An 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper measures 92 square inches. Egg farmers aren’t required to give each hen more than 67 square inches of space; that’s the minimum space required by the standards set by Egg Farmers of America, the industry cooperative. These hens can’t run, they can’t hop, they can’t even stretch their wings fully because they’d either hit the sides of the cage or another bird. Now, sometimes hens lay eggs that produce chicks, and not all of them are female chicks, obviously. Because male chicks are of no use to egg farmers, an estimated 250 million of them are killed each year—and not humanely. They’re either suffocated to death in some way, or they’re thrown in alive into large industrial macerators

Is Eating Meat a Mitzvah that Comes from an Aveirah (Sin)?

January 11, 2022 No Comments

Judaism is all about performing mitzvot, carrying out God’s commandments. However, a mitzvah haba’ah b’aveirah – a mitzvah abetted by an aveirah (sin or “illegitimate means”) – is forbidden and is not considered a mitzvah. For example, if one uses a stolen lulav and esrog on Sukkot, it is not a proper mitzvah. Similarly, if money is stolen, it cannot be used to give tzedakah (charity). In fact, the sages indicate that it is better not to do the mitzvah at all than to do a mitzvah haba’ah b’aveirah. Eating meat today is arguably a mitzvah haba’ah b’aveirah, actually b’aveirot (sins), rendered illegitimate by illegitimate means, because meat consumption and the ways in which meat is produced today conflict with Judaism in at least six important ways: 1. While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies in respected medical journals have linked animal-based diets to a higher risk of developing heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases. 2. While Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, today 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 (without anesthetics), and denied fresh air, sunlight, exercise, and any enjoyment of life, before they are slaughtered and eaten. 3. While Judaism teaches that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalms 24:1) and that we are to be God’s partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern in tensive livestock agriculture is a major contributor (or the major contributor) 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, and other environmental damage. 4 While 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, modern intensive animal agriculture typically requires far more land, water, energy and other resources than an equivalent amount of wholesome and more healthful plant products. 5. While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, about 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter (it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of edible beef), while an estimated nine million people worldwide die because of hunger and its effects each year and over. Ten percent of the world’s p-eople people are chronically malnourished. 6. While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by diverting more and more of the earth’s limited natural resources from poor people to wealthy people, help to perpetuate the widespread hunger, poverty , and rage that eventually lead to instability, violent conflict, and war. In view of these important Jewish mandates to preserve human health, attend to the welfare of animals, protect the environment, conserve resources, help feed hungry people, and pursue peace, contrasted with the harm that animal-centered diets do in each of these areas, committed Jews (and others) should sharply reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products. One could say “dayenu” (it would be enough) after any of the arguments above, because each one constitutes by itself a serious conflict between Jewish values and current practice that should impel Jews to seriously consider a plant-based diet. Combined, they make a compelling case for the Jewish community to respond to these issues. It can, in fact, be argued, as does Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, that eating meat is worse than a mitzvah ha’ba’ah b’aveirah, because there is no obligation to eat meat today. Rabbi Yehuda Ben Batheira, one of the outstanding sages of the talmudic period, stated that the obligation to eat meat for rejoicing only applied at the time when the Holy Temple was in existence. (Pesachim 109a) He added that after the destruction of the Temple one could rejoice with wine. Based on this, Rabbi Yishmael stated, “From the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, it would have been right to have imposed upon ourselves a law prohibiting the eating of flesh.” A reason that the rabbis did not make such a law was that they felt that most Jews were not ready to accept such a prohibition. Other sources who maintain that it is no longer necessary to eat meat on festivals are Ritva, Kiddushin 36 and Teshuvot Rashbash, No. 176. In a scholarly article in The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society (Fall, 1981), Rabbi Alfred Cohen, the publication’s editor, after reviewing many sources such as those indicated above, concluded: “If a person is more comfortable not eating meat, there would be no obligation for him to do so on the Sabbath” and “we may clearly infer that eating meat, even on a Festival, is not mandated by the Halacha [Jewish law].” He also points out that “the Shulchan Aruch, which is the foundation for normative law for Jews today, does not insist upon the necessity to eat meat as simchat Yom Tov (making the holiday joyful).” In a responsum (an answer to a question based on Jewish law), Rabbi Moshe Halevi Steinberg of Kiryat Yam, Israel, stated, “One whose soul rebels against eating living things can without any doubt fulfill the commandment of enhancing the Sabbath and rejoicing on festivals by eating vegetarian foods…. Each person should delight in the Sabbath according to his own sensibility, enjoyment, and outlook.” In the same responsum, Rabbi Steinberg pointed out that there is no barrier or impediment to converting a non-Jew who is a vegetarian, since vegetarianism in no sense contradicts Jewish law. Can sensitive, compassionate people enhance a joyous occasion by eating meat

Invitation to a Tu B’shvat Seder

January 11, 2022 No Comments

Shalom,I will be facilitating two Tu B’Shvat Seders using zoom:One, for Israelis and UK residents, will be on Sunday, January 16, from 9 PM to 10:30 PM, Israeli time.The other, for Americans, will be on Monday, January 17, from 1:30 PM to 3 PM, US eastern time.I have conducted many Tu Bishvat seders in the past, both in rooms with attendees and by Zoom.The ten pages of source sheets that will be the basis of the Zoom seders will be screen shared. If yiou would like to see them before the Seder, please email me at . If you wish to partake in the seder rituals, please have at least one of the following at hand: fruit or nuts that have an outer shell; fruit that have a pit; fruit with neither an outer shell nor a pit, as well as some white grape juice or wine and some red grape juice or wine. If you prefer to attend the Seder without partaking in the rituals, that would be fine.To receive the zoom link, please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebo1wgRtgpSsZtJIMxj6Sz8Gxel1Te92pV7Fy3Np4wkNHG_g/viewform Please feel free to share this message.The zoom-link will be e-mailed closer to the events to those who register. If you would like to learn more about Tu Bishvat,, you might find some of my eight Tu Bishvat-related articles at the link below helpful. https://jewcology.org/2021/01/my-eight-articles-related-to-tu-bishvat/ At a time when the world is approaching a climate catastrophe and other environmental threats, it is time to celebrate Tu Bishvat, the most environmental Jewish holiday, as if global survival matters, and to start treating Tu Bishvat as a Jewish Earth Day.I look forward to seeing you at a Zoom seder.Suggestions are very welcome.KOL tuv,Richard

Eight Articles: Everything you need to know about Tu Bishvat

January 5, 2022 No Comments

by Richard Schwartz Tu Bishvat is the New Year for Trees. It honors trees, fruits and other aspects of nature. It is a Jewish holiday that is typically vegetarian or vegan as nuts and fruits are eaten as part of the ritual. To learn more take a look at the eight articles that follow: 1. Why Is This Night Different: Thoughts on Tu B’Shvat 2. Tu B’Shvat and Vegetarianism and Veganism 3. Preserving the Sacred Environment: A Religious Imperative – A Tu Bishvat Message 4. Lessons From Trees: a Tu Bishvat Message 5. Celebrating Tu Bishvat as if Environmental Sustainability Matters 6. Lessons From Quotations About Trees that Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet 7. For Tu Bishvat: 36 Jewish Quotations About Trees 8. Questions That Can Be Considered At a Tu B’Shvat Seder ======== 1. Why Is This Night Different?: Thoughts on Tu B’Shvat One of the highlights of the Passover seder is the recitation of the four questions which consider how the night of Passover differs from all the other nights of the year. Similar questions are appropriate for Tu B’Shvat, which starts on Wednesday evening, January 27, in 2021, because of the many ways that this holiday differs from Passover and all other nights of the year. 1. While four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk at the Passover seder, the four cups drunk at the Tu B’shvat seder vary in color from white to pink to ruby to red. 2. While Passover is a holiday of springtime, Tu B’Shvat 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. 3. While Passover commemorates the redemption of the Israelites, Tu B’Shvat considers the redemption of humanity, as the kabbalists of Safed who inaugurated the Tu B’Shvat seder regarded the eating of the many fruits with appropriate blessings and kavannah (intentions) on Tu B’Shvat as a tikkun (repair) for the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 4. While other Jewish holidays honor or commemorate events and people, Tu B’Shvat honors trees, fruits, and other aspects of nature. 6. While people generally eat whatever fruits are in season, on Tu B’Shvat people try to eat fruits from Israel, especially fruits mentioned in the Torah. 7. While people generally take the environment for granted, on Tu B’Shvat there is an emphasis on Jewish environmental teachings and the proper stewardship of the environment. 8. While people do not generally think about trees in the winter, there is much interest in trees on Tu B’Shvat, although the spring is still months away. 9. 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 B’Shvat people think of Israel in terms of its orchards, vineyards, and olive groves. 10. While people generally think of fruit as something to be purchased at a supermarket or produce store, on Tu B’Shvat people think of fruit as tokens of God’s kindness. 11. While people generally try to approach God through prayer, meditation, and study, on Tu B’Shvat people try to reach God by eating fruit, reciting blessings with the proper intensions, and by considering the wonders of God’s creation. 12. While many people eat all kinds of food including meat and dairy products during most Jewish holidays and on most other days, the Tu B’Shvat 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. 13. 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 B’Shvat is the New Year for Trees, when the fate of trees is decided. 14. While most Jewish holidays have a fixed focus, Tu B’Shvat 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 B’Shvat 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 B’Shvat and its important lessons will help revitalize Judaism and help shift our precious, but imperiled, planet to a sustainable path. =========== 2. Tu B’Shvat and Vegetarianism and Veganism Tu B’Shvat is the most vegetarian and vegan (henceforth veg*an) of Jewish holidays, because of its many connections to veg*an themes and concepts: 1. The Tu B’Shvat 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 vegan foods are eaten. This is consistent with the diet in the Garden of Eden, as indicated by God’s first, completely vegan dietary law: 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.” (Genesis1:29) 2. The Talmud refers to Tu B’Shvat as the New Year for Trees. It is considered to be the date on which the fate of trees is decided for the coming year. In recent years, one of the prime ways of celebrating Tu B’Shvat, especially in Israel, is through the planting of trees. Veg*ism

Pikuach Nefesh, Climate Change, and Veganism

January 2, 2022 No Comments

Judaism stresses pikuach nefesh, the principle that everything possible must be done to save a life, even if Jewish law has to be violated to do so. Of the 613 Torah mitzvot (commandments), 610 of them can be violated if if it might help save a life. The three exceptions are the prohibitions against murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality, the three cardinal sins. The Torah teaches that humans were created, “in God’s image,” (Genesis 1:26, 5:1), and, therefore, each person is of infinite value. A famous Mishnah reinforces this teaching: “Therefore, man was created as an individual, to teach that one who kills another person it is as if he destroys an entire world and one who saves another person, it is as if he saves an entire world.” (Sanhedrin, 4:5) Judaism requires that major precautions be taken to reduce risks to human life. An example is that a new house’s roof must have a protective parapet to prevent people from falling (Deuteronomy 22:8). Based on this teaching, the outstanding Jewish philosopher Maimonides generalizes “for any case where there’s a danger that a person may unwittingly die from … there is a positive obligation to remove the danger and to be extremely careful about it … and if one neglects to do so and leaves impediments that can cause danger he has negated a positive commandment and violated “that thou bring not blood upon thine house.” (Maimonides, Hilkhot Rotzeah V’shemirat Nefesh. 11:4) Today, it is urgent that the important Jewish principle of pikuach nefesh be applied in response to climate threats, because it is not just one life that is threatened, but the lives of all of the nearly eight billion people on Earth. Is this an outrageous exaggeration, like past predictions of an end to the world? Not according to science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and virtually all peer-reviewed papers on the issue in respected scientific journals, that argue that climate change is largely caused by human activity and poses a great threat to humanity. All the leaders of the 195 nations at the December 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, including Israel and the US, agreed that immediate steps must be taken to avert a climate catastrophe, and most of the nations pledged to significantly reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. While this is an important step forward, climate experts believe that even if, and it is a very big if, all the pledges are kept, they would not be enough to prevent future severe climate disruptions. An October 2018 report by the respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization composed of leading climate experts from many countries, warned that the world may have only until 2030 to make “unprecedented changes” in order to avert a climate catastrophe. The world is already seeing many negative effects of climate change. Contrary to the views of many climate-change deniers, the world’s temperature has significantly increased in recent years. Every decade since the 1970s has been warmer than the previous decade, and each of the 21 years in this century are among the 22 hottest years since temperature records worldwide started being kept in 1880. With June and July 2021 being the hottest for these months, this year is on track for possibly being the hottest month, after 2020 tied 2016 as the previous hottest one. Just as a person with a high fever suffers from many of its effects, there have been many negative effects of increased global temperature. Polar icecaps, glaciers worldwide, Greenland, and permafrost have been melting rapidly, faster than scientific projections. This has caused an increase in ocean levels worldwide with the potential for major flooding. Already there is “sunny day” flooding due to hight tides in Miami, Florida, and other coastal cities. Glaciers are “reservoirs in the sky,” providing important water for irrigating crops every spring, so their retreat will be a major threat to future food supplies for an increasing world population. There has also been an increase in the number and severity of droughts, wildfires, storms and floods. Within just a few weeks in the summer of 2021, there were major, sometimes unprecedented, wildfires in many places, including California, Greece, and even Siberia, deadly floods in western Europe, India, and China, and a category four hurricane that devastated some US Gulf states and some states in the northeastern US. California has been subjected to so many severe climate events recently that its former governor, Jerry Brown, stated, “Humanity is on a collision course with nature.” Unfortunately, prospects for the future are truly terrifying. The severe climate events mentioned above occurred due to a temperature increase of about 1.1 degrees Celsius (about two degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial revolution, but climate experts are predicting at least a tripling of that temperature increase by end of the century, which would greatly increase the severity of climate events., Also, climate experts believe that the world may be close to a tipping point when climate change will spin out of control, with disastrous consequences, unless major positive changes soon occur. The potential for such a tipping point is increased because of self-reinforcing positive climate feedback loops (vicious cycles). For example, when there are major wildfires, trees, which are a sink for CO2, are destroyed, much carbon from the burning trees is released into the atmosphere, and additional energy will be required to replace destroyed cars, homes, and other structures, increasing the potential for additional and even more potent future climate events. Another example is that when ice, a very good reflector of the sun’s rays, melts, the darker soil or water that is revealed absorbs much more of the sun’s energy, causing more ice to melt, starting a potentially very damaging vicious cycle. Another alarming factor is, while climate experts believe

First draft of my book, “Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year For Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come. Suggestions very welcome.

December 8, 2021 No Comments

Shalom, I would very much welcome suggestions on all or part of my draft below of a manuscript, tentatively entitled, “Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.” I plan to send the final draft to MANY rabbis and Jewish veg and animal rights activists at least a month before Rosh Chodesh Elul, August 27 in 2022, when the ancient Jewish holiday occurred, hoping that would result in many holiday observances, and many suggestions to improve this book in future editions. This is all new, so I am VERY open to ideas, big and small. MANY thanks, KOL tuv, Richard ============== Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come —————— Messages of Support from Rabbis and Other Jewish Leaders About Renewing the New Year for Animals and About This Book Restoring and adapting an ancient Jewish holiday to modern practice may seem like an insurmountable challenge, but many Jews today believe it is possible. The following rabbis and activists not only believe it can be done, they wholehearted endorse the process. Lists of supporting Jewish organizations, rabbis, and influential Jews are in Appendices A, B, and C, It is expected that there will be many more supporting statements and endorsements after this book is widely distributed. This will help increase awareness that restoring and transforming the ancient Jewish New Year for Animals is indeed an idea whose time has finally come. Endorsements from distinguished rabbis (listed alphabetically) From Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe Bernhard, Executive Director, Shamayim: Jewish Animal Advocacy: Becoming the people the Torah envisions will only happen through a reassessment of our relationship to animals. Re-Imagining and Re-Vitalizing this ancient tradition is a step in that process that also allow for a Re-Engagement with an authentic expression of Jewish values and ritual. From Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Dean of the The David Cardozo Academy, Jerusalem, and author of many Judaica books, including Jewish Law as Rebellion: A Plea For Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage: As always, my dear friend Professor Richard Schwartz makes us aware of one of the top priorities in Judaism. May this book have much influence and inspire, and may we all take notice of his important words: From Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, M.D. Director of Tree of Life Foundation and author of many Judaica and health books, including Torah as a Guide to Enlightenment: It is a great joy that we should reactivate a day to honor the holy relationship between the human and animal worlds, as per Genesis 1:29 and 1:30, where all of the animal and human species will be restored to a vegan way of life…. and with that a new level of peace will unfold on the planet. This is something to bring about and celebrate. From Rabbi Adam Frank, Israeli Masorti rabbi and teacher: I applaud this initiative and effort to bring to fruition the awareness that Jewish tradition expects of humanity toward the animal kingdom. FromRabbi Yonassan Gershom, writer and activist; his blog “Notes from a Jewish Thoreau” is at http://rooster613.blogspot.com/: Transforming this holiday, which was originally a time to tithe one’s flocks, into a day to focus on the treatment of animals on modern farms, provides an excellent educational opportunity. Unlike our farmer/herder ancestors who had daily contact with animals, modern Jews are often completely out of touch with where their food comes from, or how it is produced. From Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, former President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership; author of The Jewish way: Living the Holidays and many other books: It is a beautiful idea to renew/revive a classic day – Rosh Hashanah for counting and giving ma’aser beheima – that lost its actual function with the destruction of the Temple and the Exile. Addressing humanity’s relationship to animal life – and the widespread mistreatment of food animals and environmental abuse in today’s economy, marked by industrial farming and animal husbandry – is inspired. I wish great success to this project because it would have a morally positive effect on our treatment of animals and the planet, and bring great benefits to human health in switching to a healthier diet and life enhancement eating. In this way, the project fulfills and advances the central mitzvah of the Torah: choose life. From Rabbi Jill Hammer, Director of Spiritual Education for the Academy of Jewish Religion (Riverdale, NY).: Rosh Chodesh Elul, the Talmudic New Year for Animals, is a wonderful time to reclaim our connection to our brothers and sisters of all species, examine our ethics around treatment of animals, and celebrate the ways humans are and can be in partnership with all life. I, for one, look forward to blessing the animals in a Jewish context! From Rabbi David Rosen, KSG, CBE, International Co-President, Religions for Peace; Member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Commission for Dialogue with Religions; former chief rabbi of Ireland. The Maharal (Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague) wrote that “Love of all creatures is also the love of the Holy One, Blessed be He; for when one loves the Holy One, it is impossible not to love His creatures. The opposite is also true. If one hates His creatures, it is impossible to (truly) love He who created them” (Netivot Olam, Accordingly, the idea to develop the “ New Year for Animals” from its original limited reference, to become a day for raising awareness of human responsibility for animal welfare, is in fact nothing less than an initiative to enhance our love of the Creator Himself, and is a sanctification of the Divine Name. From Rabbi Arthur Waskow, PhD, founder and director, The Shalom Center; author of many Judaica books; a long time activist on social justice, peace, and environmental issues: As the human species – homo not-always-sapiens — turns our attention after a long and disastrous blind spot to the other species that are part of the great ecosystem of Temple Earth, restoring Rosh Chodesh Elul as the

Complete text of the 3rd edition of my book, “Judaism and Vegetarianism”

November 22, 2021 No Comments

Please see excerpt below. Thanks.

A Dialogue Between a Jewish Vegan and a Rabbi

November 16, 2021 No Comments

It is vital to conduct respectful dialogues within the Jewish community on whether Jews should be vegetarians, or even vegans. In the spirit of this debate, I have imagined a dialogue as a means of encouraging readers to conduct such debates with local rabbis, educators, and other Jewish leaders. These are, of course, my own thoughts, and you are free to adapt your own. Scene: A Jewish vegan activist meets his or her rabbi in the latter’s office. Jewish Vegan Activist (JVA): 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 animal-based 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 and vegans understand that people have a dietary 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 tension between the permission to consume animals and the extremely cruel treatment they now receive on factory farms. With regard to eating meat on Shabbat and holidays, according to the Talmud (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, late Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa, were vegetarians or vegans. Also, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, was a vegetarian, and Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, is a vegan. 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. JVA: Yes, but there is also much in the Torah and our other sacred writings that point to veganism as the ideal Jewish diet. For example, God’s initial intention was that people be vegans: “And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food’” (Genesis 1:29). The foremost Jewish Torah commentator, Rashi, says 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 that human beings were initially vegans. In addition, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, first chief rabbi of pre-state Israel and a major Jewish twentiethcentury writer and philosopher, believed that the Messianic period would also be vegan. He based this on Isaiah’s powerful prophecy that “a wolf shall live with a lamb, . . . and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw. . . . They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount” (Isaiah 11:6–9). Hence the two ideal times in Jewish thought—the Garden of Eden and the Messianic period—are vegan. 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 veganism 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, that is the basis for observing how far current animal treatment is from fundamental Jewish values. As Samson Raphael Hirsch put it: “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 1:27, 5:1). I fear that vegetarians and vegans 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 consider 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 responsible 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, God prescribed

Eighteen Reasons Jews Think They Should Not Be Vegetarians or Vegans (and Why They Are Wrong)

November 9, 2021 No Comments

Below are 18 reasons why many of my fellow Jews think they should not be vegetarian or vegan (henceforth veg*an) and my rebuttals to the reasons: 1) The Torah teaches that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26), giving us a warrant to treat animals in any way we wish.Response: Jewish tradition interprets “dominion” as responsible 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. In “A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace,” Rav Kook states: “There can be no doubt in the mind of any intelligent person that [the Divine empowerment of humanity to derive benefit from nature] does not mean the domination of a harsh ruler, who afflicts his people and servants merely to satisfy his whim and desire, according to the crookedness of his heart. It is unthinkable that the Divine Law would impose such a decree of servitude, sealed for all eternity, upon the world of God, Who is ‘good to all, and His compassion is upon all His works’ (Psalms 145:9).” This view is reinforced by the fact that immediately after God gave humankind dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26), He prescribed vegetarian foods as the diet for humans (Genesis 1:29). 2) The Torah teaches that only people are created in the Divine Image, meaning that God places far less value on animals.Response: While the Torah states that only human beings are created “in the Divine Image” (Genesis 1:27, 5:1), 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.” 3) Inconsistent with Judaism, veg*ans elevate animals to a level equal to or greater than that of people.Response: Veg*ans’ concern for animals and their refusal to treat animals cruelly does not mean that they regard animals as being equal to people. There are many reasons for being veg*an 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. 4) Veg*ism places greater priority on animal rights than on the many problems related to human welfare.Response: Veg*an 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 related to today’s livestock agriculture (such as climate change, pollution, soil erosion, and deforestation), working to promote veg*ism may be the most important action that one can take for global sustainability. 5) By putting veg*an values ahead of Jewish teachings, veg*ans are, in effect, creating a new religion with values contrary to Jewish teachings.Response: Jewish veg*ans are not placing so-called “veg*an values” above Torah principles but are challenging the Jewish community to apply Judaism’s splendid teachings at every level of our daily lives. Veg*ans argue that Jewish teachings that we must treat animals with compassion, guard our health, share with hungry people, protect the environment, conserve resources, and seek peace, are all best applied through veg*an diets. 6) Jews must eat meat on Shabbat and Yom Tov (Jewish holidays).Response: 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, late Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa, and David Rosen, former Chief rabbi of Ireland, have been or are strict vegetarians. 7) The Torah mandated that Jews eat korban Pesach and other korbanot (sacrifices).Response: 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. Now that the Jerusalem Temple is not standing, these laws related to sacrifices are no longer applicable. 8) Jews historically have had many problems with some animal rights groups, which have often opposed shechita (ritual slaughter) and advocated its abolishment.Response: Jews should consider switching to veg*ism 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.” 9) The restrictions of shechita minimize the pain to animals in the slaughtering process, and thus fulfill Jewish laws on proper treatment of animals.Response: This ignores the cruel treatment

Home of the Jewish-Environmental Movement

Author: Richard Schwartz