431 results for author: Richard Schwartz

My three Chanukah-related articles

Chanukah and Vegetarianism and Veganism      Many connections can be made between vegetarianism and veganism (henceforth veg*ism) and the Jewish festival of Chanukah: 1. According to the Book of Maccabees, some Maccabees lived on plant foods since they were unable to get kosher meat when they hid in the mountains to avoid capture. 2. The foods associated with Channukah, latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried donuts) are vegetarian foods (vegan if made without eggs), and the oils that are used in their preparation are a reminder of the oil used in the lighting of the Menorah in the rededication of the Temple after the ...

Is Eating Meat and Other Animal Products Halachically Justifiable Today?

Based on increasingly dire warnings from climate experts and a significant increase in the frequency and severity of  climate events, it is clear that the world faces great danger from climate change. As discussed below, averting a climate catastrophe depends very much on a major societal shift to plant-based diets. That would be helped significantly if rabbis declared that eating meat and other animal products is halachically unjustifiable today. Based on Jewish teachings, there are at least six halachic reasons for rabbis to do this:                                                                 1. While ...

Dvar Torah for Parshat Ki Taitzi: Can Compassion to a Bird Help Bring Moshiach?

  If you come across a bird's nest on any tree or on the ground, and it contains baby birds or eggs, then, if the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with her young. You must first chase away the mother, and only then may take the young. (Deuteronomy 22:6- 7) What is the reason for this unusual mitzvah? Maimonides argues that we send away the mother bird to teach us compassion. He insists that animal mothers, just as human mothers, suffer when their offspring are harmed. In Part 3, Chapter 48 of the Guide to the Perplexed, Maimonides writes: As far as pain is concerned, there is no real ...

     Applying Religious Teachings To Reduce Abuses of Animals

                                Review of Animal Theologians     Animal Theologians, edited by long time British animal rights activists Andrew and Clair Linzey, has the potential to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. Why? It can help move people, especially religious ones, to plant-based diets at a time when the world is rapidly heading inward a climate catastrophe and a major societal change to such diets is essential to efforts to avert a climate catastrophe.          Such a shift would sharply reduce ...

My Four Articles On Restoring and Transforming the Ancient New Year For Animals

Below are my 4 articles on restoring and transforming the ancient. Jewish New Year for Animals. They were written several years ago, so I plan to write a new article updating the situation. Their titles are: An Audacious Initiative to Restore the Ancient New Year for Animals Top Ten Reasons for Restoring and Transforming the Ancient New Year for Animals Restoring and Transforming an Ancient Jewish Holiday Related to Animals An Overlooked Mitzvah: Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chaim  ———————————————- An Audacious Initiative to Restore the Ancient New Year for Animals The conditions under which ...

 Review of  “Judaism and Global Survival – 20th Anniversary Edition”

Tikun Olam. What a wonderful Hebrew phrase! Once again, my very dear friend Richard Schwartz has imbued the saying with more potent meaning than I think I have ever seen. This 20th anniversary edition of Judaism and Global Survival elevates that concept—the “Healing of the World”—to its most relevant position in the history not only of our people but of humanity in general. As we move from the Holocene to the Anthropocene era we face challenges never before experienced in our planet’s history as humanity itself drives the world we live on a relentless pathway to destruction. But this book is not just another litany of woe and ...

              There Is No Planet B

          Because of the increasingly dire warnings of climate experts that climate change may soon reach an irreversible tipping point, the significant increase in the frequency and severity of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods, and other climate-related events, and the failure so far of governments and other institutions to make adequate changes to address the threats, many concerned people are trying to awaken others to the dangers with the statement that “There is no Planet B.” This article discusses the climate threats and how risks of a climate catastrophe can be greatly reduced.       It is essential ...

Dear Rabbi – How YOU Can Help Save the World

Shalom dear rabbi,     I have been fortunate to be involved with many rabbis in my 89 years, and I have always found you all to be the most dedicated people, committed to getting as many Jews as possible to live committed Jewishlives, filled with mitzvot and tikkun olam.     Because of this I very respectfully address this message to you. Your response could have an enormous and. Powerful effect on the future of Judaism and on our imperiled planet.     Recognizing and acting in response to the following three realities is the key to shifting our world onto a sustainable path: 1. Earth is rapidly approac...

A Tisha B’Av Message: How Do the Warnings Today Differ From Those of Jeremiah?

    A Tisha B’Av Message: How Do the Warnings Today Differ From Those of Jeremiah? Over 2,600 years ago, Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, one of many tragedies that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple as well.      There are comparisons between the warnings and threats in Jeremiah’s lifetime and those today that can provide insights that can be valuable in responding to current threats. 1. There are no prophets today like Jeremiah warning of the ...

  Can Meat Be Humanely Produced?

                        A Review of Hope Bohanec’s Book, “The Humane Hoax”          Hope Botanec’s wonderful book, “The Humane Hoax: Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat , Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs,” which  exposes the many lies and misrepresentation of these industries, is essential reading today for many reasons.      Most importantly, it is urgent that there be a societal shift toward vegan diets because there is very little, if any, chance to avert a climate catastrophe without a major shift toward animal-free diets. Two reasons:   &...

How To Help the World Go Vegan       

A Tisha B’Av message: Will We Fail To Heed the Warnings Again?

Tisha B’Av, which we commemorate starting in the evening of July 26 in 2023, reminds us that over 2,600 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways. This resulted in destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem, one of many tragedies that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple also.       Today there are’t prophets like Jeremiah to issue warnings, but there are. increasingly dire warnings from climate experts that it is not just Jerusalem but the entire world that is threatened today by climate change. A strong consensus is ...

Inconsistencies Between Jewish Values and Jewish Diets

     There are significant inconsistencies between basic Jewish values and the diets of the vast majority of Jews. Please consider: 1. While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving our health and our lives, numerous medical studies in respected peer-reviewed journals have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. Animal-based diets also make future pandemics, with their many negative health effects, far more likely. 2. While Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, ...

  Review of Animal Welfare in World Religion

            Joyce D’Silva’s book Animal Welfare in World Religion: Teaching and Practice points out an anomaly that is the main reason that the world is rapidly approaching a climate catastrophe and facing other environmental threats. While about 80 percent of the world’s people belong to a religion and these religions have strong teachings about compassion for animals, the vast majority of the people have animal-based diets that involve great cruelty to animals.      Animal-based agriculture is the main cause of climate change for two very important reasons. Cows and other farmed rumina...

Religion, Ethics, Animals, and Choosing Vegan

     Dr. Lisa Kemmerer has made it her mission to help people to recognize that core religious teachings in every faith require that we rethink our diet and how we treat animals more generally. Toward this end, she has authored "Animals and World Religions." She is also the author of "Eating Earth, Environmental Ethics and Dietary Choices," and "Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice" and over 100 related articles and anthology chapters. As professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies (Montana State University, Billings) and an internationally acclaimed scholar on ethics and animals, she ...

What is Our ‘Natural’ Diet?

    Clearly human beings are not carnivores, but are we omnivores or herbivores? Actually we are both. We are omnivores in practice, with most people eating from both the plant and animal kingdoms. However, physiologically and emotionally  we are herbivores as explained below. The difference between our eating habits and our natural conditions and inclinations are why so many people are suffering and dying from heart disease, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases.     The following comparisons support the conclusion that humans are meant to be herbivorous: 1. Our small and large intestines, like those of primates, are four ...

Prevention: the Jewish Approach to Health

Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of       God . . . ,  one must avoid that which harms the body and       accustom oneself to that which is helpful and helps the body become       stronger. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:1)      Contemporary western medicine has generally focused on the treatment of diseases, rather than on their prevention. Medical schools teach that prescription drugs are the most powerful tools doctors have for treating disease; diet and other lifestyle changes are seldom stressed as therapeutic tools. ...

Protein and Calcium Myths

    People increasingly wish to adopt healthier diets. However, many are prevented from necessary changes because of myths about certain nutrients. For example, it is the common wisdom that one should eat ample amounts of meat in order to get adequate protein and consume large amounts of dairy products in order to get adequate calcium to avoid osteoporosis.       But, please consider the following: Countries with the highest consumption of dairy products, such as the United States, Israel, Sweden, and Finland, have the greatest per capita cases of osteoporosis. Eskimos, who consume the highest amounts of calcium of any of the ...

Two Health Studies That Could Revolutionize Health Practrices

     There are two major health studies that have the potential to radically affect medical practice. They dramatically show how dietary and other lifestyle changes can prevent and in some cases reverse diseases.      The first study, the Lifestyle Heart Trial, was conducted by Dean Ornish, M. D. of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Salusito, California, and his medical colleagues. Its aim was to study if changes in diet, exercise, and stress levels can unblock clogged arteries and save lives, without the use of expensive surgical techniques or drugs.      Ornish's initial study involved 48 patients ...

Should Jews Be Vegans, or at least Vegetarians?

by Richard Schwartz, PhD   The consumption of meat and other animal products  and the ways in which they are produced today seriously conflict with Judaism in at least six important areas: While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, strokes, many forms of cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. 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" ...