An Audacious Proposal to Restore and Transform the Ancient New Year for Animals

Restoring and transforming the ancient “New Year for Animals”

  The current widespread mistreatment of animals on factory farms is very inconsistent with Judaism’s beautiful teachings about compassion to animals. One way for Jews to respond to these inconsistencies is to restore and transform the ancient and largely forgotten Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah LaBeheimot (New Year’s Day for

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What A Wonderful Path Judaism Is!

The following is an excerpt from my recently published book, “Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judiasm and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet.” What A Wonderful Path Judaism Is! · _Judaism proclaims a God who is the Creator of all life, whose attributes of kindness, compassion, and

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My Vision for Judaism in this Time of Multiple Crises

The following is an excerpt from my recently published new edition of “Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet.” To be a Jew is to see the world through the eyes of God, to be unreconciled to the world as it

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Relating Tisha B’Av to Today’s Environmental Crises

Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, one of the many negative things that occurred on that day, including

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10 Top Reasons to Read “Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet”

Who Stole My Religion?: 1. Generates interest and discourse on the future of Judaism and our imperiled planet because of its challenging analyses. 2. Delivers a critical analysis of Orthodox Judaism’s views on climate change and politics. 3. Argues that vegetarianism, and especially veganism, is the diet most consistent with Jewish teachings and

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“Who Stole My Religion?” has been published!

HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS UPDATED BOOK BY RICHARD SCHWARTZ. The many endorsements below are included to show that it is not just the author, but also many other people – of various perspectives – who think their religion has been “stolen,” but who still believe that religious

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Interview About My Activism and My Forthcoming Book

INTERVIEW ON MY APPROACH TO APPLYING JEWISH VALUES IN EFFORTS TO HELP SHIFT OUR IMPERILED PLANET ONTO A SUSTAINABLE PATH. INTERVIEW BY BATZION SHLOMI Batzion Shlomi: I understand you are making aliya soon! Mazal Tov! How did you come to this decision? Richard Schwartz: My wife and I have been

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Passover and Earth Day

This year, the first night of Passover and the annual Earth Day both occur on April 22nd. Hence, this is a good time to consider environmental messages related to Passover and the events and concepts related to the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt: 1. Today’s environmental threats can be

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Passover and Vegetarianism

Passover and vegetarianism? Can the two be related? After all, what is a seder without gefilte fish, chicken soup, chopped liver, chicken, and other meats? And what about the shankbone to commemorate the Paschal sacrifice? And doesn’t Jewish law mandate that Jews eat meat to rejoice on Passover and other

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Inconsistencies in Passover Eating

It seems strange that Jews go to great lengths on the festival of Passover to observe Torah verses commanding us to avoid some foods, while ignoring other scriptural verses relevant to the consumption of other foods. Among the features of Passover are the prohibitions of eating, owning or benefiting from

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Conserving Our Oil: A Chanukah Message

Richard H. Schwartz   The Jewish festival of Chanukah commemorates the miracle of the oil that was enough for only one day, but miraculously lasted for eight days in the liberated Temple in Jerusalem. Hence, this holiday is a good time to consider our own use of fuel and other

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

Judaism places much stress on performing mitzvot, carrying out God’s commandments. However, a “mitzvah haba’ah b’aveirah” – a mitzvah based on 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

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Lessons on Activism From the First Two Chapters of Genesis

Here are some of the important lessons on activism that I learned from the first two chapters of Genesis: 1. From Genesis 2:15, “the human being was put into the Garden of Eden to work the land and to guard (preserve) it,” I learned that I should be an environmental

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Dialogue Between a Jewish Vegetarian Activist and a Rabbi

For a long time, I have been trying to start a respectful dialogue in the Jewish community. Because I have had very little success, I am presenting the fictional dialogue below. I hope that many readers will use it as the basis of similar dialogues with local rabbis, educators, and

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