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Jewish Environmental Teachings Useful for an “Environmental Shabbat”
This year, Earth Day (April 22) falls on a Saturday, providing an excellent opportunity to turn the day into an “Environmental Shabbat.” I am working with others to encourage rabbis all over the world to give sermons and/or classes on that day about Judaism’s splendid environmental teachings and how they can be applied to reduce current environmental threats. Many relevant Jewish environmental teachings are presented ...
Passover and Vegetarianism and Veganism
Passover and vegetarianism and veganism (veg*ism henceforth)? Can they 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 Jewish festivals? Yet, an increasing number of Jews are turning to veg*ism and they are finding ways to celebrate veg*an ...
Parshat Tzav: How Meat Consumption Today Differs from The Time of the Mishkan (Sanctuary)
And that which is left thereof [from the meal-offering] shall Aaron and his sons eat; it shall be eaten without leaven in a holy place; in the tent of meeting they shall eat it. . . . it is most holy as the sin-offering and the guilt-offering. Leviticus 6:9.10When 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 ...
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 ...
A Vegan View of the Biblical Animal Sacrifices
“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 ...
Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Diets That Harm Us and the Planet
Many 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, ...
Purim and Veganism
The joyous festival of Purim shares many connections with veganism. According to the Talmud (Megilla 13a), Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, refrained from eating meat while she lived in the palace of King Achashveriosh. She was thus able to avoid violating the kosher dietary laws while keeping her Jewish identity secret. During Purim it is a mitzvah to give mat’not evyonim (charity&...
Everything you need to know about Tu B’Shvat
by Richard Schwartz 8 articles about Tu B'Shvat: 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 B'Shvat Message 4. Lessons From Trees: a Tu B'Shvat Message 5. Celebrating Tu B'Shvat as if Environmental Sustainability Matters 6. Lessons From Trees that Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet 7. For Tu ...
An Open Letter To Rabbis About Climate Threats
Shalom Rabbi, Over my 88 years, I have had many positive interactions with rabbis. I have been impressed with their inquisitiveness, thoughtfulness, and openness to new ways to interpret and understand our Jewish scriptures. It is because of these and other positive attributes that I have written this open letter appealing to you and other rabbis to come out very strongly against a very common practice in the Jewish community (and others) that ...
Should Jews Be Eating Meat Today? A Book Review
Israeli Rabbi Asa Keisar is on a mission. He wants to increase awareness of Jewish teachings about compassion for animals and how far the realities for animals on modern, intensive factory farms are from these teachings. To accomplish this, he has given away about 35,000 complimentary copies of the Hebrew version of his book, Before the Blind, mostly to students at yeshivas and other schools throughout Israel. Now the book has been published in ...
Chanukah and Plant-based Diets
By Richard Schwartz 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, the 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 Chanukah, latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried donuts) are vegetarian foods ...
How a Climate Catastrophe Can Be Averted
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the world is rapidly approaching an unprecedented climate catastrophe, so severe that all of human life would be very negatively affected and possibly even eliminated before the end of this century, unless major positive changes soon occur. This article discusses why the situation is so serious and then the one possibility of averting the catastrophe and shifting our imperiled planet onto a sustaina...
Why Jews Should Not Support Republicans in the US Midterm Elections
There are many reasons why Jews should not support Republican candidates in the potentially very consequential US midterm elections. They include: 1. Republican politicians have become like a cult, supporting former President Trump’s “big lie” that he won the 2020 presidential election and his many other lies, misrepresentations, and conspiracy theories. They contend that Trump won despite the very strong evidence to the contrary, includi...
Can Climate Change Be a Decisive Issue for Democrats in the US Midterms?
The many very severe climate events this summer and the increasingly dire warnings of climate experts have made people more aware of the seriousness of climate threats. Yet, polls have shown that the climate issue is way down on the list of people’s concerns when deciding how to vote in the midterm elections. The Democrats can gain greatly in these very consequential elections by emphasizing the seriousness of climate ...
Do Republicans Support the Truth or Donald Trump?
Most Republicans running for office in the US midterms are claiming that Donald Trump won the US 2020 presidential election, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And many other Republicans who may not believe that big lie are supporting politicians who do. Trump constantly repeats his assertion that he won the election and polls indicate that about 70 percent of Republicans believe him. Democrats running for office ...
Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
The conditions under which animals are raised for food today are completely contrary to Jewish teachings about compassion for animals: While Judaism teaches that Jews are to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim, compassionate children of compassionate ancestors, imitating God, Whose “compassion is over all His works” (Psalms 145:9), egg- laying hens are kept in cages so small that they can’t raise even one wing and they are debeaked without ...
Tisha B’Av and Veganism
There are many connections between the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av and veganism: 1. Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Today the entire world is threatened by climate change, and modern intensive livestock agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. 2. In Megilat Eichah (Lamentations), which is read on Tisha B'Av, the prophet Jeremiah warned ...
A Tisha B’Av Message: Will We Again Fail To Heed the Warnings?
Tisha B’Av, which we commemorate this year starting in the evening of August 6, 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, 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. Today there are no prophets like Jeremiah to ...
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 ...
