I am working with other Jewish veg activists to organize many events in an historic, potentially transformative initiative to restore the ancient New Year for Animals and to transform it into a day devoted to increasing awareness of Jewish teachings about compassion to animals and how far current realities are from these teachings. The events will also consider how animal-based diets and agriculture seriously violate basic Jewish teachings about preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving ...
[This article discusses my efforts to restore the ancient Jewish New Year for Animals and to transform it into a day devoted to increasing awareness of judaism's teachings on compassion to animals and how far current realities are3vfrom these teachings.]
A New Year for Animals?
By Abigail Klein Leichman
Just as Tu BiShvat was reinvented from a Temple-centric day marking the start of the fruit and nut tithing cycle into an ecologically conscious Jewish New Year for the Trees, the New Year for Animals on the first of Elul – when animal tithes were assessed for ...
Prof. Yael Shemesh, Bible Department, Bar-Ilan University
I have read the words of Prof. Richard Schwartz, an observant Jewish vegan who dedicates his life to promoting the vegetarian-vegan idea in accordance with Jewish values, as well as the words of Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld clearly demonstrating that he is a non-vegetarian. He even asks not to be preached to about stopping to consume meat.
I will begin with my bottom line impression – both are right. Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is right that Judaism is not a vegetarian religion and does not require its adherents to be ...
https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/heres-why-jews-should-be-vegans-675135
If link can't be open because you are not a Jerusalem Post subscriber, I have pasted the article below.
Why Jews Should Be Vegans
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D
I am proud to live in Israel, the eternal home of the Jewish people and arguably the vegan capital of the world, with ...
Whither the weather?
Kol hakavod for your editorial “A bigger step needed” (July 27), which cogently argued that “Israel should step up its game” in responding to climate change.
Your article “Summer of disaster: Extreme weather wreaks havoc worldwide as climate change bears down,” (July 25) should convince everyone that the world is already suffering greatly from climate change. It seems like there are almost daily reports of severe heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods and other effects of climate change. Within ...
Shalom,
Below is my very preliminary draft for a Haggadah’ for a future ‘Seder’ for a renewed and transformed New Year for Animals.
It is presented mainly to get people thinking about possibilities for future observances of the restored ancient Jewish holiday. We may end up with an approach or approaches very different from the one I am suggesting in this draft. And that would be fine with me.
I would very much welcome your input on this and suggestions for other possible approaches.
In reviewing this, please do not be concerned with the wordage, the ...
Shalom
My three articles about restoring the ancient New Year for Animals are:
Restoring and Transforming an Ancient Jewish Holiday Related to AnimalsTen Reasons for Restoring and Transforming the Ancient New Year for AnimalsAn Often Overlooked Mitzvah: Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chaim
Restoring and Transforming an Ancient Jewish Holiday Related to 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 ...
~by Lynn Nadeau
* Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by Francesco Hayez
On Tisha B'Av, we sit on the floor, a candle barely lighting the page, and we read the words which sear the heart. We lament the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians. And we lament the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. And today, we mourn the destruction caused by ourselves. Our private profligacy. Our passivity and our lack of participation in public policy letting selfish interests predominate. For these things I weep; my eye, yea my eye, sheds ...
Jewish Quotations About Animals and How Animals Are Treated Today
A. Attitude Toward Animals
1. “A righteous person regards the life of his or her animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” ~Proverbs 12:10
2. The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His creatures.” ~Psalms 145:9
3. The tzaddik (righteous person) acts according to the laws of justice; not only does he act according to these laws with human beings, but also with animals.
~The Malbim
4. “Living creatures possess a soul ...
Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) which we commemorate this year on July 17 - 18, 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. That failure resulted in the destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem, one of the many tragic things that occurred to Jews on that day, including the later destruction of the second Temple.
Today there are no prophets like Jeremiah to issue warnings, but we are receiving increasingly dire warnings from climate ...
Dr. Alon Tal, co-founder of the Green Zionist Alliance
JERUSALEM (June 16) -- This morning Aytzim co-founder Dr. Alon Tal joined the Knesset, Israel's parliament, becoming only the second Knesset member with roots in Israel's Green Party to be appointed to the legislative body (following Yael Cohen Paran). Tal, who serves on Aytzim's board of directors, led the founding of Aytzim in 2001 along with Rabbi Michael Cohen, Dr. Eilon Schwartz and about 30 other volunteers. For almost two decades, Tal has served as one of Aytzim's Green Zionist Alliance representatives on ...
"Everything is Connected"
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen
The JCAN-MA for the 3rd Jewish Climate Action Conference: Everything is Connected occurred April 25, 2021. Over 550 people attended. The 40 sessions focused on carbon reduction, advocacy, spiritual resilience, soil and agriculture, raised up the voices of youth, and addressed environmental justice. The day-long event was geared toward action solutions and strengthening the national Jewish climate action network. Opportunities are still available for connecting with other climate activists in your ...
The Vegan Revolution
by Richard Schwartz
(Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Publishing and Media, 2020), 272 pp.
I’ve been a vegetarian for forty years. Inspired by a college boyfriend,
I then fully committed to it the year I was at HUC-JIRJerusalem,
walking down the meat aisle of the Old City Shuk with
its hanging animal carcasses. I married a man who was already a
vegetarian (thank goodness no “training” required!) and we raised
three vegetarian children who now, as adults, have all retained
their commitment to it. In true family dynamics, two of ...
by Rabbi Dr. Dov Maimon
Despite everything they have in common, the Israeli Jewish experience differs greatly from the Diaspora Jewish experience. The two communities don't always have the same interests or find the same issues compelling, and they disagree on quite a few matters, both those relating to values and those relating to modes of action. Climate change, however, is an opportunity for collaboration between Israeli and Diaspora Jews.
Climate change is a burning issue for young people across the Western world. The challenge does not differentiate ...
Renewing and Recycling:
The Formation of American Jewish Environmentalism
in the 1970s and 1980s
Gabrielle Plotkin
Advisor:
Keith Woodhouse
B.A. Thesis for Honors in History
Northwestern University
May 3, 2021
ii
Abstract
Few environmental historians have considered how American Jews interacted with the
postwar environmental movement. Those that have, often characterize American Jews as
“urban” and separate from nature. However, I demonstrate that American Jewry’s involvement
in left-leaning politics and inclination to both ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ck72NqkUAA
Earth Day teach-in I aranged (on Earth Day, April 22, 2021), which involved 22 fabulous speakers .
The theme was "Applying Religiouis Values To Help Save the World."
Here is the list of speakers the order of their appearance.
Richard Schwartz : President emeritus of Jewish Veg and author of
“Judaism and Vegetarianism”and “Vegan Revolution”
Rev. Fletcher Harper: Founder and director of GreenFaith, a
&...
Below are three Shavuot-related articles. They are:
1. A Shavuot Message: Time to Apply Torah Values To Our Diets
2. Dialogue on Shavuot Night About Veganism
3. Shavuot and Vegetarianism and Veganism
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A Shavuot Message: Time to Apply Torah Values To Our Diets
Shavuot is "z'man matan Torateinu,” the time of the giving of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. To honor the Torah, many dedicated religious Jews admirably stay up the entire first night of Shavuot to hear talks about and discuss Torah teachings.
Yet, despite this ...
