THE
V E G E T A R I A N
MITZVAH !
THE
V E G E T A R I A N
MITZVAH !
“A whole galaxy
of central rabbinic
and spiritual leaders … has
been affirming vegetarianism
as the ultimate
meaning of Jewish
moral teaching.”
Rabbi Isaac Ha-Levi Herzog,
Former Chief Rabbi of
“We should make
all our consumption
as holy as
possible…
The more we
live as if
this were the
messianic age the
closer we are
to it.”
Rabbi Rami Shapiro
“There is no
question that the
Torah’s ideal is
vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Bonnie Koppell
“I see vegetarianism
as a mitzvah.”
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
The mass production and
consumption of meat contradicts many Jewish teachings
and Jewish values, gravely harming
people, animals, communities, and the environment.
Consumption of animals – and the ways in which meat is
produced today –
conflicts with Judaism in at least ten important ways.
Each way is important, each implies the others, and
all are necessary.
Table of Contents:
1. Personal Health & Safety
2. Compassion for Others
3. Protecting the World & Environmentalism
4. Conservation & Efficiency
5. Knowledge & Spirituality
6. Charity & Righteousness
7. Peace & Justice
8. Concern for the Community
9. Keeping Kashrut
10.
Fighting Fascism
11.
Myths &
Realities Regarding Judaism & Vegetarianism
12.
Bonus Quotes
13.
Jewish
Vegetarians of
14.
Jewish Vegetarian
Articles
15.
Jewish Vegetarian
Books
16.
Jewish Vegetarian
Cookbooks
17.
Jewish Vegetarian
Recipe Web Sites
18.
Jewish Vegetarian
Cooking Video
19.
Jewish Vegetarian
Videos
20.
Related Jewish
Organizations
21.
Kosher Vegetarian
Organizations
22.
Miscellaneous
Jewish Vegetarian Resources
23.
Kosher Vegetarian
Restaurants
24.
Kosher Vegetarian
Caterers
25.
Free Vegetarian
Starter Kits
26.
English-Hebrew
27.
Translations?
1. Personal Health
& Safety:
Health and the protection of life are repeatedly
emphasized, and even prioritized, in Jewish teachings. While Judaism teaches
that we should be very careful about sh’mirat
haguf, preserving our bodies and health, and pekuach nefesh,
protecting our lives at almost any cost, numerous scientific studies
have linked animal-based diets directly to heart
disease and heart attacks (the #1 cause of death in the U.S.),
various forms of cancer
(e.g., lung, colon, breast, prostate, stomach, and pancreas) (the #2
cause of death), stroke (the #3 cause of death), high blood pressure, obesity,
diabetes,
osteoporosis,
asthma,
atherosclerosis,
aneurysms, rheumatoid
arthritis, impotence,
endometriosis,
gallstones,
gout, Alzheimer’s, and various
other very serious ailments. About 2/3 of diseases in the
Further, since more than half of all antibiotics
in the U.S. are given to livestock (plus immense amounts of chemicals,
steroids, hormones, and
other drugs),
resistant bacteria are increasing at an alarming rate, creating untreatable superbugs, like MRSA, that kill tens of
thousands of people per year. And don’t forget mad cow disease, bird flu,
foot and mouth,
e. coli, salmonella and food
poisoning. Fish
often contain mercury,
arsenic,
lead, cadmium and toxic
POPs, including PCBs,
DDT, and dioxin,
which can’t be removed from the fish
and which bio-accumulate
in consumers. “If there were
no poultry industry”, concludes Neal D. Barnard, M.D., “there would be no
epidemics of bird flu”. And if there were no cow industry, there would be no E.
coli outbreaks. Dayeinu.
The meat industry is unhealthy and unsafe. Eating
meat is more dangerous and more destructive than even smoking cigarettes. A
vegetarian diet (one that does not include any
animals) or a vegan diet (one that does not include any animal products,
including meat, dairy, and eggs) can help prevent, and sometimes reverse, many
of these health- and life-threatening conditions, while also protecting animals
and the environment. “Since nutrition is the main determinant of health and the
heart of preventive medicine”, according to Jay Levine, M.D., “becoming a vegetarian
is the best way to fulfill these mandates” of preserving one’s health and
avoiding things harmful to health. Dayeinu.
Take care of your lives… Guard yourselves most
diligently.
A danger to health takes precedence over ritual
obligations.
Talmud, Chulin 10a
“One must avoid that which harms the body and accustom
oneself to that which is helpful and helps the body become stronger.”
Moses Maimonides (the
Rambam), 12th century rabbi and physician, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:1
“It is forbidden to eat anything that leads to any
disease.”
Lomzha Rav, Divrie
Malchiel 2:53
“While
treating sick people is certainly a Torah
obligation, Judaism puts a priority on the prevention
of disease.”
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
and Richard H. Schwartz
“All new infectious diseases of human beings to emerge in the past 20
years have had an animal source.”
Lancet,
“Nothing will benefit health and increase the chances for survival of
life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
Albert
Einstein, nominated to be the 2nd President of Israel
“As it is halachically prohibited to harm oneself and
as healthy, nutritious vegetarian alternatives are easily available,
meat consumption has become halachically
unjustifiable.”
Rabbi
David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, “Vegetarianism: An Orthodox Jewish
Perspective”
2. Compassion for
Others: 
While Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim,
inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, and encourages people to be a mentsch,
a good, kind, and compassionate person, most farm animals – including
most certified organic,
most so-called “free range”,
and most animals raised for kosher and
other consumers – are raised on “factory
farms”, where they suffer in cramped, confined, and cruel places, and are
often drugged, mutilated, raped, tortured, and denied fresh air, water,
sunlight, exercise, and any enjoyment of life, whether on Shabbat or any other
day, before they are slaughtered on dis-assembly lines. Dayeinu.
Further, workers as well as animals are exploited in the
production of meat and other animal products, yet Jewish tradition has various
teachings against oshek, labor
exploitation and types of stealing.
Dayeinu.
Just as we were strangers in
In the Torah, Jacob, Moses, and David were all
shepherds who cared for animals. Moses is specifically praised for how he
showed compassion towards animals, such as a lamb, as well as people. Abraham
and Sarah were notorious for their hospitality and kindness toward others.
Rebecca was acceptable as a wife for Jacob based on the concern she showed for
animals, giving water to camels in addition to the thirsty person who asked for
it. Noah is considered righteous and he cares for the lives of his many
animals. In contrast, two hunters mentioned in the Torah, Nimrod and
Esau, are represented as villains. Further, according to legend, Rabbi
Vegetarianism is an easy and
effective way of putting one’s values into action, practicing compassion with every meal, every
day, thereby reducing pain, suffering, and death for those who can’t speak for
or defend themselves. Dayeinu.
“Blessed is He who has mercy
on the Earth; blessed is He who has mercy on the creatures.”
Artscroll
Sidur
“It is forbidden, according to the law of
the Torah, to inflict pain upon any living creature.
On the contrary, it is our duty to relieve
the pain of any creature.”
Schulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law, literally the Set Table], bk. 4, ch. 191, p. 84
“Jews are rachmanin b’nei rachmanin
[compassionate children of compassionate ancestors] and
one who is not compassionate cannot truly be a
descendant of our father Abraham.”
“Those who
have the capacity to eliminate a wrong and do not do so bear the responsibility
for its consequences”.
Talmud, Shabbat 54b
“People should consider themselves, and the worms, and all creatures as
friends in the universe,
for we are all created beings whose abilities are
God-given.”
Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi
“It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the
existence of humananity.
On the contrary, all the other beings too have been
intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of anything else...
There is no difference between the pain of humans and
the pain of other animals.”
Rabbi
Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), Guide
for the Perplexed
“In the killing of animals, there is cruelty.”
Rabbi Joseph Albo, Sefer
Ha-Ikarim, Vol. III,
“To make animals suffer is forbidden by the Torah.”
Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of
“The dietary laws are intended to teach us compassion
and lead us gently [back] to vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat
“It’s hard for me to understand how any Jewish people,
but particularly religious Jewish people,
who are talking in terms of compassion and love for
God’s creation, at the same time can sit down and eat animals that have been
slaughtered
and in most cases have been kept in disgustingly cruel
conditions.”
Phillip Campbell
“Being compassionate toward animal life is not just a
matter of being responsible for animal life,
which we have very clearly laid down in the Torah,
expounded by our sages,
but is a matter of imbuing ourselves with the right
kind of values. If we are insensitive towards animal life, then we desensitize
ourselves as human beings.
And therefore a truly sensitive human being,
compassionate towards other human beings, should be compassionate towards
animals.”
Rabbi
David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of
Ireland
“Our task must be to free ourselves by
widening our circle of compassion
to embrace all living creatures and the
whole of nature.”
Albert
Einstein, nominated to be the 2nd President of Israel
“I am a vegetarian for health reasons - the health of the animal.”
Isaac
Bashevis Singer, Yiddish author and Nobel Prize laureate
3. Protecting the
World & Environmentalism: 
While Judaism teaches that we are to
be shomrei adamah, partners in tikun olam, re-creating,
preserving, and healing the world (Talmud,
Shabbat 10a), mass production of meat
contributes substantially to air and water
pollution, overuse of chemicals and
fossil
fuels, greenhouse gas emission and global warming (what Rabbi Arthur Waskow calls “global
scorching” and what many describe as possibly the biggest social, political, economic, environmental, and moral
problem we face), the destruction of tropical rain
forests, coral
reefs, mangroves, and other habitats, soil erosion, deforestation,
desertification, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, and various other
forms of global environmental
degradation. Vegetarianism is a form of eco-eating
that protects the world. Dayeinu.
A spiritual view of the world recognizes the awesome
power and beauty of creation, while it abhors destruction, embracing what Rabbi
Abraham Joshua
Heschel described as “radical amazement” in the presence of the divine. We
are to be creators, not destroyers; holy, not profane; compassionate, not
cruel; acting godly in imitation of the divine, not devilishly. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism is more sustainable because vegetarians
tread much more lightly on our precious but imperiled planet, thereby
protecting the world and its inhabitants from unnecessary harm, while guarding
it for future generations. Dayeinu.
“The environmental destruction caused by the
animal-agriculture industry, by the amount of dung produced,
by the amount of sewage that gets poured into our
waterways and our systems,
there’s no doubt that it’s damaging our world and it’s
… in violation of the Jewish mandate to protect and observe and care for the
Earth. …
We are ignoring things that are essential and that are
critical to the character of Judaism, in order to meet our selfish desires and
wants.”
“There’s no doubt about it from an ecological point of
view, simply even I’d say mathematical point of view,
vegetarianism is a much more calculated way to manage
this world.
And there is indeed a direct ideological connection
between responsible stewardship and vegetarianism.”
Samuel Chayen
“Human beings and the natural world are on a collision
course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the
environment and on critical resources.
If not checked, many of our current practices put at
serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal
kingdoms,
and may so alter the living world that it will be
unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.
Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the
collision our present course will bring about.”
“World Scientists’
Warning to Humanity” (November 1992),
signed by about 1700 scientists, including the
majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving
force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage
now threatening the human future --- deforestation,
erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change,
biodiversity loss, social injustice, the
destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”
Editors, World
Watch, July/August
2004
4. Conservation
& Efficiency: 
While Judaism teaches bal
tashchit (concern for the environment, based on Deuteronomy 20:19, 20), that we should not waste or unnecessarily destroy anything
of value (conservation), and that we should not use more than what is necessary
to accomplish a purpose (efficiency), meat production requires the very
wasteful use of land,
topsoil, water,
fossil
fuels and other forms of energy, labor, grain, and other vital resources,
in addition to various toxic chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones. For example, it can require approximately 78 calories of non-renewable
fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from factory-farmed beef, but
only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans. Dayeinu.
The meat industry is exceptionally
wasteful, inefficient, costly, and destructive, even while better alternatives
are plentiful, easily obtainable, and healthier for consumers, workers,
animals, and our environment. The world and its inhabitants can’t afford
animal-based diets. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism preserves the resources necessary for
life, as well as the healthy and sustainable conditions that support life, for
this and future generations. Dayeinu.
"This
is the way of pious and elevated people... they will not waste even a mustard
seed,
and they
are distressed at every ruination and spoilage they see, and if they are able
to save,
they will
save anything from destruction with all of their power...”
Rabbi
Aaron HaLevi of Barcelona, 13th century, Sefer HaChinuch 529
“Eating meat is not an ecologically efficient way to feed ourselves or
the world.”
Deborah
Kellman, founder of Milk & Honey, a kosher vegetarian catering company
5. Knowledge & Spirituality: 
Judaism often emphasizes the
interplay between the thinking and the doing, highlighting the vital role of kavanah,
spiritual intention and concentration, as a precondition for action. That is a
motivation behind the blessings, of which there is none specifically over meat.
As it says in the Shulchan Aruch, “It is not fitting to bless God over something which He created and
which man has slain.” According to custom, meat-eating was permitted after the
Flood of Noah as a temporary concession, with elaborate restrictions, to human
weakness for those with a “lust for meat”. Unlike for grains, fruits, and
vegetables, and much else, for instance, there is no special blessing over meat
and no mitzvah to eat it. Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D.
concurs, saying that “Judaism is so rich in blessings.… [yet] there’s no
special blessing [over] meat, it’s just not there.” Dayeinu.
In our creation story, the term nefesh chayah, living being or living soul, is applied to people and animals. Eating meat can be
considered a Chilul HaShem, a
desecration of God’s name, due to the destruction of life and spirit entailed,
while eating plants could be considered a Kiddush
HaShem, a blessing and sanctification of God’s name, due to the protection
of health and life of both animals and humans. We are said in the Talmud to be rachmanin b’nei
rachmanin, compassionate children of compassionate ancestors, but only if
we act so. And when we do, we can be a “light unto the nations” and a light
unto ourselves. Dayeinu.
While some argue that “flesh” is necessary to properly
enjoy Shabbat and our other holy days, we can follow the Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi
Israel ben Eliezer, founder of Chasidism), who said that “flesh” could be meant
in the Biblical sense and that one could enjoy the physical touch of another
living human being instead of the meat of a dead animal. For those who
erroneously think it might be a mitzvah
to eat meat during holy days, it is a mitzvah haba’ah al y’dei aveirah, a mitzvah that
derives from a sin; it is the fruit of a poisonous tree, and therefore no mitzvah at all. Dayeinu.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son Rabbi Eleazar hid in a cave for
thirteen years after Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was condemned to death by the
Roman conquerors for speaking out against them, following the destruction of
the Second Temple and the murders of Rabbi Akiva (c. 50-135 CE) and many of his
students. They were sustained by their cave, a nearby carob tree, a local
stream, and their studies of the Torah. Rabbi Shimon taught that our
world and the unseen “higher” worlds are unified, as manifestations of the
Divine Soul, and that the meaning of life is to reunify Creation with the
source of Creation. He also affirmed that the “crown” of a good name is the
most important thing and within the reach of everyone. Dayeinu.
It is also part of our teaching, from Hillel’s
disagreement with Shamai over lighting of the menorah in the Talmud, that ma’alin bakodesh v’ayn moridim ,“in sacred matters we must increase holiness rather
than decrease it”. Dayeinu.
Further, it is believed by Maimonides, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook,
and other Chief Rabbis and Torah scholars that in the messianic age of
the Third Temple, when “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb… and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox” (Isaiah
11:6-7), Temple sacrifices as well as all
other food will be vegetarian. Dayeinu.
Vegetarians
live closer to the messianic age in the present, while also hastening it for
the world. As Rabbi Rami Shapiro reminds us, “Vegetarianism is central to holy
living as Judaism has understood it for thousands of years.” Vegetarianism is a mitzvah, a sacred duty and good deed. Dayeinu.
“Aside from the cruelty, rage and fury in
killing animals, and the fact that it teaches human beings the bad trait of
shedding blood for naught;
eating the flesh even of select animals
will yet give rise to a mean and insensitive soul.”
Rabbi Joseph Albo, c.
1380-1444
“The Holy One, blessed be He, said to
Moses:
Eating meat is not essential to one’s
nutrition; rather, it is a matter of gluttony, of filling one’s belly and of
increasing one's lust.
Meat also gives rise in human beings to a
cruel and evil temperament. ....
Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, did
not tell Moses that He would give the Israelites meat, rather bread,
which is a fitting food and essential for
the human temperament.”
Don Isaac Abarbanel
(1437-1508), commentary on Exodus 16:4
“It [eating meat] is an overall moral shortcom