What About Fish?

My Dog or Your Child?

Ethical Dilemmas and the Hierarchy of Moral Value

By Dr. Steven Best

Too often, animal rights advocates (ARAs) are challenged with the hysterical hypothetical of the “burning house dilemma.” It runs something like this: If you were caught in a burning house, were running out the door to save your life, and only had time enough to save a dog in one room and a human being in another, which would you choose?

Invariably, the question is asked with the intent to find an inconsistency in the value scheme or commitments of the ARA, such that for all their talk about animal rights or species equality, they would still save the human. Deep down, therefore, the ARA is like everyone else and a speciesist at heart. When faced with the burning house question, you are always damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If you answer that you would save the human being, your interlocutor glibly and gleefully derides you as a hypocrite. If you answer you would save the dog, you are vilified as a miscreant and deviant misanthrope with warped values.

A Veg Guide to Jerusalem 

As you begin your spring and summer travel plans, many of you might be considering making your way to Israel.  The first stop for many visitors is the Holy City, Jerusalem, a city filled with sights, entertainment, history and an undeniable spiritual power.  Just soaking up all of the energy in this amazing place could take weeks.  But you've got to eat too!

Jerusalem is a city of many restaurants, from the corner falafel stand to the fanciest of wine bars.  You can find food from all over the world, and some of the freshest produce available anywhere.  For a vegetarian or vegan visiting the city, eating can definitely be an enjoyable experience, while one that also offers its own unique challenges.

Kitniyot-A Vegetarian Perspective 

By BVeg 

As we plan our menus for the upcoming Passover holiday, most of us have a good sense of what we will be eating.  There are of course the traditional foods: maror, haroset, matzo ball soup (possibly made vegetarian) and plenty of crispy matzo.  But there are also the dishes unique to our families: grandma’s mock kishke, dad’s sweet mandle bread, your famous locally grown, organic, hametz-free, vegan nut burgers.  These “family” foods are part of the customs we look forward to most and miss when not at home, along with the stories, the singing and the community.  And for some of us, part of our holiday tradition is not to eat beans, rice and corn—kitniyot--during the holiday.  Most likely this is not out of a strict adherence to Jewish law, but instead is part of the powerful pull that tradition and custom has on our lives.

Passover and Vegetarianism 

By Richard Schwartz

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 Jewish festivals?

An increasing number of Jews are turning to vegetarianism and they are finding ways to celebrate vegetarian Passovers while being consistent with Jewish teachings. For many years, Jonathan Wolf, a Jewish vegetarian activist, has had up to 50 people at his Manhattan apartment for completely vegetarian seders. This year the Jewish environmental group Shomrei Adamah ("Guardians of the Earth") has scheduled a vegetarian seder.

Contrary to a common perception, Jews are not required to eat meat at the Passover seder or any other time. According to the Talmud (Pesachim 109a), since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jews need not eat meat to celebrate Jewish festivals. In recent scholarly articles by Rabbi Albert Cohen in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society and Rabbi J. David Bleich in Tradition magazine, this concept is reinforced. Also, Israeli chief rabbis, including Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel and Rabbi Sha'ar Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Haifa, were or are strict vegetarians.

Vegan Gefilte Fish

OK, so this doesn't really taste too much like the real thing.  But it tastes great and looks real! 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Boil the potatoes until they are just beginning to get soft
3. Fry the onions in 1-2 tbs. of oil until they are lightly browned.
4. Cut off the ends of the eggplant and slice lengthwise. Brush with a little of the oil, and place in the oven. Poke the skin in a few places. Bake the eggplant about 20-30 minutes until the skin begins to wrinkle. Carefully remove from the oven and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
5. Lower oven temperature to 325°F.
6. Mash the potatoes, add the eggplant, onion, nutritional yeast, garlic, chopped parsley, and season to taste with salt, paprika and pepper. Add matzo meal to make a firm consistency (the mix should hold together but not be too hard).
7. After wetting your hands, make patties with the mixture-about 2 inches across and 1/2-1 inch thick works well. Place on oiled baking pans and brush each patty with some oil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until they are just brown.
8. The gefilte "fish" is great hot or cold and with any of your favorite toppings.

A Passover Poem

ShalomVeg.com is honored to share this exquisite poem by Lynn Saul in honor of the Passover holiday.   We will shortly be publishing an in-depth spotlight on this fine poet’s work in ShalomVeg with more of her gorgeous poetry.  For a bio of Lynn click here.  Chag Sameach! 

Opinion 

Purim-What Are We Really Blotting Out? 

Posted by BVeg

As we approach the holiday of Purim, we are confronted with the undeniable reality and challenge of the holiday.  Amidst a world in which we still see so much pain and suffering, we are told to spend the day in celebration; eating, drinking, and enjoying the pleasures of the day.  While the rest of the Jewish year is filled with so many "serious" holidays remembering the sad times in our history, this day is truly a blessing--a time to let go, act silly and celebrate the joys of life.

Yet, as with so much of Jewish tradition, even the holiday of Purim has a deeper side.  The story of Purim is at its core a simple story of good and evil.  There is the powerful king, the "bad guy" Haman, the heroes of the story, Esther, Mordechai and Vashti.  The Jewish people begin the story in suffering, and end with their freedom.  It is a story of right and wrong, and the powerful against the weak.  Yet what makes the holiday unique is not that the story is just made up of opposites, but it is how we are commanded to remember the good and the evil that gives true meaning to the holiday.  On this day we are told that we must hear and "remember" Haman--the representation of evil--and only then can we wave our groggers, boo and stomp our feet to blot out his name.  This is one of the most important aspects of the holiday.  Ultimately it is a lesson about the very important Jewish understanding of how we must listen in order to make change in the world.