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“The current treatment of animals in the livestock trade definitely renders the consumption of meat as halachically unacceptable as the product of illegitimate means. ”
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Rabbi Frank is the rabbi of Congregation Moreshet Israel in Jerusalem
In 1999, my brother and I had the opportunity to meet with Rabbi Menachem Genack who is head of the Orthodox Union's (OU) kashrut division. We were afforded visitation to his downtown Manhattan office because we were accompanying Dr. Temple Grandin to a meeting we arranged with Rabbi Genack in response to our research and discovery of terrible and unnecessary animal mistreatment in kosher slaughterhouses under the supervision of the OU and the concomitant endorsement of the Rabbinical Council of America.
When Rabbi Genack denied such mistreatment in kosher slaughterhouses under OU supervision, Dr. Grandin started listing names and locations of abattoirs where the violations were occurring. Dr. Genack took a moment's sidebar discussion with the head of the OU's kosher meat division, Rabbi Yehuda Kravitz, and then replied that Dr. Grandin was correct.
After describing the normative abuses occurring in these abattoirs, I used the term 'Chillul Hashem' which means a profaning/desecrating of Gd's name. The term is used to describe activity that lowers the esteem of Gd and/or Torah in people's eyes. Rabbi Genack had an immediate reaction to my use of the term and, in his most animated moment of the hour-long conversation, rebuked me for applying Chillul Hashem to the situation because, in his words, 'the term is a technical halakhic (legal) category which does not apply to this situation.'
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.
Tu B'Shvat is arguably the most vegetarian of Jewish holidays, because of its many connections to vegetarian themes and concepts:
1. The Tu B'Shvat Seder in which fruits and nuts are eaten, along with the singing of songs and the recitation of biblical verses related to trees and fruits, is the only sacred meal where only vegetarian, actually fruitarian, foods, are eaten. Hence this meal does not even require the killing of plants, as would be the case if, for example, carrots and bread were eaten. This is consistent with the diet in the Garden of Eden, as indicated by God's first, completely vegetarian, dietary law:
And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit--to you it shall be for food." (Gen.1:29)
Hope springs eternal. Indeed, it's always been an integral part of Jewish history, spirituality, and politics. Without hope, there wouldn't be a Chanukah; without hope, there might not even be a Jewish community. That's the power of radical hope!
Jewish survival is a miracle of hope. Increasing light at the darkest time of the year to celebrate Chanukah and Jewish survival is also a miracle. This year, each year, we work and hope for further miracles.
We sincerely hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of this ancient, beautiful, and spiritually-meaningful holiday of Chanukah, the first night of which falls on Friday, December 11th this year, by making it a time to strive even harder to live up to Judaism's highest moral values and teachings. For most of us, we certainly don't need more “things” in our homes; instead, we need more meaning, purpose, and spirit in our lives. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. One significant way we can do this, on a daily basis, is by moving towards vegetarianism.
Chanukah commemorates the single small container of pure olive oil - expected to be enough for only one day-which, according to the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), miraculously lasted for eight days in the rededicated Temple on the 25th of Kislev 165 BCE, exactly two years after it was defiled by the Syrian-Greeks, who were ruled by the tyrannical Antiochus IV. In kabalistic (Jewish mystical) thought, according to Avi Lazerson, “oil is symbolic of chochmah (wisdom), the highest aspect of the intellect from which inspirational thought is derived”.
There are many connections that can be made between vegetarianism and the Jewish festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly), and Simchat Torah:
1. Sukkot commemorates the 40 years when the ancient Israelites lived in the wilderness in frail huts and were sustained by manna. According to Isaac Arama (1420-1494), author of Akedat Yitzchak, and others, the manna was God's attempt to reestablish a vegetarian diet for the Israelites.
2. On Simchat Torah, Jews complete the annual cycle of Torah readings, and begin again, starting with the first chapter of Genesis, which contains God's first dietary law: "Behold I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree, in which there is the fruit of a tree-yielding seed - to you it shall be for food." (Genesis 1:29). Also, the Torah, along with prophetic and talmudical interpretations, is the source of the Jewish mandates - to take care of our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people, and seek and pursue peace - that point to vegetarianism as the ideal diet today.
Every year, before Yom Kippur, some Jews perform the ceremony of kapparot. The following, in question and answer form, is a discussion of the ritual and its relation to the treatment of animals.
What is kapparot?
Kapparot is a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl. It is practiced by some Jews shortly before Yom Kippur. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a rooster (for a male) or a hen (for a female) is held above the person's head and swung in a circle three times, while the following is spoken: "This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace." The hope is that the fowl, which is then donated to the poor for food, will take on any misfortune that might otherwise occur to the one who has taken part in the ritual, in punishment for his or her sins.
Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of the bestselling novels Everything Is Illuminated, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close discusses why he is a vegetarian
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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.
