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April 27, 2001/Iyar 4, 5761, Vol. 53, No.30
Killing for food: Mitzvah or sin?
Jews debate history, ethics of vegetarianism
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
Jewish vegetarians say slaughtering animals for food is inhumane and goes against the Torah, while others argue that eating kosher meat brings us closer to God. |
Imagine a High Holiday meal void of gefilte fish, matzo ball soup and chicken or a Passover seder plate minus the shank bone. And what would we do without chicken soup, a.k.a. "Jewish penicillin," to cure our bouts with the flu?
For many Jews, the elimination of animal flesh - especially at Shabbat and holiday gatherings - may not only seem untraditional, but the very antithesis of a culture steeped in meat consumption. To Jewish vegetarians, however, eliminating animal flesh from the diet is not only the healthier and more humane way to live, but also the Jewish way.
For years a debate has raged between meat-eating Jews and those who shun meat. And as scientific facts about the benefits of vegetarianism have emerged in the secular world and awareness of the issue has woven its way deeper into American society, the discussions regarding what we should and should not eat have become all the more passionate.
But why is there debate over what would appear to be a highly individual choice? It begins with the Torah and ends with the environment, with concern for the welfare of animals falling somewhere in between.
There are basically two main camps concerning whether or not vegetarianism is preferable in Jewish tradition to eating meat: Those who believe God instructed us to consume the flesh of kosher animals in order to fulfill a mitzvah (a commandment from God); and those who believe Jews and non-Jews alike began life as vegetarians and were intended by God to remain that way.
In the beginning
"God's initial intention was that people be vegetarians," reads the opening statement in "Judaism and Vegetarianism" by Richard Schwartz (Lantern Books, $18 paperback). Schwartz adds that "the foremost Jewish commentator, Rashi (1040-1105) says the following about God's first dietary law: 'God did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its flesh. Only every green herb shall they eat together.' "
Dr. Jay Lavine, a former Valley ophthalmologist who now lives in Tucson, where he practices Jewish medicine - the practice of medicine based upon Jewish law and medical ethical principles - agrees that the world began with vegetarianism.
"I think all of the major (Jewish) commentators agree that mankind was vegetarian in the Garden of Eden," he tells Jewish News. "There is some controversy ... as to whether at that point mankind was allowed to eat meat from animals that had died a natural death even though they were not allowed to slaughter animals."
Up until the flood, people were indeed allowed to eat animals, provided they themselves didn't kill the animals, points out Rabbi Yossi Levertov of Chabad of Scottsdale. After the flood, he explains, man was "given the ability to (elevate the meat)."
Levertov, like a number of Jews - many of whom are Hasidic - believes that by eating kosher animal flesh, we are helping the animal to achieve a "spiritual elevation" that the animal cannot achieve on its own.
"If (a shechitah, ritual slaughterer) slaughters an animal according to (Jewish) law and you make a (blessing) and you (eat it) at a (holiday or simcha, milestone event), then you are extracting the Godly spark within it and causing its appropriate elevation to ascend to wherever it's supposed to ascend," he says. "This is the very purpose of why we were in this world. ... We take an energy and ascend it to above and we cause a spiritual light to come down below. And if you eat something the proper way, even if it's killing the animal (and) if you're doing it for a mitzvah and in the right way and you're not eating it for pleasure, then you're elevating the Godly element that's in there."
Vegetarians such as Lavine and Schwartz not only don't believe in the so-called "elevation of a Godly spark," but insist that slaughtering an animal for any reason and in any way, even if that way is considered kosher, is inhumane and torturous.
"The essence of (the Godly spark theory) is that we could use other living things such as meat to make ourselves stronger ... and healthier so that we would be able to study Torah better and live better lives," says Lavine, an Orthodox Jew. "And that's basically the fly in the ointment because we now know that eating meat is not necessary to be strong and healthy and is in fact associated with many chronic ailments.
"People tend to justify and rationalize everything they do, even if that's not the reason they do it," he continues. "Everyone wants to think of himself in a good way. Who wants to think of himself as someone who tortures and abuses animals?"
Schwartz, who is also Orthodox, is a professor at the College of Staten Island in Staten Island, N.Y., and has been a vegetarian for 22 years. He points out that kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria once said that "only a Torah scholar can elevate holy sparks trapped in the animal." The problem is that most Jews are secular today, and even among those who are observant, only a small number can consider themselves "so scholarly and spiritually advanced to be able to eat meat."
The Torah
Though observant Jewish meat-eaters say they are simply abiding by God's instructions and fulfilling the mitzvah involved in consuming meat, Jewish vegetarians point to passages in the Torah that directly say or imply that we should do the opposite.
"There is no question that the Torah's ideal is vegetarianism and that eating meat is a concession," says Rabbi Bonnie Koppell of Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler. "And the Talmud specifically says you should only eat meat if you have a particular craving for it, and of course it has to be kosher."
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (Rav Kook), a Torah scholar and the first Ashkenazic chief rabbi of pre-state Israel, believed that "the permission to eat meat was only a temporary concession; he felt that a God who is merciful to His creatures would not institute an everlasting law permitting the killing of animals for food."
Schwartz also refers to the time of Noah, in which the Torah states, "When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth." (Genesis 6:12)
So, "as a concession to people's weakness," Schwartz writes, "permission to eat meat was then given." And he quotes Torah, in which God instructs, "Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these." (Genesis 9:3)
Levertov disagrees that permission to eat meat was granted as a result of people's desires.
"I've heard vegetarians say, 'God saw that man is evil and he can't help (eating meat), so he allowed them to eat meat.' That is the most ridiculous statement that anyone can make - that God is allowing the world to pull Him by the nose, so to speak," contends Levertov. "There were a lot of (other) temptations that we struggled with and (God) didn't allow us to get away with it, so that is not a sound argument."
Levertov says people were given permission to slaughter animals for food after the flood because they were at that time able to spiritually elevate animals. Lavine explains through his personal Web site (members.aol.com/sauromalus/jewishveg.htm) that there are a number of reasons given as to why Jews were allowed to kill animals for consumption after the flood - one of which was because following the flood, most of the earth's vegetation was destroyed and without the full range of grains and produce, "humans had to supplement their diets with animal products." And "vegetarian diets ... became associated with poor health" at that time. But now that meat eating "is associated with poor health," says Lavine, "there is no reason to eat meat other than for reasons of ta'avah (lust)."
What's best for the animal?
Jewish vegetarians are quick to refer to tsa'ar ba'alei chayim mentioned in the Torah, which means that Judaism forbids animals to suffer unnecessary pain. While proponents of kosher meat may argue that animals killed in a kosher way feel little or no pain, vegetarians contend the conditions under which animals live before they are slaughtered are far from humane.
It was a local article about the beef industry in the late 1980s that prompted Lavine to eliminate red meat from his diet. Today he is a vegan (one who does not consume, wear or purchase any animal products or by-products).
"The article talked about a beef-packing plant in Phoenix and the conditions within the plant and how cows were often not stunned completely and would thrash around and injure the workers and suffer a great deal in the process," Lavine recalls. "I read what went on in slaughterhouses and ... it didn't really seem right to be eating meat knowing what was going into the production of that meat."
Although kosher meat is derived from animals that are killed in a kosher manner by a shechitah and inspected carefully for diseases, the animals don't live their lives in special Jewish sections. They are treated no differently than the masses of animals that will be sold on the non-kosher market, says Lavine.
As more people become aware of the inhumane conditions in these plants, they are searching for meat that comes from "free-range animals." These animals are not caged or force-fed and are allowed to roam the pastures. Some free-range animals are also considered organic when they have not been given hormones or antibiotics during their lives.
"I'm sure there is a decreased amount of suffering in the life of an animal (that's free-range) while it's still alive," says Lavine, noting that a free-range animal still suffers a painful death.
Furthermore, he says, even though a kosher ritual slaughtering involves a perfect blade that makes a clean cut through the animal's neck, "I don't think any thinking individual could think that an animal could have its throat slit while fully conscious and not be suffering in the process," he says. "While people talk about kosher slaughter as being humane, these are individuals who are really suppressing what's going on. And they have an idea of animals in their own mind as just beings that really don't think and don't have any true feelings, and that is not scientifically correct."
Levertov's reply to those who are concerned with the feelings of animals is that "anyone who is worried about the animal has to look in the Torah to see the facts." Though he agrees that the Torah does explicitly prohibit the torturing of animals for no reason, he points out that the Torah is also "filled with the (meat) offerings we had in biblical times," and that "the same God that says you shouldn't torture animals says you should do certain things (such as ritual slaughtering) in a very particular way. ... The discussions with regard to (kashrut) say it's the most humane way of killing."
Although there is no commandment that one must eat meat on the Sabbath, Levertov says that the Talmud interprets the Torah's commandment "to rejoice" on holidays by eating meat and drinking wine. If one does not like the taste of meat or wine or is concerned about the effects of the two on one's health, then one can refrain, Levertov says. But when the issue is about the health of the cow, "then we have to look at it from God's perspective, not from man's perspective," he says. "Then we are following (God) and connecting to Him. If we are worried only about how we perceive it, then we're not believing in God and we're not relating to God. We're relating to ourselves."
Environmental concerns
Schwartz became a vegetarian when he learned that in the United States, 70 percent of grain is fed to animals in order to produce meat, whereas it could be better used toward relieving world hunger, he says.
"Judaism has important teachings about taking care of our health, compassion for animals, conserving the environment, conserving resources and helping the hungry," he says.
Lavine, through his Web site, notes that mankind was placed in the Garden of Eden to take care of it (Genesis 2:15) and this "can be considered the first lesson in environmental responsibility." Also, he says, "the concept of bal tashchit (you shall not waste) derived form the Torah, serves as a reminder to conserve precious resources."
Raising farm animals wastes water and causes pollution and run-off, Lavine explains, and both the greenhouse effect and global warming - major environmental concerns - have been attributed to the raising of livestock.
Health issues
An authority on preventative nutrition, Lavine says that after being a vegan for many years, he has never felt better. Before eschewing meat, he weighed 180 pounds and had a 36-inch waist. Now, he weighs 135 and has a 30-inch waist. In addition, he never feels aches or pains and has an abundance of energy.
In recent years, the public has been inundated with evidence that cutting out meat - especially red meat - from the diet can lead to improved health, a decreased chance of developing heart disease and cancer among other ailments, and can prolong life. Of course, there are those who consider meat to be the best way to receive an adequate amount of protein.
"All of the major causes of death due to cancer are linked to diet," Lavine says. His Web site explains that Judaism stresses the importance of maintaining health and not harming oneself.
The Torah commands us to "be most careful," (Deuteronomy 4:15), he says. "This means that we must do everything possible to guard our health and not take unnecessary risks."
In addition to meat's proven link to cancer, clogged arteries and other health-related problems, it can also be a source of poison if it is contaminated. In recent months, talk of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease are scaring people from eating meat. Livestock - no matter if it is intended to eventually enter the kosher market or not - is all fed the same food and treated the same way, explain Lavine and Schwartz.
"The kosher laws are not designed for health reasons. That's a misconception people have," Lavine says. "The (laws) do provide some safeguard in that the lungs of the animal are inspected after slaughter and one looks for evidence of disease processes." But, he adds, what these animals were fed during their lives before they entered the kosher system "is anyone's guess."
Levertov, who says it's OK to be concerned with one's own health when deciding whether or not to eat meat, says no one is expected to "stuff his face with meat," and doing so is indulgence, anyway. He himself eats red meat only a few times a year, usually on holidays. And he says he and his family - although they have considered switching to free-range kosher meat - are not concerned about contracting an illness from meat.
Additionally, many meat-eaters point out that just because one abstains from meat doesn't mean he or she will not be subject to food poisoning, as contamination can occur through produce or other food products.
Kashrut through vegetarianism
During his meat-eating days, Lavine did not abide by kosher laws. After becoming a vegetarian and especially after choosing to be a vegan, keeping kosher seemed to be a natural and easy progression, he says.
Not eating meat may mean not keeping two sets of dishes; not having to worry about waiting to eat dairy after meat or vice versa; and not having to purchase kosher meat. But Lavine stresses that although it may seem as though vegetarians are kosher by default, they are not.
"All of us buy processed foods, and processed foods may have ingredients in them that are not kosher or may have been prepared in vessels in which non-kosher foods had previously been placed." Therefore, it is important to look for a hecscher (kosher symbol) on processed foods, he says.
Because it is getting easier to be vegetarian in the United States, Koppell says she has witnessed Jews who are so overwhelmed at the prospect of becoming kosher that they become vegetarian to ease the process.
"For many people, vegetarianism is their entrŽe into keeping kosher," she says.
While Levertov favors any reason for Jews to follow the laws of kashrut, he doesn't see vegetarianism as the magical path by which to do it.
"If (vegetarianism) helps people to be kosher, so be it," he says. "But now you're just talking about practical reasons."
Whether or not the laws of kashrut figure into people's decisions to become vegetarian, Jewish tradition may continue to be connected with holiday meals featuring animal flesh as the main course. Vegetarians say Jews are slowly opening up to vegetarianism, but as long as society consists mainly of meat-eaters, the idea may remain avant garde for quite some time.
And though individuals may see what they put on their dinner tables and into their mouths as personal decisions, Schwartz feels nothing could be further from the truth.
"Vegetarianism has become a societal imperative today. It's not only an important individual choice ... but in mathematical terms its necessary."
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