Jewish Vegetarians Urge Rabbis To Rethink Jewish Diets

A broad coalition of individuals and organizations has been formed to focus attention among rabbis on the major ways that animal-based diets threaten humanity and violate basic Jewish teachings related to preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people. The coalition is sending a special issue of the Jewish Vegetarian Newsletter to 3,500 rabbis throughout the United States, under the leadership of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA). It contains a special letter to the rabbis, an article that considers "What Diet Does God Prefer for People?", and 5 fact sheets that show contradictions between basic Jewish values and realities related to the production and consumption of meat, in the areas of health, treatment of animals, ecology, resource usage, and hunger, as well as other material related to Judaism and vegetarianism. Why this campaign at this time? It has been said that nothing is as irresistible as an idea whose time has come. The coalition believes that the time has come for Jewish spiritual leaders to consider the many moral issues related to our diets. The introduction to the special issue of the newsletter asks: "Can we continue to ignore the epidemic of degenerative diseases related to animal-based diets that is afflicting the Jewish community and other communities? Can we continue to ignore the incredibly cruel ways in which animals are raised on factory farms today? In the face of increasing evidence of environmental threats such as global warming and the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, shortages of resources such as water, and increasing hunger, can we ignore the major impacts that modern intensive livestock agriculture has in each of these areas?" In addition to the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, the letter and campaign are supported by several other vegetarian-related Jewish groups, including the International Jewish Vegetarian Society, Jews for Animal Rights (JAR), Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI), "Anonymous", Israel's largest animal rights group, and L'OLAM (the Committee for Judaism and Ecology). These groups are calling on rabbis and other Jewish leaders world-wide to join a new Jewish movement to make a vegetarian diet the modern implementation of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws). Among the large, distinguished group of signers of the letter to the rabbis are: Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and presently actively involved in educational and inter-religious activities in Israel. . Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the "Committee for Science in the Public Interest" and author of "What Are We Feeding Our Kids?" Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of "Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Guide to Conquering Disease." Michael Klaper, M.D., author of "Vegan Nutrition: Pure and Simple" and "Pregnancy, Children, and the Vegan Diet." (Other medical doctors who signed the letter include Murray Cohen, Marjorie Cramer, Martin P. Goldman, Robert B. Hoffman, Lawrence Jacobs, Stephen R. Kaufman, and Jay Lavine.) Erik Marcus, author of "Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating." 6. Robert Cohen, Executive Director of the "Antidairy Coalition" and author of "Milk: The Deadly Poison." The letter has been endorsed by 21 rabbis, representing all the Jewish denominations, including Rabbis Fred Dobb, Everett Gendler, Sidney Jacobs, Rolando Matalan, Marcia Prager, Harold Schulweis, David Seidenberg, Rami Shapiro, Carla Theodore, Noach Valley, Arthur Waskow, and Sheila Weinberg. It is significant that several Chief Rabbis of Israel, including Shear Yashuv Cohen, present Chief Rabbi of Haifa and the late Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, are or have been strict vegetarians. The campaign is unusual in that it involves Jewish individuals challenging rabbis to be more involved in applying basic Jewish values to current critical issues. The special issue of the JVNA Newsletter is the first step in a planned ongoing effort to put issues related to diet on the Jewish agenda. Among the steps that are planned are: a special 10-lesson course on "Judaism and Vegetarianism" offered through email by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and over 70 articles on the Internet at www.rasheit.org/VY_REBBES/ rebschwartz.html#anchor1326672. material to be sent to rabbis periodically on various connections between Judaism and vegetarianism; for example, material will be sent before each holiday on vegetarian connections to the holiday. an annual "Vegetarian Shabbat" during the Shabbat that the parshah (Torah portion) "Beha'alot'cha" is read; it is hoped that many congregations will have special vegetarian meals and vegetarian-related sermons, study sessions, and other activities on that Shabbat. For further information about the above campaign, please contact: Professor Schwartz Professor Mathematics College of Staten Island 2800 Victory Boulevard Staten Island NY 10314 USA phone: (718) 982-3621 fax: (718) 982-3631 e-mail address: Schwartz@postbox.csi.cuny.edu Richard Schwartz is Author of 'Judaism and Vegetarianism', 'Judaism and Global Survival' and 'Mathematics and Global Survival'. He is Patron of the International Jewish Vegetarian Society. His articles on Judaism and Vegetarianism are on the internet at http://www.rasheit.org (in the "Rebbes" section), and at http://envirolink.org/arrs/essays/schwartz/menu.html See also the EVU-News article 'Free E-Mail Course on Judaism and Vegetarianism'. © European Vegetarian Union - http://www.ivu.org/evu