INTERNATIONAL VEGETARIAN UNION
from the IVU ONLINE NEWS - Number 29 - April 2001
http://www.ivu.org/news
An updated and thoroughly revised edition of "Judaism
and Vegetarianism" by Professor Richard H, Schwartz [IVU Supporter] has
just been published by Lantern Books [ also an IVU Supporter - http://www.lanternbooks.com
]. Previous editions of this book have been called a "classic" and the
"Bible of the Jewish vegetarian movement," since it is the most
comprehensive coverage of the topic in print.
Written from a very positive Jewish perspective, Dr.
Schwartz's book challenges Jews (and others who take religious teachings
seriously) to live up to the highest values and mandates of their
religion by shifting toward a vegetarian diet. Using an abundance of
recent statistics, he argues that such a shift is a societal imperative
because the production and consumption of animal products contributes
significantly to global climate change; many environmental threats,
including the destruction of tropical rainforests; scarcities of water,
energy, and other resources; widespread hunger; and the very cruel
treatment and slaughter of almost ten billion animals annually in the
U.S. alone. Paul Peabody asserted in Fellowship magazine that "it would
be hard for anyone ethically sensitive - Jew or non-Jew - to read
this book and not take up the vegetarian cause."
To make Judaism and Vegetarianism as useful as possible,
it also contains biographies of famous Jewish vegetarians, discussions
of Jewish vegetarian groups and their activities in the U.S., Israel,
and England, over 60 questions and answers, an annotated bibliography,
nutritional suggestions, action ideas for promoting vegetarianism, and a
detailed index.
The book is endorsed by Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen,
Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi
of Ireland, and other prominent Jews and non-Jews, including John
Robbins and Howard Lyman.
Richard Schwartz has been researching the topic of
vegetarianism from a Jewish perspective, and writing and speaking about
his findings, for over 20 years. He is an acknowledged expert in this
field and in 1988 he was chosen as the "Jewish Vegetarian of the Year"
by the Jewish Vegetarians of North America. He has over 100 articles on
connections between Judaism and vegetarianism on the Internet at
http://schwartz.enviroweb.org.
Among these are articles connecting vegetarianism to each of the Jewish
festivals, questions and answers on all aspects of the topic, and
challenging articles, such as "What Diet Does God Prefer for People?"
For further information about the book and/or the
campaign being built around it to get vegetarianism onto the Jewish and
other agendas, contact Professor Schwartz at
[email protected]
Go on to Jamaican Cows
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