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.
The use of the shankbone originated in the time of the
Talmud as a means of commemorating the paschal lamb. However, since the
talmudic scholar, Rabbi Huna, states that a beet can be used for this
purpose (Pesachim), many Jewish vegetarians substitute a beet for the
shankbone. The important point is that the shankbone is a symbol and no
meat need be eaten at the seder.
Jewish vegetarians see vegetarian values reinforced by
several Passover themes:
1. At the seder, Jews say, "Let all who are hungry come
and eat". As on other occasions, at the conclusion of the meal, bircat
hamazone is recited to thank God for providing food for the world's
people. This seems inconsistent with the consumption of animal-centered
diets which involves the feeding of 70% of the grain grown in the United
States and two-thirds of the grain that we export to animals destined for
slaughter and the importing of beef from other countries, while 20 million
of the world's people die of hunger and its effects annually.
Although he is not a vegetarian, Rabbi Jay Marcus,
Spiritual Leader of the Young Israel of Staten Island, saw a connection
between simpler diets and helping hungry people. He commented on the fact
that "karpas" (eating of greens) comes immediately before "yahatz" (the
breaking of the middle matzah for later use as the "afikomen" (desert) in
the seder service. He concluded that those who live on simpler foods
(greens, for example) will more readily divide their possessions and share
with others.
Many Jewish vegetarians see connections between the
oppression that their ancestors suffered and the current plight of the
billions of people who presently lack sufficient food and other essential
resources. Vegetarian diets require far less land, water, gasoline,
pesticides, fertilizer, and other resources, and thus enable the better
sharing of God's abundant resources, which can help reduce global hunger
and poverty.
2. The main Passover theme is freedom. While relating the
story of our ancestors' slavery in Egypt and their redemption through
God's power and beneficence, many Jewish vegetarians also consider the
"slavery" of animals on modern "factory farms." Contrary to Jewish
teachings of "tsa'ar ba'alei chayim" (the Torah mandate not to cause
unnecessary "pain to a living creature"), animals are raised for food
today under cruel conditions in crowded confined spaces, where they are
denied fresh air, sunlight, a chance to exercise, and the fulfillment of
their natural instincts. In this connection, it is significant to consider
that according to the Jewish tradition, Moses, Judaism's greatest leader,
teacher, and prophet, was chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt
because as a shepherd he showed great compassion to a lamb (Exodus Rabbah
2:2).
3. Many Jewish vegetarians advocate that we commemorate
the redemption of our ancestors from slavery by ending the current slavery
to harmful eating habits through the adoption of vegetarian diets.
4. Passover is the holiday of springtime, a time of
nature's renewal. It also commemorates God's supremacy over the forces of
nature. In contrast, modern intensive livestock agriculture and
animal-centered diets have many negative effects on the environment,
including air and water pollution, soil erosion and depletion, the
destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, and contributions
to global warming.
Jewish vegetarians view their diet as a practical way to
put Jewish values into practice. They believe that Jewish mandates to show
compassion to animals, take care of our health, protect the environment,
conserve resources, and share with hungry people, and the negative effects
that animal-centered diets have in each of these areas, point to
vegetarianism as the ideal diet for Jews (and others) today.
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