Warning: Long post ahead. Earilier today I debated Rabbi Shmuly Yaklowitz, one of the brightest most compassionate rabbis I know. I was excited about this project because I have wanted to expose my people to him. He is modern Orthodox, although he never used that term, whose publisher is the CCAR, the Reform movement and he stands with me on many social justice issues I care about. Perfect for our fiercely independent congregation, And if we win, we get a $5000 prize. A fundraiser where money comes from outside Elgin. Perfect. Topic? Is vegan or meat-eating the most authentic Judaism. Ready, set, go. Current topic, timely and i don’t think it is possible to “win”. In fact several of my colleagues tried to talk me out of it. I decided to try anyway.
Format:
I speak 10 minutes
He speaks, 10 minutes
I respond 10 minutes
He responds 10 minutes
Q&A and Voting
All on Zoom
Here are my remarks and my responses:
It may be true that I have often said that steak, baked potato and asparagus is my favorite meal. But does that make it an authentic Jewish meal? Is eating meat authentically Jewish? And while I have many friends who are vegan, for a variety of reasons, ethical, moral, health, envioronmental, I don’t think you can claim that veganism is authentically Jewish either.
Before we dive into the texts that I collected and the comments that I solicited from other members of CKI and beyond, we need to define authentic:
From the google dictionary box, which came from the Oxford languages authentic is:
of undisputed origin; genuine.
“the letter is now accepted as an authentic document”
l
based on facts; accurate or reliable.
“an authentic depiction of the situation”
Merriam Webster has it as:
: not false or imitation : REAL, ACTUAL
an authentic cockney accent
2: true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character
is sincere and authentic with no pretensions
3 a: worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact
paints an authentic picture of our society
b: conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features
an authentic reproduction of a colonial farmhouse
c: made or done the same way as an original
authentic Mexican fare
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authentic
My job here today is to prove that eating meat is authentically Jewish.
My question then becomes does authentic make it unique? I think so. Judaism represents a wide ranging culture. As I explained to D300 earlier this week there is no one Jewish American culture. Culture includes things like how we worship, how we believe, what morals and ethics we subscribe to, our music, our art, our writings and yes, our food.
Food is important in Judaism. When our confirmation kids interviewed all of you at the Chanukah bazaar back in November, long before we even dreamed of this debate, the number one thing people liked about being Jewish was the food. Number 2 was community.
What seems to unite Jews across the world is how we eat, the system of how we eat called kashut, which really means fit or proper.
From almost the beginning of time in Judaism, in our writings, the Torah, people have eaten meat. While in the Garden of Eden, Eve and Adam didn’t eat meat, by Cain and Abel, they were offering sacrifices Abel’s from the field and Cain’s from the flock. G-d preferred Abel’s and rejected Cain’s. It seems G-d likes meat.
As Myrna explained it, since G-d created people with canine teeth, designed to tear meat, G-d must have meant us therefore to eat meat. We thought maybe we could rest there our debate right here.
But wait, you say, Cain and Abel were not yet Jews, not yet Israelites. So let’s continue.
Noah wasn’t Jewish either, per se. But by Chapter 9 of Genesis we get these words from G-d.
Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these.You must not eat flesh with life blood in it. (Genesis 9 3) But eating meat is not expressly forbidden, just not with blood, so the assumption is that it must be OK, from the pure animals that Noah put on the ark.
Just before the exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were waiting for the 10th plague, they nervousl,y at G-d’s bidding sacrificed a lamb and put the blood on their doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over their houses and spare their first born. A miracle! It worked. The blood of a lamb protected the Israelites. The original seders were simple harkening back to that moment—matzah, bitter herbs and LAMB. While some may put a beet on their seder plates today to represent that blood, others see the Hillel sandwich, again, originally matzah, lamb and bitter herbs, as throwback to that original command.
We are in the middle of reading the book of Leviticus, Vakikra, and much of it has to do with animal sacrifice. Leviticus is clear: “Say to the Israelites: Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:” Leviticus: 11:2 A long list ensures of what we can and cannot eat. And of course, we know that it also says twice, specifically no pig.
These animal sacrifices were designed to help us draw close to G-d. One of their very names, korban means to draw close. That name was in yesterday’s parsha. Our job is to draw close to G-d. One way we do that is through the sacrificial system. One way we do that is how we intentionally eat.
What possible relevance could this have for our own time? We no longer have the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and we know that deeds of lovingkindness have replaced animal sacrifice. As I often say we are not going to have a barbecue in the synagogue parking lot—well maybe for the Men’s Club Scotch and Steak in the Sukkah or Lag B’omer which is coming up next week Sunday.
But in a mystical way, according to the Kabbalah, sacrificing animals elevates our souls and even that of the animal. I learned this tidbit while at the Govenor’s Seder sitting next to the Chabad rabbi Mendy Turen of Springfield. While I am not sure I completely understand this, I offer:
“The detailed laws of animal sacrifices are no exception. Physically, they don’t relate to us in our present age, but on a psychological and spiritual level, these laws relate to us a timeless message for human challenge and growth. Deleting them from the Bible is an amputation of a vital, indispensable component of the spiritual opportunities life offers us.” That opportunity allows us chance to complete our chief task in life to challenge our own inner animal, every day anew, bringing it one step closer to our higher, deeper self, and to the G‑dly space within us.” https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/2502892/jewish/Elevating-Our-Animals.htm
Or as Gene tried to explain it to me, animal sacrifice was a triple win, the life of the animal was taken for a higher purpose, your life was cleansed and the Levites, who were tasked with performing this sacrificial system had full gainful employment,
When we finally entered the land of Israel as described in Deuteronomy, we were told:
When the Lord your G-d has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. (Deuteronomy 12:20)
If this conversation is really about eating vegan what do we do with the idea that the very land of Israel is described as a good land, a land “flowing with milk and honey.” as several of you pointed out. In order for there to be milk, there must be cows, or goats or sheep, to make that milk. We are marching towards Shavuot. Today is the 26th day of the counting of the Omer. The tradition is to have dairy foods for Shavuot to represent that very land. So think cheesecake, blintzes. Remember that Chanukah also features cheese as Judith served the enemy salty cheese and then got him drunk to relieve his thirst. Dairy is baked into our heritage, making it authentic to our diet, to our culture.
That’s as far as I got in my frist 10 minutes. Oy!
He talked about the reason for eating comes all the way from the Garden of Eden. Before Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, all that was eaten was fruit and vegetables, a vegan diet. It was simple. It was pure. And it was morally defensible. For every food choice we make we are voting with our values. My response would be that there is a difference between ethical, moral and compassionate and authentic which is how he set up the debate. Based on the the 13 Atrtributes of G-d, we are to be compassionate. I agree. Abd every food choice illustrate how we live in a just world.
My part 2
Another way we are authentically Jewish is by keeping kosher, the authentic, unique ways that Jews eat, based on the Torah itself. We are told that there are no extra words in the Torah. If we were not meant to keep kosher, not meant to eat meat at all since the Torah provides an extensive list of the animals we can eat wouldn’t it have been much simpler and more effective to say in a staccato voice, “Don’t eat meat!” full stop.
The rabbis of the Talmud write extensively about how to eat meat, reminding us three times we are not to cook meat and milk together…but they don’t argue that we shouldn’t eat meat at all. One of these long arguments is on Chullin 115b which we don’t have time to fuly explore:
https://www.sefaria.org/Chullin.115b.7?lang=bi
In another place, that seems ripped from today’s headlines, they are asked because the Holy Temple has been destroyed, we should not eat meat at all. Many survivors became ascetics, thinking they should hot eat meat or drink wine since these were used in the Holy Temple. But Rabbi Yehoshua rebuked them saying OK, no meat or wine, but they you really ought to stop eating bread because the first fruits can not be brought. Or drink water since the water libations have ceased. Rabbi Yehoshua explained that people needed to mourn but not excessively, and that people could eat meat! (Bava Batra 60b) My thanks to Sharon Brous who retold this story in her new book, the Amen Effect.
In the modern world many have spoken about the idea that kashrut laws are designed to make Jews Jews.
I didn’t always keep kosher. In fact, in my Hebrew School I was taught that it was an outmoded form of Judaism. It wan’t and isn’t. It wasn’t until I got to college that I knew anyone who did.
I keep Kosher, because much like the animal sacrifices we discussed before, it draws me closer to the Divine. It is about mindful eating. I have to slow down, stop and think. It is a way of being inclusive. Anyone can eat in my home. Anyone can eat here at CKI. While some people think it separates Jews from others like brit milah, circumcision, mezuzah and Shabbat, I find it does quite the opposite. Hebrew National had it right. We answer to a higher authority and people seem to want to be part of that.
The book Kosher Nation, written by Sue Fishkoff and published in 2010, details why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority as the subtitle suggests. Kashrut in America is growing, not shrinking, precisely because it is authentic. Joan Nathan’s cookbook—really a history book Jewish Cooking in America collects much of what we think as Jews we eat—authentically. As many of you have pointed out and the confirmation class concurs, who can imagine Judaism without cholent (Ok, you can make a vegetarian version of that!), or chopped liver, Barbara Njus described that as essential! Chicken soup, brisket, chopped liver, all got votes. Cheesecake, blintzes, latkes, all traditional Ashkanazi treats all were mentioned. Sephardic delicacies, shashuska, Israeli chicken sofrito, Simon’s beloved northern Italian cooking: fried chicken for Chanukah, roast chicken for Shabbat, all authentic Jewish cooking.
Blu Greenberg in her book, How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household, published in 1983 said this:
“I believe that the purpose of kashrut is to make eating a special experience and to serve as a reminder of a Jew’s ethical conscience as well as of the other unique teachings of Judaism. To me, distinctiveness and not separation is the Jew’s calling. This feeling is possible in the presence of nonobservant Jews and of non-Jews. The values of friendship, human solidarity, and socializing are highly esteemed Jewish values; making a living and exchanging professional service (sometimes performed over a meal) also are respected in Jewish culture. One of the great qualities of the Jewish tradition is its ability to balance contradictions—idealism and realism, Jewish particularism and unusual concern for humanity. Similarly, in the act of eating, one can strike that balance between fidelity to one’s own principles and shared friendship and respectful contact with others.” (page 12)
But while kashrut, including eating meat keeps me mindful and makes me an authentic Jew, it may not always be the most ethical choice. Blu’s husband, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, and I think Reb Shmuly’s teacher, was one of only a few Orthodox Rabbis who boycotted non-union lettuce and grapes in 1971. When I got married, we both came into the marriage with the More with Less Cookbook published by the Mennonites, a cousin denomination to the CHurch of the Brethren head uquartered here in Elgin and also a “peace church”.Originally published in 1976 and updated periodically, iIt is the book that first made me aware that for every pound of beef you needed 14 pounds of grain. This is an ethical argument, and a powerful one, particularly in our current climate crisis. However, we do have enough resources in the world to feed the hungry if only we could figure out how to share equitably. We do that partially by own own community garden takening the words of yesterday’s portion to leave the corners of our fields for the widow, the orphan and the stranger, the most marginalize amongst us.
Others have argued that most of the kosher meat plants in America do not slaughter animals in a compassionate way and do not treat their workers equitably. That is very true in the articles that I have read, but while I deplore those conditions, it doesn’t mean that eating meat is not authentically Jewish. We need to find a balance.
https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/114040?lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/topics/meat?tab=sources
Like Rabbi Greenberg and Rabbi Zalman Schacter Shlomi and my own teacher Rabbi Everett Gendler, one of the first Jewish vegetarians, Rabbi Shmuly has also been at the vanguard of something called eco-kashrut. He cites in an article published on My Jewish Learning, that the “The Torah and other Jewish literature lend support for ethical kashrut initiatives. Nahmanides, a 13th century Spanish rabbi, argued (Leviticus 19:1) that if people consume food that is technically kosher from a ritual perspective but do not embrace the ethics that come along with consumption then they are naval birshut haTorah (despicable with the permission of the Torah). They have broken no formal kashrut prohibitions but their act is shameful, and they have not lived by the moral and ethical intentions of the Torah. Nahmanides is referring to eating in moderation but his value certainly lends to broad extension. Simply put: permissible consumption does not necessarily mean good consumption….” That is true, as I have argued. He founded an organization called Tav HaYosher (The Ethical Seal) in 2009. Like a Conservative Movement initiative, Magen Tzedek which is certifying kosher factories to secure worker’s rights to fair pay, fair time and safe working conditions. He argues, however, that “in short, ethical does not redefine kashrut, rather they are complementary and distinct. However, the article does not say that we shouldn’t eat meat, rather that we need to figure out how to do so ethically.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ethical-kashrut/
Do we need to do a better job living out our moral compass to compassion? You bet! But today we are merely talking about whether meat is authentically Jewish.
https://www.sefaria.org/search?q=kashrut%20ethical&tab=sheet&tvar=1&tsort=relevance&svar=1&ssort=relevance
I have known many people who are vegans, and I appreciate the dedication and intention, dedication and real work, but my last argument is around pekuach nefesh, saving a life. Several of you—perhaps some even on this call, have recently been asked to add at least some chicken back into your diets. It turns out it may not be quite as healthy as we once thought, If you need lengthy articles on this, they have been supplied by a registered dietian at University Hosptial in Ann Arbor and backed by my own physician. Eating less meat: Good, Eating no meat: Not uite yet. Pekuach nefesh, saving a life is a very high value in Judaism, so eating meat is authentically and importanlty Jewish.
In conclusion, you can be authentically Jewish by being a vegetarian or a vegan. Like Queen Esther was in the palace, it is an easy way to hide your Judaism or if non-kosher meat etc is not available, However, as I have demonstrated. there is so much in Judaism that revolves around meat, in Torah, in Talmud, throughout the ages to our own day, eating meat really is authentically Jewish. Could we, should we, be more ethical about how meat is acquired, but it is authentic to eat meat.
And now…more chicken soup! Chicken soup is good for the soul, and might just heal my cold.
He responded by talking about compassion as a way to emanate G-d, which it is. Compassion is important. Judaism has been evolving for thousands of years. Hey, he’s right we even have women rabbis! Judaism will continue to evolve. No doubt about that. Can we get the balance better? You bet. But eating meat is authentically Jewish.
In the Torah
- Authentic In the Tanach
- Authentic In the Talmud
- Authentic In the codes
- Authentic In our culture
- Authentic today.
Thanks to
Anita Horung
Simon Klein
Ellen Levy
Gene Lindow
Barbara Njus
Amie Flexner Ritchie
Myrna Rosenbaum
R. Linda Shriner-Cahn
Anita Silverman
R. Mendy Turen