12/31/04
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the ninth follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups, and the blog at failedmessiah.com.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Newsletter Editor's Comments/Sample Letters
2. Counter-response to PETA's Campaign Coordinator by Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel
3. PETA's Response to Rabbi Shafran's Statement (Above)
4. Los Angeles Times Article
5. Washington Post Article
6. PETA calls on Allamakee County Attorney to prosecute AgriProcessors
7. Statement by OU Kashrut Expert Rabbi Menachem Genack
8. More Jerusalem Post Letters
9. Statement From JVNA Advisor John Diamond
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Newsletter Editor's Comments/Sample Letters
Incredibly, as indicated in the dialogues and articles below, the controversy over the Postville Iowa slaughterhouse case continues. In many ways, I will be happy when it is over, and I can get back to my normal, hectic life, but the continuing coverage and discussions are keeping a focus, especially among Jews, about what is involved in producing meat for their tables, and it gives us an opportunity to present our case: a shift toward vegetarianism is both a religious imperative because the production and consumption of meat is inconsistent with at least six basic Jewish mandates and a societal imperative because animal-based diets and modern intensive “livestock” agriculture is having devastating effects on human health, the environment, our resources, our climate, in short on the future of humanity. These issues are generally being ignored by the media and the main participants in the Postville controversy, so it is essental that we respectfully bring it up. Of course, improving conditions at Postville and making sure that better standards to make sure that shechita is properly carried out are important concerns, but we should make people aware that there are many more problems related to the meat industry.
So, please review the articles below, check your local newspapers, and do an Internet search to see where additional articles have been written, and please respond with letters to editors, calls to talk shows, and discussions with local rabbis and others in your community. There is the possibility of a major change of consciousness here, and we should take advantage of the opportunity.
I planned to state some points that you should consider in composing letters to editors and in helping spread our messages in other ways. Instead, I am pasting below excerpts from some letters that I have written, in the hope that it will provide background information and inspiration for your own letters. Please feel free to use any of my material, without attribution. Please also consider sample letters in previous issues of the JVNA newsletter. Our letters can help convince editors, rabbis, educators, and others to look more deeply into the issues.
Many thanks.
Sample letters and excerpts:
Letter 1:
… However, even if shechita is carried out perfectly, can we ignore the severe cruelty that animals are subjected to daily on factory farms, and the other ways that the production and consumption of animal products violate basic Jewish teachings?
Since nutritionists have concluded that one can be properly nourished on a diet free of animal products, a fundamental question to be addressed is: since Judaism mandates that we should diligently guard our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people, and animal-based diets and agriculture have negative effects in each of these areas, shouldn’t Jews (and others) seriously consider a switch toward meatless diets?
Letter 2:
I believe that the horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse and the efforts of some Jewish groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If slaughterhouse procedures are not consistently monitored for strict adherence to the ideals of shechita, are we carrying out our mandate to be "rachmanim b’nei rachmanim" (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we failing in our obligation to properly imitate G-d, Whose "tender mercies are over all His creatures" (Psalms 145:9)? If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, "the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name," can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise? If, "the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal" (Proverbs 12:10), how will we be judged, based on our treatment of animals?
Even if shechita is carried out perfectly and pain during slaughter is minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals that occur daily in the mistreatment of billions of animals on "factory farms" in the United States and worldwide?
Finally, perhaps the most important question: since Judaism mandates that we should diligently guard our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people, and since animal-based diets and agriculture have major negative effects in each of these areas, shouldn’t Jews (and others) seriously consider a switch toward meatless diets?
Letter 3:
The Orthodox Union is to be commended for initiating an end to the horrible treatment of animals at the Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse that were revealed on the PETA videotapes.
Alternate start: I wish to express my deep concern about the mistreatment of animals at AgriProcessors in Postville, Iowa, and to commend the Orthodox Union both for its swift movement to correct the situation there and for its laudable public commitment to do all that is Halachically acceptable to ensure the most humane slaughter conditions possible in all plants that it certifies.
But what about the many other violations of Jewish teachings related to animal-based diets and agriculture?
When Judaism mandates that we treat animals with compassion, can we ignore the cruel treatment of animals on factory farms, where they are raised in cramped, confined spaces without sunlight, fresh air, or opportunities to fulfil their natural instincts? When Judaism stresses that we must diligently protect our health, can we ignore that animal-based diets are major contributors to the epidemic of heart disease, many forms of cancer, and other killer diseases and ailments afflicting the Jewish community and others? When Judaism mandates that we be partners with God in protecting the environment, can we ignore the significant contributions of animal-centered agriculture to air, water, and land pollution, species extinction, deforestation, global climate change, water shortages, and many other environmental threats?
For the sake of our health, the sustainability of our imperiled planet, Jewish values, as well as for the animals, it is essential that we consider shifting toward plant-based diets.
Letter 4:
It is essential that the widespread publicity over the cruel abuse of animals at the kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa lead to much needed changes throughout the entire industry and a reevaluation of our dietary habits. The Orthodox Union (OU) is to be commended for its initial steps toward ending the abuses of animals revealed by videos at the Postville facility, but these horrors are part of a much wider pattern of animal abuse in today's meat industry. We can no longer ignore the suffering and abuse that many farmed animals experience for their entire lives on factory farms.
The current controversy must be a wake up call to end the many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products. Since Judaism mandates that we preserve our health, treat animals compassionately, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people, and animal-based diets and agriculture have negative effects in all of these areas, Jews should seriously consider a shift toward plant-based diets.
Letter 5:
As president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), I can assure you that JVNA has consistently opposed efforts to single out shechita for criticism and that we have been very critical of some of PETA’s outrageous methods . While we believe that Jews and others should shift toward plant-based diets, JVNA believes that properly carried out ritual slaughter is a humane method of slaughter, which aims to minimize animal pain, and that Jews who continue to eat meat should eat kosher meat.
However, we, respectfully, believe that it is essential to indicate that the inhumane treatment of animals at the Postville slaughterhouse that has been shown on the videotape is not typical of shechita. It is critical to immediately change the slaughter procedure [some changes have already been made], based on the advice of halachic experts and animal welfare experts, such as the highly respected Dr. Temple Grandin. Otherwise, we fear the possible negative effects on Jews and Judaism if people associate conditions at that slaughterhouse with Jewish ritual slaughter.
What appears on these videos seems to show animals, unnecessarily and in contravention of Jewish tradition, being mistreated and made to suffer. I am concerned that those who know little of Judaism may come to believe that this is actually what Jewish observance requires and condones, and may thereby become hostile to Jews and Judaism.
We want the idealistic vision of the Torah to be admired and influential in the world, not associated with cruel and insensitive practices.
In this case PETA has consistently focused on the Postville plant and stated that they believe that shechita, when properly carried out, is a superior method.
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2. Counter-response to PETA's Campaign Coordinator by Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel of America
I thank Mr. Goldsmith for his response to my piece on the AgriProcessors controversy.
The issue of PETA’s core philosophy is not one that I will use this space to discuss further; ample material is available to anyone who wishes to explore in that direction. But I do feel it necessary to note that, contrary to what Mr. Goldsmith writes, PETA’s co-founder and president declared that “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy” (Vogue magazine, 1989) not in the context of the sensation of pain but rather as a coda to her contention that "There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights.” As she concluded, “They are all mammals.”
And so, with all due respect to Mr. Goldsmith's assurance that PETA “has never been duplicitous” and “never would exaggerate,” I must remain skeptical as well about PETA’s assertion of a 25% rate of consciousness after shechita at the plant during the period in question. The current rate seems to be something less than 1%.
Mr. Goldsmith asserts that AgriProcessors, like "criminals [who] sometimes act in accordance with the law,"” has simply changed its procedures. But the only relevant change instituted in the interim was something that, according to veterinary expert Dr. I. M. Levinger, who recently spent two days observing shechita at AgriProcessors, would have little or no impact on the rate of animals that remain conscious after shechita.
What Mr. Goldsmith characterizes as the "ripping" of animals'’ tracheas and esophagi was in fact the manipulation of those neck organs to facilitate a second cut to the carotid arteries – to better bleed the animals, and hence render them unconscious even more quickly. Such manipulation is not required by Jewish law, however, and it is that procedure that has now been discontinued (although a second cut to the carotids is till being done). If the current practices at the plant yield an acceptably miniscule post-shechita consciousness rate, as Dr. Levinger and a host of government and rabbinic officials have testified, there is no reason to believe that a dramatically higher consciousness rate was the product of a procedure designed to stimulate even more rapid bleeding.
The discrepancy between what Mr. Goldsmith claims is shown on PETA’s full videotape and the unanimous testimony regarding the current situation at AgriProcessors is striking. More striking still is the internal tension inherent in Mr. Goldsmith’s response to my article.
On the one hand, he seems to accept the testimony that the procedures currently in place at AgriProcessors are entirely humane, and that only a tiny percentage of animals – well within normal and acceptable bounds – display signs of post-shechita consciousness. But then he goes on to insist that AgriProcessors must make yet additional changes to their procedures.
If shechita as currently practiced is in fact, as Mr. Goldsmith concedes, humane, whence the necessity for further changes?
Mr. Goldsmith asserts that his group is “not asking much” of AgriProcessors or other kosher meat producers. And, at least to an innocent eye, what PETA is in fact demanding of all kosher meat processing facilities sounds innocuous: that such facilities be held to “the widely-accepted regulatory standards for religious slaughter developed by the Food Marketing Institute.”
Those standards, though – which, incidentally, go far beyond what the government has determined to be the requirements of humane slaughter, and were unilaterally compiled without any consultation with kashrut authorities – are not at all "widely accepted." On the contrary, they have been widely rejected, as they were adjudged by religious authorities many months ago to be incompatible with the ritual requirements of shechita. The incompatibility led fifteen Jewish kashrut experts and organizational heads, representing the full gamut of the glatt kosher meat producing and consuming community in the United States, to go on written record three-quarters of a year ago informing FMI that its standards "could improperly interfere with our religious ritual requirements." And requesting that the standards be modified accordingly.
Which leads to the crux of the issue, my original article's bottom line: Who will determine how shechita is done in the United States – rabbinic authorities or non-Jewish partisan groups? By petitioning U.S. governmental agencies to impose new rules on Jewish ritual (and despite the fact that no one is pointing to anything objectionable transpiring at AgriProcessors), by pressuring supermarket chains to stop doing business with kosher meat suppliers that are in full compliance with religious and federal law but do not follow the religiously objectionable and legally excessive standards unilaterally promulgated by the FMI, PETA has crossed a dangerous line. And that should alarm anyone committed to religious liberty.
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3. PETA's Response to Rabbi Shafran's Statement (Above)
By Ben Goldsmith of PETA
I appreciate Rabbi Shafran's thoughtful consideration of my response. As I said before, it is evident that we share similar concerns about animal welfare and adherence to Jewish law.
In light of this common cause, I hope Rabbi Shafran will agree that there need not be a dichotomy between the welfare standards proposed by humane organizations and those advocated by certain religious leaders. Surely the two are not mutually exclusive, and given our shared concern for the welfare of animals, I hope we can work together to ensure that kosher slaughterhouses live up to the requirements of Jewish law. Rabbi Shafran should not view PETA as a threat to rabbinic authority.
As I said before, I am glad that AgriProcessors has made a few small improvements; but without the proper guidelines for kosher slaughter in place, they could resume their shoddy killing practices after the current scandal fades from memory. This is why we are encouraging AgriProcessors and the OU to adopt a set of standards that will guarantee that kosher slaughter is humane without fail.
The changes that PETA has requested of AgriProcessors were recently summarized by their lawyer, Nathan Lewin, as follows: “Repair your unloading ramps. Restrict the use of electric prods. Ensure that no more than 5 percent of cows vocalize. Ensure that each chicken is held one at a time, by one person, for slaughter. Provide fresh, clean water for all animals at unloading. Ensure that all animals are calm at all stages of processing. Engage in self-audits on a regular basis.”
Reading their own lawyer's recitation of the changes that we are suggesting, I am left wondering why AgriProcessors or anyone else in the Jewish community would object to our recommendations. If AgriProcessors had made these simple, very reasonable improvements two years ago when we first approached them, they could have avoided the scandal and subsequent public scrutiny that they face today.
The Food Marketing Institute standards that we are asking AgriProcessors and the OU to adopt do indeed "go far beyond what the government has determined to be the requirements of humane slaughter." The scientists who developed the standards are very proud of this fact. Doing more for animal welfare than the bare minimum dictated by the government should be a goal to which kosher slaughterhouses continually aspire.
If there are issues with the FMI standards, the OU and other authorities should address those issues. As we read the standards, it's unclear to us what is at issue; the authors of the standards, also, have not heard from any OU or other authorities that there is any issue with the standards, other than the pen. That should be something to work on, rather than something that causes the standards to be discounted entirely. Since the OU prefers the pen, perhaps the OU could use its considerable influence to help change the preference of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel; since the Chief Rabbinate's stance appears to be based in humane considerations, this endeavor would seem likely to meet with success.
PETA has no interest in undermining rabbinic authority, and it is not our desire to "impose new rules on Jewish ritual." The issue here should be halacha, not an imagined power struggle. Our only objective is to assure that rabbinic authorities live up to the precepts of Jewish law that forbid causing unnecessary suffering to animals. We are pleased to be told that the OU shares our concern and will do all that it can, within Halachic parameters, to ensure the most humane slaughter possible. Our goal in this case is precisely that they do so, with unannounced audits of AgriProcessors, to ensure compliance at all times.
The fact remains that AgriProcessors was slaughtering animals horribly—that fully one-quarter of the animals showed unarguable signs of consciousness even after they had been mutilated (throats ripped out) and dumped onto the concrete, and that Mr. Rubashkin and his attorney, Mr. Lewin, continue to defend all practices; they continue to argue that these animals were not conscious, in complete denial of what is scientifically true. Extrapolated over the 2,500 to 3,000 cattle AgriProcessors slaughters each week, we're talking about 600 to 750 or so still conscious, every week, fully a minute after shechita. And that doesn't even address the mutilation, which no expert contacted by PETA or anyone else has ever indicated having seen. These overt violations of the Jewish commitment to kindness should be concerning to anyone who cares about Jewish values, as should be AgriProcessors continued defense of these horrors.
Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank, the President of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement, stated that "the disturbing video that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals produced of incidents during shechita at the AgriProcessors' plant in Postville, Iowa should be regarded as a welcome, though unfortunate service to the Jewish community."” We hope that Rabbi Shafran will join the other religious leaders who recognize that they should do everything in their power to address this problem, and not become preoccupied with attacking the messenger.
Finally, I feel odd that we even have to continue to discuss the often-misquoted statement of Ingrid Newkirk, our President. It is a rare thing for someone to insist that he knows what an organization stands for better than its representatives. In fact, it is simply true that physiologically, in the capacity to feel pain, as well as in other biological needs, other animals are our equals. They were designed this way by G-d. That was the whole point, regardless of an attack article by Fred Barnes in Vogue Magazine, which is run by one of the most animal-unfriendly women in the history of publishing. That it was repeated incorrectly by others who are opposed to PETA’s mission only proves that we do upset the likes of Philip Morris by opposing their cruel experiments, KFC by opposing their breeding and drugging animals so that they can’t even walk, and other large corporations with the resources to misrepresent us.
But PETA actively recognizes the different moral standings of animals and humans. One of our primary differences lies in the human ability to show compassion in choosing the foods we eat. When given the choice between cruelty and kindness, we believe that humans should choose the latter; in calling on AgriProcessors to make improvements in its slaughterhouse, we are fulfilling our obligation to act kindly towards animals. This is very much in accordance with Jewish law.
I understand Rabbi Shafran's concerns, but I am also certain that our position on animal welfare closely matches that of the Jewish community—one does not have to choose between the two. Again, rabbinic authorities should not view this as a power struggle; instead, they should focus their energies on improving animal welfare. We all want to ensure that kosher slaughter is consistently quick and humane, in keeping with Jewish law, and PETA maintains that by adopting a uniform set of standards, Jewish leaders will be doing their part to guarantee that kosher slaughter will never again cause animals the horrible and wholly unnecessary suffering that was the norm at AgriProcessors for some years. I am confident that this is a goal we can all embrace.
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4. Los Angeles Times Article
Cattle Video Stirs Kosher Meat Debate
Tue Dec 28, 7:55 AM ET
Top Stories - Los Angeles Times
By Stephanie Simon Times Staff Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=2&u=/latimests/20041228/ts_latimes/cattlevideostirskoshermeatdebate
The beef is produced according to ancient Jewish law: A trained rabbi makes a swift cut across each animal's neck with a long, sharp knife. The blood drains quickly from the meat. Orthodox rabbis supervise the process and certify the beef as kosher.
But when an animal rights activist went undercover at one of the nation's top kosher slaughterhouses, he found practices that had raised deep concerns among some observant Jews.
The activist, from the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was assigned to the sausage line at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville, Iowa. Whenever he could, however, he slipped over to the kill floor with a hidden camera. There, he filmed cattle struggling to stand minutes after they should have been dead. Some even staggered about after their throats had been slit and their windpipes ripped out.
The Orthodox Union, the largest kosher certification authority in the world, has declared that the procedures at Agriprocessors "meet all [our] standards to the highest degree." Meat from the plant — sold under the brand names Aaron's Best and Rubashkin — is certified not only as kosher, but as glatt kosher, which means it's deemed of the highest quality.
But kosher law is more than a procedural checklist. It's based on the ancient Jewish principle of tza'ar ba'alei hayyim — the need to minimize pain to all living beings. And that's where the video has caused unease.
The Torah lists specific rules for treating animals humanely. For instance, oxen must not be muzzled on the threshing floor because it would torment them to see grain they could not eat. Rabbinical scholars nearly 2,000 years ago introduced the general principle that Jews must make sure the animals they use for work and food do not suffer.
That principle is integral to kosher slaughter, which, experts say, can be virtually painless if done correctly.
After watching the video, which PETA posted online, some rabbis have concluded that the animals at Agriprocessors suffer unnecessarily — and have declared the meat unfit.
"The animals appear to be in agony," Rabbi Joel Rembaum recently wrote his congregation at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles. "The meat that comes from there is not kosher."
He was shocked, he wrote, by the sight of animals with gashed necks thrashing on a bloody floor for a minute or longer. He also rejected as unacceptably cruel the equipment the plant uses: a revolving metal drum that turns the cattle upside down, baring their necks for the cut, and then dumps them out seconds later on the concrete.
Rabbinical scholars within the Conservative movement declared the inverted pen unacceptable for kosher slaughter in a legal opinion issued in 2000. The Iowa plant is one of the few in the nation that still use it.
"Does the meat technically fulfill the requirements of kosher slaughter? Yes," said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, a leading philosopher in the Conservative Jewish movement. "But if by calling it 'not kosher' [you] mean that the meat should not be eaten, I agree with that. The way it's produced violates Jewish law."
Many Orthodox rabbis dispute that conclusion.
They point out that the inverted pen was designed to speed the draining of blood — an imperative in kosher slaughter. It's the method preferred by the chief rabbinate of Israel. And it is an ancient Jewish custom.
"This is the way we did it in the Holy Temple all those years. This is basically the exact way that God asked us to do it," said Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, who supervises kosher slaughterhouses for the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
"The PETA video wasn't pretty, that's for sure," Fishbane said. "But the meat was definitely kosher."
The debate comes against a backdrop of concern among some Jews about PETA's motives.
The group in the past has compared chickens to Holocaust victims, juxtaposing scenes of Nazi death camps with photos from factory farms. Jewish leaders also were appalled when PETA wrote the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) to complain that a donkey had been injured in a bombing attack in Jerusalem.
PETA coordinator Bruce Friedrich has made a point of praising kosher law for its emphasis on animal welfare. Nonetheless, some in the Jewish community view the undercover video as an anti-Semitic attack.
Nathan Lewin, an attorney for Agriprocessors, noted in a column in the Jewish Press that the Nazis launched their attacks on Jews in the 1930s with a campaign to discredit kosher slaughter as barbaric.
And Agriprocessors executive Heshy Rubashkin recently wrote customers urging them to join "with us in defending our religious practices against these extreme political attacks."
Customers like Leah Hoffmitz have followed the back-and-forth with some unease.
Hoffmitz, a graphic design professor from Los Angeles, said she always assumed that kosher slaughter meant humane slaughter. Hearing PETA's allegations "disturbed me," she said. But not enough to stop her from grilling Rubashkin steaks for dinner.
In the end, she said, she has to believe that the rabbinical authorities certifying the plant's meat as kosher are doing their jobs.
"As an observant Jew, I have to trust these people," she said. "Their job is to make sure the food I'm eating is proper."
Although Agriprocessors maintains that its animals do not suffer, it will — on the advice of the Orthodox Union — implement some new practices on the kill floor.
Workers no longer will rip out the animals' windpipes immediately after the neck is cut. Veteran slaughterhouse inspectors have described that practice as horrifically painful. Also, any cattle that survive the initial cut will be stunned to ensure they lose consciousness quickly. (Animals handled in this way will not be sold as kosher.)
Other changes also may be in the works. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) sent a team this month to investigate the plant — including the work of its own inspectors, who are supposed to monitor animal welfare as well as meat safety.
Meanwhile, two big Agriprocessors customers, supermarket chains Albertsons and Safeway, have asked the slaughterhouse to accept surprise inspections from independent animal welfare experts. And some Jewish leaders intend to push for a rethinking of kosher certification laws across the industry. Calling for rabbinical inspections on farms and ranches, they argue that "kosher" should mean an animal has been treated humanely while alive, not just at the moment of death.
"We really ought to check," Dorff said. "This is a very important issue."
To some loyal customers, any change is unnecessary.
Mike Engleman distributes a million pounds of Agriprocessors beef annually through Doheny Kosher Meat Market on Pico Boulevard. He visits the Postville plant twice a year and says he has always been impressed.
"They do a great job serving the Jewish community," Engleman said.
"The PETA people sent me a tape," he added. "I threw it in the garbage."
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Times staff writer Patricia Ward Biederman in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Copyright © 2004 Los Angeles Times
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5. Washington Post Article
USDA Investigating Kosher Meat Plant
Advocacy Group's Grisly Video Sparked Outcry
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 31, 2004; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37569-2004Dec30.html?sub=new
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told federal meat inspectors that they should immediately shut down any slaughterhouse where they observe acts of cruelty similar to those surreptitiously videotaped by an animal rights group at a kosher meat plant in Iowa.
The videotape by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which shows a steer struggling to its feet and walking into a corner after its throat has been cut and its trachea and esophagus are dangling out, has caused a furor among Jewish organizations and rabbis around the world.
AgriProcessors Inc. sells meat to kosher markets and meat counters like this one in Evanston, Ill. The company's method of slaughtering is being questioned. (Peter Slevin -- The Washington Post)
Some are angry at PETA, accusing the animal rights group of reviving the Nazi libel that Jewish ritual slaughter involves torture of animals. But other Jewish groups have condemned the AgriProcessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa, saying it appears to have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the rules for kosher butchering, which require a swift cut with a razor-sharp knife by a person trained to put down a large animal in seconds, with minimal suffering.
PETA says one of its members got a job at the Iowa plant and used a hidden camera to record five hours of operations on the "kill floor" over a seven-week period this summer. Based on its video footage, it filed a complaint with the USDA on Nov. 29 and has urged Iowa authorities to prosecute the plant's managers for animal cruelty.
Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for PETA, said it advocates vegetarianism and is "not a fan of killing animals, period." But he said PETA acknowledges that "done correctly, kosher slaughter is no less humane, and probably is better, than the conventional method" in commercial slaughterhouses, which fire an air gun or metal bolt into the animal's brain.
"We're not objecting to kosher slaughter in general," Friedrich said. "We're objecting to the sloppy, unethical methods used at this particular plant, which many experts on slaughterhouse standards say is the worst cruelty they have ever seen."
Nathan Lewin, a Washington lawyer who represents AgriProcessors, said the plant is continuously monitored by USDA inspectors and kosher certifying organizations, none of which has found anything wrong. PETA's campaign, he said, "is really an attack on shechita," or kosher slaughter.
"I'm not suggesting this is part of an anti-Semitic wave. But I do I think it's an attempt to get rid of kosher slaughter, maybe as a first step to getting rid of all slaughter," Lewin said.
PETA's allegations have reverberated internationally because the Postville plant is the largest glatt kosher meat producer in the United States and the only one authorized by Israel's Orthodox rabbinate to export beef to Israel -- though, at present, Israel does not accept any U.S. beef because of concerns about mad cow disease. Glatt, the Yiddish word for smooth, is the highest standard of cleanliness.
Federal and state officials, noting the sensitivity of regulating religious rituals, have responded cautiously. The USDA sent four investigators to the Postville plant Dec. 2, two days after PETA made the videotape public. Their inquiry remains open and has neither exonerated the plant nor concluded that it broke federal laws on humane handling of livestock, USDA spokesman Matt Baun said.
The USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service, however, sent a detailed advisory to federal meat inspectors on Dec. 22. The three-page document, obtained by The Washington Post, does not mention either PETA's videotape or the Postville plant by name. But it describes what inspectors should do in a scenario that corresponds closely to the situation shown on the tape.
"You are the Public Health Veterinarian" assigned to monitor a kosher slaughterhouse, the scenario begins. "Today the establishment is ritually slaughtering cattle." Seconds after the shochet, a rabbi trained as a kosher butcher, cuts a steer's throat, a plant employee steps forward to make a second cut and pull out the steer's trachea, or breathing tube, and its esophagus, or gullet.
AgriProcessors Inc. sells meat to kosher markets and meat counters like this one in Evanston, Ill. The company's method of slaughtering is being questioned. (Peter Slevin -- The Washington Post)
"The trachea and esophagus are dangling from the neck of the animal. . . . You are concerned as to whether the animal is sensible during this process," the scenario continues. "But before you can call the District [supervisor] or adequately examine the animal . . . the steer begins to right itself, and then stands, and starts to stumble around in the bleeding area, flopping its head on adjacent equipment."
In such a situation, the document says, the federal inspector should immediately notify the slaughterhouse that it has a "conscious" animal "at a point in the process where it should be unconscious." After waiting to verify that the animal has been put out of its misery, it says, the inspector should place a "U.S. Reject" tag on the device that restrains the cattle during slaughter and "inform the plant that the slaughter operation is suspended."
"You take these actions because the plant personnel performed a dressing procedure on a conscious animal, and because they failed to react appropriately to address a suffering, conscious animal. In addition, you inform establishment management that they will be receiving an NR [Non-compliance Record] for this egregious violation," it says.
Gary A. Dahl of Aurora, Colo., who has been a USDA slaughterhouse inspector for 21 years and heads a federal inspectors union, said he had no doubt, given the timing and the details of the USDA's instructional scenario, that it was a reaction to the PETA videotape.
Dahl said he could speak only for himself and the inspectors union, not on behalf of the USDA. But he said he considered the scenario a "very, very strong" response that "gives us a guideline and a tool to help us stand up to the pressure we would get from plant management" if an inspector were to shut down a kosher slaughterhouse under such circumstances.
One Orthodox Jewish group, Agudath Israel of America, has called PETA's campaign a "vicious and unethical attack" on Judaism, which "introduced human society to the concept of humane treatment of animals." Noting that Nazi propaganda included photographs of allegedly cruel kosher slaughter, it said, "PETA now follows in that vile course."
The Orthodox Union, the largest association of Orthodox synagogues in the United States and a major certifier of kosher foods, also has defended the plant. But it has refrained from attacking PETA, and its executive vice president, Rabbi Tzvi H. Weinreb, said in an interview that he found the videotape "disturbing."
The images of cattle attempting to rise to their feet after slaughter "certainly appear to be cruel or inhumane," he said. As a result, Weinreb said, the plant has made two changes.
"We asked that they discontinue this practice of excising the trachea and esophagus immediately after the [ritual cut], and they agreed to that. They also agreed to stun or shoot animals which show the kind of motor coordination that's indicative of consciousness," he said. "So both kinds of images that were portrayed on the video are no longer happening."
Israeli newspapers have followed the controversy closely, with Saul Singer, the editorial page editor of the Jerusalem Post, writing that he has decided to avoid beef until he is assured that kosher slaughter is being performed "according to the full letter and spirit of Jewish law."
The Rabbinical Assembly, an association of Conservative rabbis, said the PETA video "should be regarded as a welcome, though unfortunate, service to the Jewish community." When a company "purporting to be kosher violates the prohibition against . . . causing pain to one of God's living creatures, that company must answer to the Jewish community, and ultimately, to God," the assembly said.
The Postville plant was opened in 1987 by Aaron Rubashkin, a Lubavitcher Hasidic butcher from Brooklyn. It is now run by his son, Sholom Rubashkin, who declined through a spokesman to be interviewed.
The spokesman, Mike Thomas, said the phenomenon of cattle moving their heads or struggling to their feet after their throats have been cut is rare but not unknown at AgriProcessors and other kosher facilities. "Biologically, if the cut was done correctly, that shouldn't have happened. It must have been an incomplete cut or a faulty cut," he said. "The only thing we can say is, human error does happen."
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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6. PETA calls on Allamakee County Attorney to prosecute AgriProcessors
12/29/2004
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13643794&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=107421&rfi=6
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=117700&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=510839&rfi=6.
After a statement by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge indicated that Postville-based slaughterhouse AgriProcessors, Inc., is subject to the local cruelty-to-animals statute, PETA formally called for charges against the company at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 28, outside the Allamakee County Courthouse.
In a formal complaint that was delivered immediately before the news conference, PETA explained the legal case against Postville-based AgriProcessors and called on county attorney William Shafer to institute legal proceedings against the company - which packages meats under the Iowa's Best Beef, Rubashkin's, and Aaron's Best labels. After delivering the complaint, PETA presented and discussed video footage that supports the group's call for local prosecution.
A PETA undercover investigator videotaped workers at the plant ripping the tracheas and esophagi out of the throats of fully conscious cows and slaughtering them in such an inadequate manner that many were still attempting to stand as long as three minutes after their throats had been cut open.
PETA's request is in response to comments made by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge, who told the Globe Gazette that she found the footage "disturbing." She stated that if she had the jurisdiction, she would shut the plant down and launch an investigation but that charges of cruelty to animals would have to be brought by local law enforcement. While PETA disputes that the secretary is unable to enforce state law on state grounds when violations are brought to her attention, the organization is heeding her suggestion by simultaneously working to reverse her decision and calling for local prosecution under the state's cruelty-to-animals statute.
"The Iowa secretary of agriculture has understandably expressed her revulsion at what AgriProcessors was doing to animals," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "What AgriProcessors was doing behind closed doors is the ultimate violation of 'Iowa nice,' and we are calling on Mr. Shafer to take swift and decisive action against the company, its owner, and the kosher certification agencies that allowed state law to be so flagrantly violated."
©Waukon Standard 2004 Copyright © 1995 - 2004 PowerOne Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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7. Article by OU Kashrut Expert, Rabbi Menachem Genack
Setting The Record Straight On Kosher Slaughter
Posted 12/29/2004
By Rabbi MENACHEM GENACK
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4528
letters@jewishpress.com
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=13455
Many people expressed concern about the standards for humane treatment of animals at a kosher slaughterhouse after viewing a well-publicized video of kosher slaughter at the AgriProcessors plant in Iowa, which was released by the animal rights organization PETA.
Any slaughterhouse, whether kosher or non-kosher, is by definition a disconcerting, blood-filled and gruesome place. Torah law, however, is most insistent about not inflicting needless pain on animals and in emphasizing humane treatment of all living creatures.
Kosher slaughter, shechita, involves cutting the trachea and esophagus with a sharp, flawless knife. At the same time, the carotid arteries, which are the primary supplier of blood to the brain, are severed. The profound loss of blood and the massive drop in blood pressure render the animal insensate almost immediately. Studies done by Dr. H. H. Dukes at the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine indicate that the animal is unconscious within seconds of the incision.
After the shechita at AgriProcessors, an additional cut is made in the carotid arteries to further accelerate the bleeding. This is not done for kashrut reasons -- for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is complete -- but rather for commercial reasons, to avoid blood splash, which turns the meat a darker color. The carotid arteries are attached to the trachea and at AgriProcessors the trachea was excised to facilitate the bleeding.
In the overwhelming number of cases the animal is insensate at that time. However and inevitably, particularly when it is considered that 18,000 cattle were slaughtered during the seven-week period when the video was shot, there was a tiny percentage of animals whose carotid arteries were not completely severed so they were not completely unconscious. Although this is very infrequent, the removal of the trachea immediately after the shechita has now been discontinued.
It should be kept in mind that in a non-kosher plant, when the animal is killed by a shot with a captive bolt to the brain, it often has to be re-shot, sometimes up to six times, before the animal collapses. The USDA permits up to a five percent initial failure rate.
At AgriProcessors and at other plants it supervises, the Orthodox Union is committed to maintaining the highest ritual standards of shechita without compromising halacha one bit. The OU continues to vouch for the kashrut, which was never compromised, of all the meat prepared by AgriProcessors.
As I indicated previously, images of slaughter ¡ª especially selected images in an abbatoir ¡ª are jarring, particularly to the layman. Statements by PETA that animals were bellowing in pain after the shechita are an anatomical impossibility. After the animal`s throat and larynx have been cut, it cannot vocalize.
PETA is well known for the passion it brings to the issue of animal rights, but it is an organization devoid of objectivity. PETA`s comparison of the killing of chickens to the Holocaust is, at a minimum, morally obtuse. So to whom should we turn for an objective view about the situation at AgriProcessors and about kosher slaughter in general? Here are the opinions of some experts:
1. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge inspected the plant. She found the handling of the animals to be humane and commendable. She said, after viewing the shechita, that the animals were unconscious within two to three seconds. She also said that chickens were handled more carefully by the rabbis than by her own "grandmother on the farm."
2. AgriProcessors is under constant USDA inspection. Dr. Henry Lawson, the USDA veterinarian at the plant, told me he considers the treatment of the cattle at AgriProcessors to be humane and that the shechita renders them unconscious within a matter of seconds. He determines this by certain physiological criteria related to the eyes, tongue and tail of the animal.
3. Earlier this week, Rabbi Dr. I.M. Levinger, a veterinarian and one of the world`s foremost experts on animal welfare and kosher slaughter, called the shechita practices at AgriProcessors "professional and efficient," emphasizing the humane manner in which the shechita was handled. Dr. Levinger was also highly impressed with the caliber of the ritual slaughterers. He issued his evaluation following a thorough two-day on-site review of shechita practices and animal treatment at the plant. He viewed the kosher slaughter of nearly 150 animals.
4. AgriProcessors has hired an animal welfare and handling specialist to evaluate the plant processes. The specialist was recommended by both Dr. Temple Grandin, a foremost expert in animal welfare, and also by the National Meat Association. In reviewing the shechita process last week, the specialist made the following observations:
* The shechita process was performed swiftly and correctly;
* The shechita cut resulted in a rapid bleed; and
* All animals that exited the box were clearly unconscious.
The OU and AgriProcessors are committed to the Torah principles of humane treatment of animals. At the OU we constantly review our procedures, evaluate them, and if necessary, improve or correct them. We don`t want ever to be wedded to a mistaken procedure. AgriProcessors has been completely cooperative in working with the OU and shares our philosophy.
As Torah Jews, we are imbued with the teachings which require animals to be rested along with people on the Sabbath and fed before the people who own them, and that the mother bird must be sent away before her young are taken to save her grief. These and similar statutes make it clear that inhumane treatment of animals is not the Jewish way.
Kosher slaughter, by principle, and as performed today in the United States, is humane. Indeed, as PETA itself has acknowledged, shechita is more humane than the common non-kosher form of shooting the animal in the head with a captive bolt, for reasons noted above. The Humane Slaughter Act, passed into law after objective research by the United States government, declares shechita to be humane. For Torah observant Jews, it cannot be any other way. ?
Rabbi Menachem Genack is rabbinic administrator of the Orthodox Union`s Kosher Division.
© Copyright 2001, The Jewish Press Inc. (ISSN 0021-6674) > Our Privacy Pledge
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8. More Jerusalem Post Letters
Morally kosher
Sir, - In "Cutting-edge kashrut" (UpFront, December 17) Saul Singer points out the absurdity of following the letter of ritual law while ignoring morality, as the Orthodox Union has done in response to the abuses exposed at the AgriProcessors slaughter plant.
It is eye-opening for anyone who believes that kosher meat is necessarily humane meat.
NOAM MOHR [JVNA Coordinator]
Forest Hills
Sir, - A member of my family who worked in the US meat industry once told me: "If you visited a kosher slaughterhouse, you would never eat meat again."
IDA PLAUT
Netanya
Sir, - I was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in Brooklyn. My grandfather, a kosher butcher, loved animals and gave free meat to poor people.
He assured me that the holy books promote respect for animals. He said cows were free to graze in the fields and chickens to spread their wings on Shabbat, which we now know doesn't happen in factory farms.
He told me that animals were slaughtered by the swiftest cut from the sharpest blade to cause the quickest death and minimize their pain and distress.
PETA's AgriProcessors footage sickened me. I became a vegetarian after seeing Victor Schonfeld's masterpiece The Animals. I consider vegetarianism the ultimate form of kashrut.
Temple Grandin, in "Kosher slaughter done right" (UpFront, December 17), described the form of shehita my grandfather told me about.
RINA DEYCH [JVNA Newsletter reader]
New York
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Sir, - I applaud Saul Singer's decision to restrict his diet. A vegetarian for 35 years, I recently took a similar step.
Last spring I attended a lecture on the socioeconomic reasons for vegetarianism, together with a presentation by an animal rights group. It showed films about how animals and chickens in Israel are treated pointing out, among other things, that the terms "organic" and "free-range" are misleading.
After seeing cattle being branded and de-horned without anesthetic and chickens eing de-beaked and even tossed living into garbage bags – not to mention the horrid conditions in which these creatures live – I decided I could no longer regard dairy products and eggs as kosher and adopted a vegan diet.
Living so far removed from the sources of our food we have to accept packaged products bearing someone else's stamp of approval. And yet see where that can lead.
The whole question of kashrut has indeed become "both suspect and absurd."
YEHUDA MIKLAF
Jerusalem
Sir, - I've been wrestling with the morality of kosher slaughter since hearing about the AgriProcessors video. It's obvious to me that modern shehita is not as humane as we've been told.
Maybe it's because of the assembly-line atmosphere that prevails in modern slaughterhouses, or because portions of the Orthodox world seem to have moved in the direction of stringency in matters of ritual while downplaying Halacha's moral element.
Whatever the reason, it's made me reexamine my eating habits. I've stopped eating beef, and toyed with the idea of stopping eating kosher.
BILL DILWORTH
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Saul Singer [Jerusalem Post Editorial Page Editor] responds:
Don't stop being kosher, that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I still believe that kashrut in general either is – or potentially is - a beacon of morality. I want kashrut to meet that potential, not abandon it.
To Yehuda Miklaf: I have to clarify that I am not a vegetarian and don't believe that kashrut is in principle "suspect and absurd." I do believe that the many Jewish laws designed to reduce animal suffering, including the laws of shehita, should be interpreted to prohibit abusing the animal in the shehita process.
I see kashrut as so important to Judaism that I would rather be kosher than vegetarian - even though a vegetarian diet is also kosher and it is arguably morally superior to abstain from meat altogether.
I feel this way partly because I support the Jewish distinction between human and animal life. I don't agree with PETA and others that the life of a person is equal to the life of an animal.
It wouldn't do
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9. Statement From JVNA Advisor John Diamond
As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, I want to comment on some points in Rabbi Gennack's latest statement on 12-29-04.
In this statement, he says:
"As Torah Jews, we are imbued with the teachings which require animals to be rested along with people on the Sabbath and fed before the people who own them, and that the mother bird must be sent away before her young are taken to save her grief. These and similar statutes make it clear that inhumane treatment of animals is not the Jewish way."
Unfortunately, animals raised for kosher slaughter on modern-day factory-farms are subjected to treatment which violates the Torah Law of "tsa'ar ba'alei chayyim," certainly not in accordance with the "Jewish way," as he mentions.
I would very respectfully like to challenge Rabbi Gennack and other rabbis in the kosher certification industry, in addition to making the ongoing improvements in the AgriProcessors plant, to begin a serious effort to see that only animals from organic humane-certified farms be accepted for kosher slaughter in all OU, KAJ, etc. approved slaughterhouses. For meat eating Jews and others, this would permit them to eat cruelty-free meat which would be far more healthier for them and as well as the earth's environment.
Posted by: John K. Diamond December 29, 2004 06:51 PM at failedmessiah.com
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
December 31, 2004
December 28, 2004
12/28/04 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Responding to the Great Loss of Life and Suffering in Asia
2. What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN Have in Common?
3. Interested in Getting on a TV Reality Show?
4. Getting Healthier Foods Into Hospitals
5. Helping Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
6. Example of Our Influence/From an Author
7. All VEGAN Grocery Store goes ONLINE!
8. Global Climate Changes, Other Environmental Threats, and the Bush Administration
9. Do Torah Teachings Justify Animal Exploitation?
10. Vegetarian Thoughts From a JVNA Newsletter Reader
11. A New Feature at the JVNA Web Site
12. ACTION ALERT: Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
* Some Quotations To Think About
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Responding to the Great Loss of Life and Suffering in Asia
Message from Yosef Hakohen, JVNA advisor and coordinator of “ Hazon - Our Universal Vision.” It is followed by a message from the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) on the tragedy and how one can contribute to help alleviate it.
Given the news of the great loss of life and suffering in Asia, we share with you the following teaching of Rebbeinu Yonah, a noted 13th century Torah sage, where he discusses our universal yearning for "shalom" - peace, harmony, and wholeness:
"A human being should pray for the shalom of the entire world and feel the suffering of others. And this is the way of the tzadikim - righteous ones...For a human being should not make supplications and requests just for his own needs; rather, one should pray that all human beings should thrive in shalom." (These words are from his commentary to Pirkei Avos 3:2, which teaches that we should pray for the true shalom of all governments, so that anarchy, violence, and chaos not prevail)
In this spirit, we pray for the arrival of the messianic era when the roaring of the sea will be a sign of life and not death; moreover, in this new era of spiritual enlightenment, the sovereigns of the nations will finally accept the sovereignty of Hashem - the Compassionate One - Who created all life, and all creation will therefore rejoice, as it is written:
"Tell it among the nations: When Hashem reigns, the world will not falter; He will judge the peoples with fairness. The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice; the sea and its fullness will roar. The field and everything in it will exult; then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy - before Hashem, for He will have arrived, He will have arrived to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and peoples with His truth." (Psalm 96:10-13).
Hazon - Our Universal Vision: www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
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AJWS reports:
American Jewish World Service is sending humanitarian aid to the people affected by the tsunami.
For several years, AJWS has partnered with 24 non-governmental,
community-based organizations in the region on sustainable community development projects.
[Arthur Waskow, author and director of the Shalom center adds : Because it is the only Jewish organization deliberately set up to assist non-Jewish communities to develop themselves, it is the only one with these kinds of grass-roots connections and experience in South Asia.]
AJWS is working with these local groups to assess needs and provide emergency relief - food, water, shelter and medicine -- and long-term development support.
Donations for this relief effort are being sought and can be made by mail, phone or Web site: American Jewish World Service, Asia Tsunami Relief, 45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018, 800-889-7146 or make a secure, online donation now.
http://www.ajws.org/index.cfm?section_id=15
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2. What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN Have in Common?
[This is included because, like other articles in recent JVNA newsletters, it illustrates broad issues that are often not adequately considered by society and its leaders. Some of the issues discussed in the article, like poverty, disease and climate change, have strong connections to animal-based diets and modern intensive “livestock” agriculture.]
What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN have in common?
by Katrina vanden Heuvel
http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7&pid=2084
12/21/2004 @ 5:33pm
They share a prescient view of the world's greatest dangers and their unheralded agreement on key issues facing the planet has received far too little attention in the media.
Since 2000, all three institutions have produced a number of valuable reports arguing that so-called soft issues like poverty, disease and climate change are endangering global stability and the future of the United States.
This rising consensus should compel US policy-makers to concede a most basic point--we need a global development agenda. It isn't a soft-headed, idealistic thing either. Unless we confront issues like poverty and gender inequality, the world will become more destabilized,
increasingly violent and less secure.
In December 2000, the CIA's Global Trends 2015 report warned of instability brought on by a shortage of drinking water--"the single most contested resource on the planet," as Time.com described the CIA's findings. The report also warned that nation-states would soon disintegrate, "non-state actors" like Osama bin Laden would emerge as greater threats, that populations would increase by one billion people by 2015, and that HIV/AIDS would represent a major security issue in sub- Saharan Africa, Asia and the former Soviet Republics.
(Another CIA report issued that same year, "Global Infectious Disease Threat," estimated that by 2020 over half of all deaths from infectious disease in the developing world will be caused by AIDS, imperiling government stability, food production, health services, and even nuclear/weapons security in places.)
Some cities in the Arab world would become "impossibly overpopulated hubs of discontent, dramatically under- serviced by such basic infrastructure as drinking water and sewage," as Time.com described the CIA's Global Trends 2015 report's conclusions. "Their population is likely to be young, hungry, sick, disillusioned and very, very angry."
The CIA's report argued that we should increase foreign aid and investment, along the lines of the Marshall Plan, to close a growing divide between rich and poor, which would, in turn, reduce threats to the United States.
The CIA's findings, which remarkably dovetail with the United Nation's Millenium Development Goals, ought to be heard as a rousing call to fund the UN's development agenda--the only truly global Marshall Plan of our time. The UN's Millenium agenda--adopted in 2000--includes reducing by half those suffering from hunger; reducing child mortality for children under five by two-thirds; cutting in half the number of those without access to safe drinking water and establishing universal primary education and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015.
The statistics don't lie: UNICEF reports that one billion children are living in poverty (or every second child); more than 121 million primary school age children are out of school--the majority of them are girls; and that 10.6 million children died in 2003 before they were five of largely preventable deaths.
The global community knows how to deal with these catastrophes. By spending $150 billion dollars worldwide each year, the UN could actually meet its Millennium Goals over the next decade. (UNICEF puts the figure somewhere between $40 and $70 billion--either way, it's a paltry sum in contrast to the $956 billion spent annually worldwide on military items.)
Indeed, while the CIA and the UN may diverge on rationale and policy implications, the underlying issues in the decade ahead give credibility to the much-derided "soft" side of the global agenda. Supported by Gordon Brown, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UN Global Millennium Agenda offers an agenda that do-gooders as well as economists, national security strategists and CIA agents can (and should) love.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Pentagon tasked two futurologists with assessing long-term threats to the United States--their report , "Imagining the Unthinkable," focused on "worst-case" scenarios and actually cited climate change as a major long-term threat to US national security.
The report's co-author, Peter Schwartz, told NPR's Living on Earth that the "most extreme case would be a scenario of fairly rapid warming in the near future—the next, say, decade or so--that would in turn trigger rapid cooling. "Ultimately, we'd see 'warming' [in] Europe, parts of the northeastern United States and Canada. You'd see severe storms--more torrential rainfall--very short winters, a shift in the location of tornadoes--and 'mega-droughts.'" Conflicts over water and fishing rights would emerge, and refugees would flock to the US in greater numbers.
An even more recent report issued last fall—and authored by the Defense Science Board Task Force, an organization that advises the Secretary of Defense-- raised crucial issues. The report, virtually ignored by the mainstream media, found that: "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather they hate our policies" and "American direct intervention in the Muslim world has paradoxically elevated the stature of and support for radical Islamists..." The study also concluded that US public diplomacy faces "a fundamental problem of credibility" and that US support for authoritarian regimes in the region has undermined the so-called war on terror by turning ordinary Muslims against the West.
Back in Dec. 2000, John Gannon--Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and one of the authors of the CIA Global Trends 2015 report--urged America to deal with countries that "feel they're being left behind"—thereby confronting the downside of globalization. Yet, four years have passed, and America's political leadership is doing quite the opposite: neglecting the global South and attacking the UN as outdated and useless.
While our mangled Iraq war policy is sowing hatred for America in the Middle East, American policy-makers have failed to heed the rising global consensus that poverty, climate change and the global HIV/AIDS pandemic demand intelligent and collective response and funding.
How many more reports (and threats) must appear before attacking the world's most glaring problems becomes priority number one?
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3. Interested in Getting on a TV Reality Show?
Forwarded message:
ANIMAL RIGHTS--TELEVISION SHOW
Looking for animal rights families/families who are anti-fur
My name is Melissa Mills. I work in casting at "Trading Spouses," a family-themed reality show that airs on Fox, Monday nights at 8PM. The purpose of our show is to compare and contrast various families across the country while highlighting their unique interests and cultures! For example, we've had everyone from hunters to vegans, alligator wranglers to family bands, tattoo artists to political activists appear on our show.
Currently, we are casting for new episodes and would like to meet families who are in favor of animal rights. We love interesting families who could show the world a little bit about what makes them so special! This is a terrific opportunity for any family who is energetic and who
wants to Learn about another way of life. In addition, every family who has appeared on the show has been compensated $50,000! This could be a chance for an animal rights family who wants their voice heard to have an audience of millions of people.
All families who want to be on our show must have the following: at least one child between the ages of 6 & 18, a crime-free background, US citizenship, and an ability to speak English. Also, the spouses must be legally married. Please have a look on our web site: www.fox.com for more details.
If you know of anyone who might fit this description, please contact
me as soon as possible.
Melissa Mills
Casting Assistant/Trading Spouses
Rocket Science Laboratories
323-802-0619
mmills@rocketsciencelabs.com
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4. Getting Healthier Foods Into Hospitals
www.washingtonpost.com
Head of Cleveland Clinic Is Attacking Big Mac
And in Hospital Lobby, McDonald's Fights Back
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 15, 2004; Page A01
CLEVELAND -- The Pizza Hut is shuttered, its neon sign collecting dust on the floor. But knocking down the Golden Arches has proved far more difficult for Toby Cosgrove, the new head of the Cleveland Clinic.
A heart surgeon who has cleaned out a career's worth of clogged arteries, Cosgrove didn't think Big Macs, supersize fries and inch-thick, six-cheese pizzas belonged in the lobby of a hospital renowned for its cardiac care. So he decreed the fast-food joints had to go.
Pizza Hut went quietly. But McDonald's, halfway through a 20-year lease, has refused to shut down a franchise that serves 12,000 doctors, nurses, janitors, secretaries, patients and visitors each week.
"Our menu is something we're all proud of," said Marty Ranft, a McDonald's vice president. "We've got a great relationship with the Cleveland Clinic. We are not interested in closing" the restaurant.
In the struggle against obesity, Americans are losing. And among the favorite targets for blame are fast-food chains such as McDonald's. Studies show that consuming large portions of high-fat, salty, sugar-laden foods has helped create a nation in which 64 percent of people are overweight or obese. They often land here at the Cleveland Clinic seeking treatment for diabetes, strokes, heart failure and crippling joint pain.
"We have to set an example with the food we serve our patients and employees," said Cosgrove, a trim 63-year-old. "In a way, McDonald's was symbolic as much as anything else. It is not associated with heart-healthy food; neither is Pizza Hut."
But Cosgrove's crusade has been met with resistance from not just McDonald's executives, who say they are being singled out for a problem that goes beyond the occasional Happy Meal, but also from staff and visitors who resent what they consider to be a paternalistic attitude from bosses who can afford pricier, more healthful food.
"What they have in the cafeteria is not a lot better, and it's certainly not affordable," said Donna Wilkison, a post-operative nurse waiting in line for her McDonald's salad with chicken. The cafeteria salad bar, priced at $4.64 a pound, "gets very expensive. They need to bring in something else that's more affordable."
On its sprawling urban campus, the clinic has a Subway sandwich shop, Au Bon Pain and Starbucks. Adjacent to the McDonald's is a cafeteria that features a large salad bar, a grill, a deli and hot entrees. The choices range include fresh fruit and homemade mashed potatoes. At Subway, salads begin at $3.99 and subs are about $5. McDonald's salads cost $4.10.
Nutritionists such as Montefiore Medical Center's Miriam Pappo said the Cleveland Clinic battle is akin to fights being waged in America's schools -- and a handful of other hospitals -- over candy, soda and fast-food sales.
She said it was "appropriate" for clinic officials to act as role models, yet Pappo sympathized with McDonald's' argument that no one forces people to eat there. "In a way, they are a scapegoat," Pappo said. "But in other ways, they are contributing for sure."
Of its 13,000 U.S. locations, about 30 McDonald's outlets are in hospitals, including children's hospitals in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The New York City Health and Hospital Corp. does not intend to renew the McDonald's contract at its Elmhurst hospital and has not decided whether to keep the one in the Jacoby Medical Center in the Bronx, spokeswoman Kathleen McGrath said. The Harlem hospital closed its McDonald's earlier this year.
The Cleveland debate began two years ago when one of the clinic's most talented, most outspoken heart surgeons rose at a staff retreat to question how in good conscience they could tempt their patients with such unhealthful products.
"I can't tell you how many patients found this repulsive," said cardiology chairman Eric Topol. "How can the Cleveland Clinic, which prides itself on promoting health, have the audacity to have a McDonald's in the main lobby?"
Some days, the scent of cooking grease wafts up the one flight to Topol's domain, a heart center that has been ranked first in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 10 straight years. He has heard all the wisecracks and not-so-amused comments about serving up a side of fries with that angioplasty.
"If this was a strip mall or a food court in a public place, that would be a different matter," he said in an interview. "We're supposed to be the icons for promoting good health."
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy as the left-leaning Center for Science in the Public Interest, said McDonald's few salads, fish sandwiches and fruit drinks do not make up for its overwhelming emphasis on fried foods.
"They announced with a lot of fanfare they were going to change the frying oil, and they never followed through," Wootan said. "There's twice as much heart-damaging fat in the french fries and nuggets and apple pies in the lard they use."
McDonald's executives accuse Topol, Cosgrove and Wootan of opportunism and demagoguery, targeting an easy villain rather than the individuals doing the eating.
"If Dr. Cosgrove wants to say McDonald's is inconsistent" with the health goals of the hospital, "he needs to take a look at the vending machines with candy bars and salty snacks, the cafeteria with deep-fried chicken, baked pies and slabs of ribs," said William Whitman, director of U.S. media relations for McDonald's.
McDonald's nutritionists point to numerous high-calorie, high-fat foods in the clinic cafeteria. But their comparison of "typical meals" tallies a cafeteria breakfast of orange juice, three scrambled eggs, two pork sausage patties, two hash browns and two slices of toast against the steak, single egg and cheese on a bagel with hash browns from McDonald's.
As the burger battle has escalated, McDonald's public relations gurus have rolled out legal, political and economic arguments. They defend their food as healthful. But they also have suggested that Cosgrove is racist for targeting Turan Strange, the African American small businessman who owns the franchise, raised the specter of unemployment for its 40 low-wage workers and said that closing down will hurt Ohio beef producers.
Phillip Wilkins, a representative of the National Black McDonald's Operators Association, warned Cosgrove: "We vigorously support one another and will not hesitate to do so with every resource available to us."
In the meantime, business is brisk at the Cleveland Clinic McDonald's, one of four owned by Strange.
"I try to eat healthy, but for lunch I want something that's cheap," said Tanya Sutton, who works 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in patient food service. "At 11 a.m. they're still serving breakfast in the cafeteria, but that's my lunch break." She eats at the McDonald's a few times a week.
Nudged by his wife, engineering supervisor John Moorer walks through the cafeteria salad bar, loading his plate with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, cucumbers, cheese cubes and diced ham, which he knows is not good for his high blood pressure. But he has also opted for McDonald's or Pizza Hut: "I can't eat salad all the time. It's rabbit food."
Near retirement age, Moorer doesn't want his boss telling him what to eat. "If it's killing me, then that's my choice," he said.
McDonald's officials said they want to work with the clinic to develop more healthful menu options. But Cosgrove did not sound interested. He suggested a financial settlement is in the offing.
His next target: tobacco. He wants the Cleveland Clinic smoke-free by Independence Day.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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5. Helping Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
Whole Foods Market Establishes Foundation to Help Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
As Company Celebrates 25th Year, It Will Donate Five Percent of Total Global Sales Tuesday, January 25 to Launch Animal Compassion Foundation
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Whole Foods Market(R) (Nasdaq: WFMI), the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket founded in 1980, invites shoppers to visit its 166 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 25 as five percent of total company sales will be allocated to create the Animal Compassion Foundation. As an independent, non-profit organization with its own board of directors, the Foundation will provide education and research services to assist and inspire ranchers and meat producers around the world to achieve a higher standard of animal welfare excellence while still maintaining economic viability.
full story:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgibin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-14-2004/0002631388&EDATE
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6. Example of Our Influence/From an Author
Forwarded message:
Dear Richard,
Thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending Pamela's brochure to me. She has agreed to allow me to use up to ten of her 101 reasons for being a vegetarian.
You have made an amazing contribution in your work that is deserving of discovery by all who can benefit by it (which I think is everybody). I love your work. It goes deeper than so many of the writings on this subject, and is very enlightening. Taken in context with many Christian writings on the subject, it adds breadth and depth that is extremely beneficial. Given that there are over 200 million Christians in the United States, in addition to those of the Jewish faith, there are many who should find an interest in your work.
What do you feel is the best and most appropriate way to give proper credit to you and to Pamela for the portions of your work that is included in the book. I would like to lead others to your work so that they may benefit by it, as have I. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Also, because of time constraints, I am limiting the chapter in my book, regarding the spiritual writings on diet to a narrower focus for now.
Rather than discussing each of the major world religions, I am focusing on Judaism and Christianity (parent and child), and will only lightly touch on the teachings of other world religions concerning vegetarianism and diet.
I hope to expand this work in future editions. However, it may be deserving of an entire book by itself. I've have completed over half the work I've wanted to accomplish on this topic, but it will require significantly more time than I can devote presently to complete it. Thus far I've researched and written on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Bahaii, and Islam, but have covered too broad of area in too little time and am not comfortable with presenting the information now.
It deserves far more attention. It has been beneficial to me personally, and I would like to find a way to share this benefit with others.
For my immediate purposes, the article you have written entitled, "A Vegetarian View of the Torah," is ideal for introducing Jewish thoughts on vegetarian and animal-based diets, and I would like your permission to use it in its entirety, without edits. It is the perfect beginning to this chapter, after my initial introduction.
With that permission, I would like to send this chapter to you for your review, to make sure you are completely comfortable with the context in which it will be represented.
Sincerely,
Jim Simmons
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7. All VEGAN Grocery Store goes ONLINE!
Forwarded message:
My favorite store, Food Fight! Vegan Grocery, which (unfortunately) is on the other coast in Portland, OR, just launched an online store so that NY/NJ can get a chance to shop its shelves.
http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/
Shipping is quick. The customer service is award-worthy.
Goods include: Cheeses, fake meats, candy, jello, (many types of) jerky, dips, sauces, marshmallows, books, condoms, etc. Typical convenience store fare, but it's all VEGAN. What they also seem to do very well is keep their shelves stocked with items that go beyond the convenience store such as vegan haggis and vegan caviar.
After I visited the store in September I tried to track down some of the items here in Brooklyn, but was unsuccessful. Food Fight! online is a welcome resource for this vegan.
http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/
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8. Global Climate Changes, Other Environmental Threats, and the Bush Administration
Forwarded message:
ENVIRONMENT
Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way
The Bush administration's irresponsible environmental policies have reached disturbing new lows. Just weeks after taking office, President Bush announced the United States would not participate in international efforts to control global warming through the Kyoto protocol. At the time, Bush insisted he was still "committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change." Four years later, the Bush administration is the leading obstacle to progress. At a U.N. conference in Buenos Aires that ended Saturday, Bush's surrogates opposed efforts by other nations to hold a series of discussions about what to do to combat global warming when Kyoto expires in 2012. The Bush administration officials insisted that "it was too early to take even that step" and, if any meetings were held, "there shall be no written or oral report." The U.S. insisted that talks be limited to a single seminar where participants will not be allowed to discuss future cuts in greenhouse gasses. As a result, the future of international efforts to prevent catastrophic global warming is hanging by its "fingernails."
U.S. SUPPORTS SAUDI REQUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL HANDOUTS:
A big topic at the Buenos Aires conference was "adaptation assistance" -- providing resources "to poor, low-lying island countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change." Such aid would benefit tiny Pacific Ocean nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati and Micronesia. But Saudi Arabia, one of the world's richest nations, insisted "aid include compensation to oil-producing countries for any fall in revenues that may result from the reduction in the use of carbon fuels." The United States stood alone in supporting the Saudi request.
BUSINESS COMMUNITY WANTS TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING:
Bush has rejected mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases because he claims they would have a "negative economic impact." But the international business community understands that the consequences of inaction would be far worse for their bottom line. For example, at a meeting organized by major insurance companies, "concerns were expressed about rapidly rising payments resulting from more severe and frequent hurricanes, heat waves and flooding."
Experts at the conference agreed that the "frequency and intensity of such events" is increasing because of global warming. Extreme weather patterns could cost the insurance industry an additional $25 billion annually if global warming is left unchecked.
STATES TAKE THE INITIATIVE:
The Bush administration is dropping the ball on global warming. So a bipartisan coalition of eight states -- four Republican governors, and four Democratic -- is taking matters into its own hands to control global warming. The consortium, called Northeast States for Coordinate Air Use Management, will implement a regional cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gas emissions. The states involved see "environment, health and economic" benefits in taking action. Washington, Oregon and California are considering developing a similar plan. California has a plan (now being challenged by the auto industry) to reduce greenhouse gasses from automobiles by 30 percent over the next ten years.
ITS GETTING HOT IN HERE:
The Bush administration stands "virtually alone in challenging the scientific assumptions underlying the Kyoto Protocol." In other words,
the world is getting hotter because of human activity. It might not seem like it today, but 2004 was the fourth-hottest year on record. The top ten hottest years have all occurred since 1990. The last year brought "four powerful hurricanes in the Caribbean and deadly typhoons lashing Asia." Alden Meyer, policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, "whatever is going on is not natural and is no longer within the realm of variability." Nevertheless, the Bush administration has announced its opposition to the phrase, "climate change," in favor of the ambiguous (and inaccurate) term, "climate variability."
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9. Do Torah Teachings Justify Animal Exploitation?
The article below provides some material for responding to arguments that are often brought up by animal rights advocates who challenge religious practices and by religious people who wish to justify their diets.
DO TORAH TEACHINGS JUSTIFY ANIMAL EXPLOITATION?
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. and Dovid Sears
Many apologists for the exploitation of animals seek justification in scripture, but their presumption is largely due to the misunderstanding of two important Torah verses that, when properly conceived, actually endorse the struggle to improve conditions for animals.
The first misunderstanding is that the Torah teaching that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26) gives us a warrant to treat them in whatever way we may wish. However, Jewish tradition interprets "dominion" as guardianship, or stewardship, not domination: we are called upon to be co-workers with God in improving the world. This biblical mandate does not mean that people have the right to wantonly exploit animals, and it certainly does not permit us to breed animals and then treat them as machines designed solely to meet human needs. In "A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace," Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel and a leading 20th century Jewish thinker, states: "There can be no doubt in the mind of any intelligent person that [the Divine empowerment of humanity to derive benefit from nature] does not mean the domination of a harsh ruler, who afflicts his people and servants merely to satisfy his whim and desire, according to the crookedness of his heart. It is unthinkable that the Divine Law would impose such a decree of servitude, sealed for all eternity, upon the world of God, Who is 'good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works' (Psalms 145:9), and Who declared, 'The world shall be built with kindness' (ibid. 89:33)."
This view is reinforced by the fact that immediately after God gave humankind dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26), He prescribed vegetarian foods as the diet best suited to humans (Genesis 1:29). This mandate is almost immediately followed by God's declaration that all of Creation was "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Perhaps this indicates that Adam and Eve's original vegetarian diet was consistent with the stewardship that God entrusted to them and to all humankind. Another indication of the true message of dominion is the Torah verse that indicates that God put Adam, the first human being, into the garden of Eden to "work it and to guard it." (Genesis 2:15)
The second error of apologists for animal exploitation is the presumption that the biblical teaching that only people are created in the Divine Image means that God places little or no value on animals. While the Torah states that only human beings are created "in the Divine Image" (Genesis 5:1), animals are also God's creatures, possessing sensitivity and the capacity for feeling pain. God is concerned that they are protected and treated with compassion and justice. In fact, the Jewish sages state that to be "created in the Divine Image," means that people have the capacity to emulate the Divine compassion for all creatures. "As God is compassionate," they teach, "so you should be compassionate."
A rabbinic teaching that we should imitate God is Hama bar Hanina's interpretation of the verse, "After the Lord your God you shall walk" (Deuteronomy 13: 5): "How can man walk after God?" the ancient sage queries. "Is He not called a 'consuming fire'? Rather, what is meant is that man ought to emulate the attributes of God. Just as God clothes the naked, so you shall clothe the naked. Just as God visits the sick, so you shall visit the sick. Just as God comforts the bereaved, so you shall comfort the bereaved. Just as He buries the dead, so you shall bury the dead."
In his classic work Ahavat Chesed ("The Love of Kindness"), the revered Chafetz Chayim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin) discusses this teaching at length. He writes that whoever emulates the Divine love and compassion to all creatures "will bear the stamp of God on his person." Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a leading 19th century Jewish thinker, also discusses this concept: "You can know God only through His acts of love and justice; and, in turn, you too are called upon to act with love and justice." Concerning the biblical concept that human beings were created to "serve and safeguard the earth" (Genesis 2:15), Rabbi Hirsch states that this actually limits our rights over other living creatures. He writes: "The earth was not created as a gift to you. You have been given to the earth, to treat it with respectful consideration, as God's earth, and everything on it as God's creation, as your fellow creatures - to be respected, loved, and helped to attain their purpose according to God's will... To this end, your heartstrings vibrate sympathetically with any cry of distress sounding anywhere in Creation, and with any glad sound uttered by a joyful creature."
In summation, as the Lord is our shepherd, we are to be shepherds of voiceless creatures. As God is kind and compassionate to us, we must be considerate of the needs and feelings of animals. To this we may add that by showing compassion to animals through a vegetarian diet, we help fulfill the commandment to imitate God's ways.
Jewish tradition clearly forbids any display of cruelty toward animals. In Hebrew, this is called tza'ar ba'alei chayim, the biblical mandate not to cause "pain to any living creature." In contrast to this, Psalms 104 and 148 bespeak the worthiness of the animals of the field, creatures of the sea, and birds of the air before their Creator. Psalm 104 depicts God as "giving drink to every beast of the field," and "causing grass to spring up for the cattle." Perhaps the Jewish attitude toward animals is best summarized by Proverbs 12:10: "The righteous person regards the life of his or her animal." In his explanation of this verse, the Malbim, a 19th century biblical commentator, explained that the righteous person understands the nature of the animal, and hence provides food at the proper time, and according to the amount needed. He is also careful not to overwork the animal. According to the Malbim, the tzaddik (righteous person) acts according to the laws of justice. Not only does he act according to these laws with human beings, but also with animals.
In conclusion, apologists for animal exploitation who try to justify their stance from biblical text are mistaken. Since Judaism is concerned with the well being of animals and forbids causing them unnecessary pain, it clearly is a foe of animal exploitation.
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Rabbi Dovid Sears is the director of the New York-based Breslov Center for Spirituality and Inner Growth. He is presently completing a comprehensive anthology of original translations and essays entitled The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism. His previous books include Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition, The Path of the Baal Shem Tov: Early Chasidic Teachings and Customs, and The Flame of the Heart: Prayers of a Chasidic Mystic.
Richard H. Schwartz is Professor Emeritus, Mathematics, College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He is author of Judaism and Vegetarianism , Judaism and Global Survival, and Mathematics and Global Survival. He has over 100 articles and book reviews at http://JewishVeg.com.
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10. Vegetarian Thoughts From a JVNA Newsletter Reader
For: Temple Beth Or, The Light newsletter
Date: 12.25.04
By: Jeffrey Tucker, member of NALITH Foundation committee
Jeffrey.Tucker@Century21.com
VEGGIE CORNER
The statement "nothing died to feed my face" has religious overtones. Why? Abstaining from meat often denotes spirituality, Buddha was a vegan, Essene dead sea scrolls recount Jesus' vegetarian teachings and The Jewish Vegetarians of North America vigorously promote diet as a multi-mitzvah.
Indeed so many talmudic issues are crammed into one's daily choice of
sustenance that you would be amazed!
In short, one's fork is wielded either as a benign plowshare or as a deadly weapon. As we spend a consumer dollar in effect we are voting: organically-grown fruit, veggies, grain with concurrent avoidance of water-soil-air-body-pollution (by herbicides, pesticides, dyes, preservatives, etc.) OR animal production for slaughter and over-zealous food-processing for profit (ethically-suspect, energy-intensive, ecologically-unsound and worse).
The JVNA’s chief spokesperson is Richard H. Schwartz, PhD, a tireless Educator and advocate for the USA and Israel. In Beth Or's library, you can read his "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and "Judaism and Global Survival," or go to www.JewishVeg.com, www.brook.com/jveg or many others, easily found. Explore each Jewish holiday’s vegetarian-based lessons, how Rami’s [Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Beth Or’s previous rabbi, and an author and thinker] minyan practices largely correspond, how 'kosher' living is radically-redefined for our modern world.
Personally, I see many 'normal' practices as addictions: involving sugar,
salt, tobacco, meat, dairy, alcohol, medications, coffee, processed grains, carbonation, cosmetics, animal abuse. Some are obvious – you lick the smoking habit, and then the rewards abound. Others are less obvious, but equally powerful. Isn’t the best addiction the discarded one?
Perhaps thousands of meals and snacks lie ahead for you. Each one presents an opportunity to show compassion for the earth and its creatures. By tweaking your choices, a bit here a bit there, especially on Shabbos, you lend support to your own (biological) temple, you align with treasured values, you save an occasional chicken, cow, or sheep whose Creator will surely acknowledge your deed one way or another. Tap me on the shoulder if I can be helpful in this.
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11. A New Feature at the JVNA Web Site
Noam has added a new feature to the web site. At the bottom of the homepage, you can now do searches for documents on the website.
We are still looking for volunteers to translate some of the material on the web site into Hebrew.
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12. Action Alert: Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
This alert is on the JVNA web site at http://jewishveg.com/alerts/MAfoiegras.html
Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
A bill is to be introduced in Massachusetts to ban the notoriously cruel "delicacy" foie gras. If you live in Massachusetts, please contact your state (not federal) legislators and ask them to cosponsor legislation to prohibit the force feeding of birds for foie gras. To find out who your legislators are and how to contact them, check Congress.org or ask us at mail@jewishveg.com.
Foie gras is created by sticking a steel pipe down the throats of geese and ducks three times a day and using pressurized air to force large quantities of food into their stomachs. This force feeding causes the birds' livers to grow to ten times their normal size, producing "fatty liver," or "foie gras" in French. The birds suffer enormously, and many die. Foie gras production has been banned in many countries, most recently in Israel, the world's third largest producer of foie gras [The ban has not yet gone into effect]. In 2004, California passed a law banning foie gras as of 2012.
The Massachusetts bill is already cosponsored by Senator Fargo, Senator Tisei, Representative Pope, Representative Jim Leary, Representative Paulsen, and Representative Tom O'Brien, who could use the encouragement of a thank you letter:
Your help is critical to getting this bill passed. Thanks for making a difference!
For more action alerts, visit JewishVeg.com/do.html
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Quotations To Think About:
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.” Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Until we extend the circle of our compassion to all living things, we will
not ourselves find peace.
- Albert Schweitzer
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Responding to the Great Loss of Life and Suffering in Asia
2. What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN Have in Common?
3. Interested in Getting on a TV Reality Show?
4. Getting Healthier Foods Into Hospitals
5. Helping Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
6. Example of Our Influence/From an Author
7. All VEGAN Grocery Store goes ONLINE!
8. Global Climate Changes, Other Environmental Threats, and the Bush Administration
9. Do Torah Teachings Justify Animal Exploitation?
10. Vegetarian Thoughts From a JVNA Newsletter Reader
11. A New Feature at the JVNA Web Site
12. ACTION ALERT: Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
* Some Quotations To Think About
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Responding to the Great Loss of Life and Suffering in Asia
Message from Yosef Hakohen, JVNA advisor and coordinator of “ Hazon - Our Universal Vision.” It is followed by a message from the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) on the tragedy and how one can contribute to help alleviate it.
Given the news of the great loss of life and suffering in Asia, we share with you the following teaching of Rebbeinu Yonah, a noted 13th century Torah sage, where he discusses our universal yearning for "shalom" - peace, harmony, and wholeness:
"A human being should pray for the shalom of the entire world and feel the suffering of others. And this is the way of the tzadikim - righteous ones...For a human being should not make supplications and requests just for his own needs; rather, one should pray that all human beings should thrive in shalom." (These words are from his commentary to Pirkei Avos 3:2, which teaches that we should pray for the true shalom of all governments, so that anarchy, violence, and chaos not prevail)
In this spirit, we pray for the arrival of the messianic era when the roaring of the sea will be a sign of life and not death; moreover, in this new era of spiritual enlightenment, the sovereigns of the nations will finally accept the sovereignty of Hashem - the Compassionate One - Who created all life, and all creation will therefore rejoice, as it is written:
"Tell it among the nations: When Hashem reigns, the world will not falter; He will judge the peoples with fairness. The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice; the sea and its fullness will roar. The field and everything in it will exult; then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy - before Hashem, for He will have arrived, He will have arrived to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and peoples with His truth." (Psalm 96:10-13).
Hazon - Our Universal Vision: www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
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AJWS reports:
American Jewish World Service is sending humanitarian aid to the people affected by the tsunami.
For several years, AJWS has partnered with 24 non-governmental,
community-based organizations in the region on sustainable community development projects.
[Arthur Waskow, author and director of the Shalom center adds : Because it is the only Jewish organization deliberately set up to assist non-Jewish communities to develop themselves, it is the only one with these kinds of grass-roots connections and experience in South Asia.]
AJWS is working with these local groups to assess needs and provide emergency relief - food, water, shelter and medicine -- and long-term development support.
Donations for this relief effort are being sought and can be made by mail, phone or Web site: American Jewish World Service, Asia Tsunami Relief, 45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018, 800-889-7146 or make a secure, online donation now.
http://www.ajws.org/index.cfm?section_id=15
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2. What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN Have in Common?
[This is included because, like other articles in recent JVNA newsletters, it illustrates broad issues that are often not adequately considered by society and its leaders. Some of the issues discussed in the article, like poverty, disease and climate change, have strong connections to animal-based diets and modern intensive “livestock” agriculture.]
What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN have in common?
by Katrina vanden Heuvel
http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7&pid=2084
12/21/2004 @ 5:33pm
They share a prescient view of the world's greatest dangers and their unheralded agreement on key issues facing the planet has received far too little attention in the media.
Since 2000, all three institutions have produced a number of valuable reports arguing that so-called soft issues like poverty, disease and climate change are endangering global stability and the future of the United States.
This rising consensus should compel US policy-makers to concede a most basic point--we need a global development agenda. It isn't a soft-headed, idealistic thing either. Unless we confront issues like poverty and gender inequality, the world will become more destabilized,
increasingly violent and less secure.
In December 2000, the CIA's Global Trends 2015 report warned of instability brought on by a shortage of drinking water--"the single most contested resource on the planet," as Time.com described the CIA's findings. The report also warned that nation-states would soon disintegrate, "non-state actors" like Osama bin Laden would emerge as greater threats, that populations would increase by one billion people by 2015, and that HIV/AIDS would represent a major security issue in sub- Saharan Africa, Asia and the former Soviet Republics.
(Another CIA report issued that same year, "Global Infectious Disease Threat," estimated that by 2020 over half of all deaths from infectious disease in the developing world will be caused by AIDS, imperiling government stability, food production, health services, and even nuclear/weapons security in places.)
Some cities in the Arab world would become "impossibly overpopulated hubs of discontent, dramatically under- serviced by such basic infrastructure as drinking water and sewage," as Time.com described the CIA's Global Trends 2015 report's conclusions. "Their population is likely to be young, hungry, sick, disillusioned and very, very angry."
The CIA's report argued that we should increase foreign aid and investment, along the lines of the Marshall Plan, to close a growing divide between rich and poor, which would, in turn, reduce threats to the United States.
The CIA's findings, which remarkably dovetail with the United Nation's Millenium Development Goals, ought to be heard as a rousing call to fund the UN's development agenda--the only truly global Marshall Plan of our time. The UN's Millenium agenda--adopted in 2000--includes reducing by half those suffering from hunger; reducing child mortality for children under five by two-thirds; cutting in half the number of those without access to safe drinking water and establishing universal primary education and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015.
The statistics don't lie: UNICEF reports that one billion children are living in poverty (or every second child); more than 121 million primary school age children are out of school--the majority of them are girls; and that 10.6 million children died in 2003 before they were five of largely preventable deaths.
The global community knows how to deal with these catastrophes. By spending $150 billion dollars worldwide each year, the UN could actually meet its Millennium Goals over the next decade. (UNICEF puts the figure somewhere between $40 and $70 billion--either way, it's a paltry sum in contrast to the $956 billion spent annually worldwide on military items.)
Indeed, while the CIA and the UN may diverge on rationale and policy implications, the underlying issues in the decade ahead give credibility to the much-derided "soft" side of the global agenda. Supported by Gordon Brown, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UN Global Millennium Agenda offers an agenda that do-gooders as well as economists, national security strategists and CIA agents can (and should) love.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Pentagon tasked two futurologists with assessing long-term threats to the United States--their report , "Imagining the Unthinkable," focused on "worst-case" scenarios and actually cited climate change as a major long-term threat to US national security.
The report's co-author, Peter Schwartz, told NPR's Living on Earth that the "most extreme case would be a scenario of fairly rapid warming in the near future—the next, say, decade or so--that would in turn trigger rapid cooling. "Ultimately, we'd see 'warming' [in] Europe, parts of the northeastern United States and Canada. You'd see severe storms--more torrential rainfall--very short winters, a shift in the location of tornadoes--and 'mega-droughts.'" Conflicts over water and fishing rights would emerge, and refugees would flock to the US in greater numbers.
An even more recent report issued last fall—and authored by the Defense Science Board Task Force, an organization that advises the Secretary of Defense-- raised crucial issues. The report, virtually ignored by the mainstream media, found that: "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather they hate our policies" and "American direct intervention in the Muslim world has paradoxically elevated the stature of and support for radical Islamists..." The study also concluded that US public diplomacy faces "a fundamental problem of credibility" and that US support for authoritarian regimes in the region has undermined the so-called war on terror by turning ordinary Muslims against the West.
Back in Dec. 2000, John Gannon--Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and one of the authors of the CIA Global Trends 2015 report--urged America to deal with countries that "feel they're being left behind"—thereby confronting the downside of globalization. Yet, four years have passed, and America's political leadership is doing quite the opposite: neglecting the global South and attacking the UN as outdated and useless.
While our mangled Iraq war policy is sowing hatred for America in the Middle East, American policy-makers have failed to heed the rising global consensus that poverty, climate change and the global HIV/AIDS pandemic demand intelligent and collective response and funding.
How many more reports (and threats) must appear before attacking the world's most glaring problems becomes priority number one?
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3. Interested in Getting on a TV Reality Show?
Forwarded message:
ANIMAL RIGHTS--TELEVISION SHOW
Looking for animal rights families/families who are anti-fur
My name is Melissa Mills. I work in casting at "Trading Spouses," a family-themed reality show that airs on Fox, Monday nights at 8PM. The purpose of our show is to compare and contrast various families across the country while highlighting their unique interests and cultures! For example, we've had everyone from hunters to vegans, alligator wranglers to family bands, tattoo artists to political activists appear on our show.
Currently, we are casting for new episodes and would like to meet families who are in favor of animal rights. We love interesting families who could show the world a little bit about what makes them so special! This is a terrific opportunity for any family who is energetic and who
wants to Learn about another way of life. In addition, every family who has appeared on the show has been compensated $50,000! This could be a chance for an animal rights family who wants their voice heard to have an audience of millions of people.
All families who want to be on our show must have the following: at least one child between the ages of 6 & 18, a crime-free background, US citizenship, and an ability to speak English. Also, the spouses must be legally married. Please have a look on our web site: www.fox.com for more details.
If you know of anyone who might fit this description, please contact
me as soon as possible.
Melissa Mills
Casting Assistant/Trading Spouses
Rocket Science Laboratories
323-802-0619
mmills@rocketsciencelabs.com
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4. Getting Healthier Foods Into Hospitals
www.washingtonpost.com
Head of Cleveland Clinic Is Attacking Big Mac
And in Hospital Lobby, McDonald's Fights Back
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 15, 2004; Page A01
CLEVELAND -- The Pizza Hut is shuttered, its neon sign collecting dust on the floor. But knocking down the Golden Arches has proved far more difficult for Toby Cosgrove, the new head of the Cleveland Clinic.
A heart surgeon who has cleaned out a career's worth of clogged arteries, Cosgrove didn't think Big Macs, supersize fries and inch-thick, six-cheese pizzas belonged in the lobby of a hospital renowned for its cardiac care. So he decreed the fast-food joints had to go.
Pizza Hut went quietly. But McDonald's, halfway through a 20-year lease, has refused to shut down a franchise that serves 12,000 doctors, nurses, janitors, secretaries, patients and visitors each week.
"Our menu is something we're all proud of," said Marty Ranft, a McDonald's vice president. "We've got a great relationship with the Cleveland Clinic. We are not interested in closing" the restaurant.
In the struggle against obesity, Americans are losing. And among the favorite targets for blame are fast-food chains such as McDonald's. Studies show that consuming large portions of high-fat, salty, sugar-laden foods has helped create a nation in which 64 percent of people are overweight or obese. They often land here at the Cleveland Clinic seeking treatment for diabetes, strokes, heart failure and crippling joint pain.
"We have to set an example with the food we serve our patients and employees," said Cosgrove, a trim 63-year-old. "In a way, McDonald's was symbolic as much as anything else. It is not associated with heart-healthy food; neither is Pizza Hut."
But Cosgrove's crusade has been met with resistance from not just McDonald's executives, who say they are being singled out for a problem that goes beyond the occasional Happy Meal, but also from staff and visitors who resent what they consider to be a paternalistic attitude from bosses who can afford pricier, more healthful food.
"What they have in the cafeteria is not a lot better, and it's certainly not affordable," said Donna Wilkison, a post-operative nurse waiting in line for her McDonald's salad with chicken. The cafeteria salad bar, priced at $4.64 a pound, "gets very expensive. They need to bring in something else that's more affordable."
On its sprawling urban campus, the clinic has a Subway sandwich shop, Au Bon Pain and Starbucks. Adjacent to the McDonald's is a cafeteria that features a large salad bar, a grill, a deli and hot entrees. The choices range include fresh fruit and homemade mashed potatoes. At Subway, salads begin at $3.99 and subs are about $5. McDonald's salads cost $4.10.
Nutritionists such as Montefiore Medical Center's Miriam Pappo said the Cleveland Clinic battle is akin to fights being waged in America's schools -- and a handful of other hospitals -- over candy, soda and fast-food sales.
She said it was "appropriate" for clinic officials to act as role models, yet Pappo sympathized with McDonald's' argument that no one forces people to eat there. "In a way, they are a scapegoat," Pappo said. "But in other ways, they are contributing for sure."
Of its 13,000 U.S. locations, about 30 McDonald's outlets are in hospitals, including children's hospitals in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The New York City Health and Hospital Corp. does not intend to renew the McDonald's contract at its Elmhurst hospital and has not decided whether to keep the one in the Jacoby Medical Center in the Bronx, spokeswoman Kathleen McGrath said. The Harlem hospital closed its McDonald's earlier this year.
The Cleveland debate began two years ago when one of the clinic's most talented, most outspoken heart surgeons rose at a staff retreat to question how in good conscience they could tempt their patients with such unhealthful products.
"I can't tell you how many patients found this repulsive," said cardiology chairman Eric Topol. "How can the Cleveland Clinic, which prides itself on promoting health, have the audacity to have a McDonald's in the main lobby?"
Some days, the scent of cooking grease wafts up the one flight to Topol's domain, a heart center that has been ranked first in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 10 straight years. He has heard all the wisecracks and not-so-amused comments about serving up a side of fries with that angioplasty.
"If this was a strip mall or a food court in a public place, that would be a different matter," he said in an interview. "We're supposed to be the icons for promoting good health."
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy as the left-leaning Center for Science in the Public Interest, said McDonald's few salads, fish sandwiches and fruit drinks do not make up for its overwhelming emphasis on fried foods.
"They announced with a lot of fanfare they were going to change the frying oil, and they never followed through," Wootan said. "There's twice as much heart-damaging fat in the french fries and nuggets and apple pies in the lard they use."
McDonald's executives accuse Topol, Cosgrove and Wootan of opportunism and demagoguery, targeting an easy villain rather than the individuals doing the eating.
"If Dr. Cosgrove wants to say McDonald's is inconsistent" with the health goals of the hospital, "he needs to take a look at the vending machines with candy bars and salty snacks, the cafeteria with deep-fried chicken, baked pies and slabs of ribs," said William Whitman, director of U.S. media relations for McDonald's.
McDonald's nutritionists point to numerous high-calorie, high-fat foods in the clinic cafeteria. But their comparison of "typical meals" tallies a cafeteria breakfast of orange juice, three scrambled eggs, two pork sausage patties, two hash browns and two slices of toast against the steak, single egg and cheese on a bagel with hash browns from McDonald's.
As the burger battle has escalated, McDonald's public relations gurus have rolled out legal, political and economic arguments. They defend their food as healthful. But they also have suggested that Cosgrove is racist for targeting Turan Strange, the African American small businessman who owns the franchise, raised the specter of unemployment for its 40 low-wage workers and said that closing down will hurt Ohio beef producers.
Phillip Wilkins, a representative of the National Black McDonald's Operators Association, warned Cosgrove: "We vigorously support one another and will not hesitate to do so with every resource available to us."
In the meantime, business is brisk at the Cleveland Clinic McDonald's, one of four owned by Strange.
"I try to eat healthy, but for lunch I want something that's cheap," said Tanya Sutton, who works 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in patient food service. "At 11 a.m. they're still serving breakfast in the cafeteria, but that's my lunch break." She eats at the McDonald's a few times a week.
Nudged by his wife, engineering supervisor John Moorer walks through the cafeteria salad bar, loading his plate with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, cucumbers, cheese cubes and diced ham, which he knows is not good for his high blood pressure. But he has also opted for McDonald's or Pizza Hut: "I can't eat salad all the time. It's rabbit food."
Near retirement age, Moorer doesn't want his boss telling him what to eat. "If it's killing me, then that's my choice," he said.
McDonald's officials said they want to work with the clinic to develop more healthful menu options. But Cosgrove did not sound interested. He suggested a financial settlement is in the offing.
His next target: tobacco. He wants the Cleveland Clinic smoke-free by Independence Day.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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5. Helping Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
Whole Foods Market Establishes Foundation to Help Achieve More Compassionate Treatment of Farm Animals
As Company Celebrates 25th Year, It Will Donate Five Percent of Total Global Sales Tuesday, January 25 to Launch Animal Compassion Foundation
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Whole Foods Market(R) (Nasdaq: WFMI), the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket founded in 1980, invites shoppers to visit its 166 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 25 as five percent of total company sales will be allocated to create the Animal Compassion Foundation. As an independent, non-profit organization with its own board of directors, the Foundation will provide education and research services to assist and inspire ranchers and meat producers around the world to achieve a higher standard of animal welfare excellence while still maintaining economic viability.
full story:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgibin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-14-2004/0002631388&EDATE
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6. Example of Our Influence/From an Author
Forwarded message:
Dear Richard,
Thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending Pamela's brochure to me. She has agreed to allow me to use up to ten of her 101 reasons for being a vegetarian.
You have made an amazing contribution in your work that is deserving of discovery by all who can benefit by it (which I think is everybody). I love your work. It goes deeper than so many of the writings on this subject, and is very enlightening. Taken in context with many Christian writings on the subject, it adds breadth and depth that is extremely beneficial. Given that there are over 200 million Christians in the United States, in addition to those of the Jewish faith, there are many who should find an interest in your work.
What do you feel is the best and most appropriate way to give proper credit to you and to Pamela for the portions of your work that is included in the book. I would like to lead others to your work so that they may benefit by it, as have I. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Also, because of time constraints, I am limiting the chapter in my book, regarding the spiritual writings on diet to a narrower focus for now.
Rather than discussing each of the major world religions, I am focusing on Judaism and Christianity (parent and child), and will only lightly touch on the teachings of other world religions concerning vegetarianism and diet.
I hope to expand this work in future editions. However, it may be deserving of an entire book by itself. I've have completed over half the work I've wanted to accomplish on this topic, but it will require significantly more time than I can devote presently to complete it. Thus far I've researched and written on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Bahaii, and Islam, but have covered too broad of area in too little time and am not comfortable with presenting the information now.
It deserves far more attention. It has been beneficial to me personally, and I would like to find a way to share this benefit with others.
For my immediate purposes, the article you have written entitled, "A Vegetarian View of the Torah," is ideal for introducing Jewish thoughts on vegetarian and animal-based diets, and I would like your permission to use it in its entirety, without edits. It is the perfect beginning to this chapter, after my initial introduction.
With that permission, I would like to send this chapter to you for your review, to make sure you are completely comfortable with the context in which it will be represented.
Sincerely,
Jim Simmons
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7. All VEGAN Grocery Store goes ONLINE!
Forwarded message:
My favorite store, Food Fight! Vegan Grocery, which (unfortunately) is on the other coast in Portland, OR, just launched an online store so that NY/NJ can get a chance to shop its shelves.
http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/
Shipping is quick. The customer service is award-worthy.
Goods include: Cheeses, fake meats, candy, jello, (many types of) jerky, dips, sauces, marshmallows, books, condoms, etc. Typical convenience store fare, but it's all VEGAN. What they also seem to do very well is keep their shelves stocked with items that go beyond the convenience store such as vegan haggis and vegan caviar.
After I visited the store in September I tried to track down some of the items here in Brooklyn, but was unsuccessful. Food Fight! online is a welcome resource for this vegan.
http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/
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8. Global Climate Changes, Other Environmental Threats, and the Bush Administration
Forwarded message:
ENVIRONMENT
Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way
The Bush administration's irresponsible environmental policies have reached disturbing new lows. Just weeks after taking office, President Bush announced the United States would not participate in international efforts to control global warming through the Kyoto protocol. At the time, Bush insisted he was still "committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change." Four years later, the Bush administration is the leading obstacle to progress. At a U.N. conference in Buenos Aires that ended Saturday, Bush's surrogates opposed efforts by other nations to hold a series of discussions about what to do to combat global warming when Kyoto expires in 2012. The Bush administration officials insisted that "it was too early to take even that step" and, if any meetings were held, "there shall be no written or oral report." The U.S. insisted that talks be limited to a single seminar where participants will not be allowed to discuss future cuts in greenhouse gasses. As a result, the future of international efforts to prevent catastrophic global warming is hanging by its "fingernails."
U.S. SUPPORTS SAUDI REQUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL HANDOUTS:
A big topic at the Buenos Aires conference was "adaptation assistance" -- providing resources "to poor, low-lying island countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change." Such aid would benefit tiny Pacific Ocean nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati and Micronesia. But Saudi Arabia, one of the world's richest nations, insisted "aid include compensation to oil-producing countries for any fall in revenues that may result from the reduction in the use of carbon fuels." The United States stood alone in supporting the Saudi request.
BUSINESS COMMUNITY WANTS TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING:
Bush has rejected mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases because he claims they would have a "negative economic impact." But the international business community understands that the consequences of inaction would be far worse for their bottom line. For example, at a meeting organized by major insurance companies, "concerns were expressed about rapidly rising payments resulting from more severe and frequent hurricanes, heat waves and flooding."
Experts at the conference agreed that the "frequency and intensity of such events" is increasing because of global warming. Extreme weather patterns could cost the insurance industry an additional $25 billion annually if global warming is left unchecked.
STATES TAKE THE INITIATIVE:
The Bush administration is dropping the ball on global warming. So a bipartisan coalition of eight states -- four Republican governors, and four Democratic -- is taking matters into its own hands to control global warming. The consortium, called Northeast States for Coordinate Air Use Management, will implement a regional cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gas emissions. The states involved see "environment, health and economic" benefits in taking action. Washington, Oregon and California are considering developing a similar plan. California has a plan (now being challenged by the auto industry) to reduce greenhouse gasses from automobiles by 30 percent over the next ten years.
ITS GETTING HOT IN HERE:
The Bush administration stands "virtually alone in challenging the scientific assumptions underlying the Kyoto Protocol." In other words,
the world is getting hotter because of human activity. It might not seem like it today, but 2004 was the fourth-hottest year on record. The top ten hottest years have all occurred since 1990. The last year brought "four powerful hurricanes in the Caribbean and deadly typhoons lashing Asia." Alden Meyer, policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, "whatever is going on is not natural and is no longer within the realm of variability." Nevertheless, the Bush administration has announced its opposition to the phrase, "climate change," in favor of the ambiguous (and inaccurate) term, "climate variability."
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9. Do Torah Teachings Justify Animal Exploitation?
The article below provides some material for responding to arguments that are often brought up by animal rights advocates who challenge religious practices and by religious people who wish to justify their diets.
DO TORAH TEACHINGS JUSTIFY ANIMAL EXPLOITATION?
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. and Dovid Sears
Many apologists for the exploitation of animals seek justification in scripture, but their presumption is largely due to the misunderstanding of two important Torah verses that, when properly conceived, actually endorse the struggle to improve conditions for animals.
The first misunderstanding is that the Torah teaching that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26) gives us a warrant to treat them in whatever way we may wish. However, Jewish tradition interprets "dominion" as guardianship, or stewardship, not domination: we are called upon to be co-workers with God in improving the world. This biblical mandate does not mean that people have the right to wantonly exploit animals, and it certainly does not permit us to breed animals and then treat them as machines designed solely to meet human needs. In "A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace," Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel and a leading 20th century Jewish thinker, states: "There can be no doubt in the mind of any intelligent person that [the Divine empowerment of humanity to derive benefit from nature] does not mean the domination of a harsh ruler, who afflicts his people and servants merely to satisfy his whim and desire, according to the crookedness of his heart. It is unthinkable that the Divine Law would impose such a decree of servitude, sealed for all eternity, upon the world of God, Who is 'good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works' (Psalms 145:9), and Who declared, 'The world shall be built with kindness' (ibid. 89:33)."
This view is reinforced by the fact that immediately after God gave humankind dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26), He prescribed vegetarian foods as the diet best suited to humans (Genesis 1:29). This mandate is almost immediately followed by God's declaration that all of Creation was "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Perhaps this indicates that Adam and Eve's original vegetarian diet was consistent with the stewardship that God entrusted to them and to all humankind. Another indication of the true message of dominion is the Torah verse that indicates that God put Adam, the first human being, into the garden of Eden to "work it and to guard it." (Genesis 2:15)
The second error of apologists for animal exploitation is the presumption that the biblical teaching that only people are created in the Divine Image means that God places little or no value on animals. While the Torah states that only human beings are created "in the Divine Image" (Genesis 5:1), animals are also God's creatures, possessing sensitivity and the capacity for feeling pain. God is concerned that they are protected and treated with compassion and justice. In fact, the Jewish sages state that to be "created in the Divine Image," means that people have the capacity to emulate the Divine compassion for all creatures. "As God is compassionate," they teach, "so you should be compassionate."
A rabbinic teaching that we should imitate God is Hama bar Hanina's interpretation of the verse, "After the Lord your God you shall walk" (Deuteronomy 13: 5): "How can man walk after God?" the ancient sage queries. "Is He not called a 'consuming fire'? Rather, what is meant is that man ought to emulate the attributes of God. Just as God clothes the naked, so you shall clothe the naked. Just as God visits the sick, so you shall visit the sick. Just as God comforts the bereaved, so you shall comfort the bereaved. Just as He buries the dead, so you shall bury the dead."
In his classic work Ahavat Chesed ("The Love of Kindness"), the revered Chafetz Chayim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin) discusses this teaching at length. He writes that whoever emulates the Divine love and compassion to all creatures "will bear the stamp of God on his person." Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a leading 19th century Jewish thinker, also discusses this concept: "You can know God only through His acts of love and justice; and, in turn, you too are called upon to act with love and justice." Concerning the biblical concept that human beings were created to "serve and safeguard the earth" (Genesis 2:15), Rabbi Hirsch states that this actually limits our rights over other living creatures. He writes: "The earth was not created as a gift to you. You have been given to the earth, to treat it with respectful consideration, as God's earth, and everything on it as God's creation, as your fellow creatures - to be respected, loved, and helped to attain their purpose according to God's will... To this end, your heartstrings vibrate sympathetically with any cry of distress sounding anywhere in Creation, and with any glad sound uttered by a joyful creature."
In summation, as the Lord is our shepherd, we are to be shepherds of voiceless creatures. As God is kind and compassionate to us, we must be considerate of the needs and feelings of animals. To this we may add that by showing compassion to animals through a vegetarian diet, we help fulfill the commandment to imitate God's ways.
Jewish tradition clearly forbids any display of cruelty toward animals. In Hebrew, this is called tza'ar ba'alei chayim, the biblical mandate not to cause "pain to any living creature." In contrast to this, Psalms 104 and 148 bespeak the worthiness of the animals of the field, creatures of the sea, and birds of the air before their Creator. Psalm 104 depicts God as "giving drink to every beast of the field," and "causing grass to spring up for the cattle." Perhaps the Jewish attitude toward animals is best summarized by Proverbs 12:10: "The righteous person regards the life of his or her animal." In his explanation of this verse, the Malbim, a 19th century biblical commentator, explained that the righteous person understands the nature of the animal, and hence provides food at the proper time, and according to the amount needed. He is also careful not to overwork the animal. According to the Malbim, the tzaddik (righteous person) acts according to the laws of justice. Not only does he act according to these laws with human beings, but also with animals.
In conclusion, apologists for animal exploitation who try to justify their stance from biblical text are mistaken. Since Judaism is concerned with the well being of animals and forbids causing them unnecessary pain, it clearly is a foe of animal exploitation.
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Rabbi Dovid Sears is the director of the New York-based Breslov Center for Spirituality and Inner Growth. He is presently completing a comprehensive anthology of original translations and essays entitled The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism. His previous books include Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition, The Path of the Baal Shem Tov: Early Chasidic Teachings and Customs, and The Flame of the Heart: Prayers of a Chasidic Mystic.
Richard H. Schwartz is Professor Emeritus, Mathematics, College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He is author of Judaism and Vegetarianism , Judaism and Global Survival, and Mathematics and Global Survival. He has over 100 articles and book reviews at http://JewishVeg.com.
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10. Vegetarian Thoughts From a JVNA Newsletter Reader
For: Temple Beth Or, The Light newsletter
Date: 12.25.04
By: Jeffrey Tucker, member of NALITH Foundation committee
Jeffrey.Tucker@Century21.com
VEGGIE CORNER
The statement "nothing died to feed my face" has religious overtones. Why? Abstaining from meat often denotes spirituality, Buddha was a vegan, Essene dead sea scrolls recount Jesus' vegetarian teachings and The Jewish Vegetarians of North America vigorously promote diet as a multi-mitzvah.
Indeed so many talmudic issues are crammed into one's daily choice of
sustenance that you would be amazed!
In short, one's fork is wielded either as a benign plowshare or as a deadly weapon. As we spend a consumer dollar in effect we are voting: organically-grown fruit, veggies, grain with concurrent avoidance of water-soil-air-body-pollution (by herbicides, pesticides, dyes, preservatives, etc.) OR animal production for slaughter and over-zealous food-processing for profit (ethically-suspect, energy-intensive, ecologically-unsound and worse).
The JVNA’s chief spokesperson is Richard H. Schwartz, PhD, a tireless Educator and advocate for the USA and Israel. In Beth Or's library, you can read his "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and "Judaism and Global Survival," or go to www.JewishVeg.com, www.brook.com/jveg or many others, easily found. Explore each Jewish holiday’s vegetarian-based lessons, how Rami’s [Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Beth Or’s previous rabbi, and an author and thinker] minyan practices largely correspond, how 'kosher' living is radically-redefined for our modern world.
Personally, I see many 'normal' practices as addictions: involving sugar,
salt, tobacco, meat, dairy, alcohol, medications, coffee, processed grains, carbonation, cosmetics, animal abuse. Some are obvious – you lick the smoking habit, and then the rewards abound. Others are less obvious, but equally powerful. Isn’t the best addiction the discarded one?
Perhaps thousands of meals and snacks lie ahead for you. Each one presents an opportunity to show compassion for the earth and its creatures. By tweaking your choices, a bit here a bit there, especially on Shabbos, you lend support to your own (biological) temple, you align with treasured values, you save an occasional chicken, cow, or sheep whose Creator will surely acknowledge your deed one way or another. Tap me on the shoulder if I can be helpful in this.
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11. A New Feature at the JVNA Web Site
Noam has added a new feature to the web site. At the bottom of the homepage, you can now do searches for documents on the website.
We are still looking for volunteers to translate some of the material on the web site into Hebrew.
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12. Action Alert: Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
This alert is on the JVNA web site at http://jewishveg.com/alerts/MAfoiegras.html
Tell Massachusetts to Ban Foie Gras!
A bill is to be introduced in Massachusetts to ban the notoriously cruel "delicacy" foie gras. If you live in Massachusetts, please contact your state (not federal) legislators and ask them to cosponsor legislation to prohibit the force feeding of birds for foie gras. To find out who your legislators are and how to contact them, check Congress.org or ask us at mail@jewishveg.com.
Foie gras is created by sticking a steel pipe down the throats of geese and ducks three times a day and using pressurized air to force large quantities of food into their stomachs. This force feeding causes the birds' livers to grow to ten times their normal size, producing "fatty liver," or "foie gras" in French. The birds suffer enormously, and many die. Foie gras production has been banned in many countries, most recently in Israel, the world's third largest producer of foie gras [The ban has not yet gone into effect]. In 2004, California passed a law banning foie gras as of 2012.
The Massachusetts bill is already cosponsored by Senator Fargo, Senator Tisei, Representative Pope, Representative Jim Leary, Representative Paulsen, and Representative Tom O'Brien, who could use the encouragement of a thank you letter:
Your help is critical to getting this bill passed. Thanks for making a difference!
For more action alerts, visit JewishVeg.com/do.html
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Quotations To Think About:
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.” Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Until we extend the circle of our compassion to all living things, we will
not ourselves find peace.
- Albert Schweitzer
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
End of Year Analysis - 2004
END OF YEAR ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
Please note: (1) the statement below is written for a primarily committed vegetarian audience, so some of the arguments should be softened when dealing with non-vegetarians; (2) the statement is long, and some repeats previous arguments for completeness, but I hope it fits together to make a compelling case for increased and more effective involvement in promoting vegetarianism. I plan to send a much shorter summary statement in the next regular JVNA newsletter.
-----------------------------
We have a very strong case for vegetarianism based on Jewish teachings, and we have truth, morality and justice on our side, but we have made very little progress in getting a consideration of vegetarianism and related issues onto the Jewish agenda. I hope that the thoughts below will help us consider how we can greatly increase the effectiveness of our efforts to move society toward plant-centered diets. For completeness, some of the material is repetitious of points we have been trying to emphasize for a long time.
This document is a work in progress so, as always, comments and suggestions are very welcome.
This statement has the following items:
1. Madness and Sheer Insanity
2. The Moral Madness of the Biblical Prophets
3. The World Threatened as Perhaps Never Before
4. Vegetarianism as a Societal Imperative
5. Vegetarianism as a Spiritual Imperative
6. Getting Vegetarianism Onto the Jewish Agenda
7. Avoiding Criticism of our Views
8. Final Thoughts and Action Ideas
Appendix: Some Jewish Teachings On Involvement and Protest
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1. Madness and Sheer Insanity
In order to properly consider how to be most effective, we should first consider what we are dealing with. We should call the production and consumption of meat today what it is: madness and sheer insanity. While people can be properly nourished and healthier on vegetarian/vegan diets, consider the many negative effects of the production and consumption of animal products.
* The production of animal products is a major contributor to soil depletion and erosion, extensive pesticide use, air and water pollution, the rapid destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, rapid species extinction, and potential global warming.
*A meat-based diet requires up to 20 times more land and 10 times more water and energy than a vegetarian diet. Non-vegetarian diets also require vast amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, and other resources.
* Over 70% of the grain grown in the United States and almost 40% of the grain grown worldwide is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while 20 million
people die annually due to hunger and its effects. The US is also a major importer of beef and fish, and these imports are generally from countries where people are starving.
* Over 10 billion farm animals are killed for their flesh annually in the United States. Most have suffered a lifetime of extreme confinement in filthy, overcrowded sheds without sunlight, fresh air or normal activity and stimulation.
As a person with many problems and shortcomings in my life, I generally refrain from advising others on how to live their lives. However, because of their many threats to the planet and so many people, and the horrible ways that animals are raised on "factory farms," I think it has to be said that animal-based diets and agriculture today constitute madness and sheer insanity and that it is essential that there be a shift toward plant-based diets. It is scandalous that the Jewish community (and other communities) are not protesting about the many violations of religious mandates, and that environmentalists are generally not speaking out about the devastating environmental consequences of raising 10 billion farmed animals in the US and 50 billion worldwide.
I could give many more examples of the madness and sheer insanity of modern intensive "livestock" agriculture, but I hope the following eloquent brief excerpt from "Beyond Beef" by Jeremy Rifkin will suffice for now:
"The ever-increasing cattle population is wreaking havoc on the earth's ecosystems, destroying habitats on six continents. Cattle raising is a primary factor in the destruction of the world's remaining tropical rain forests. Millions of acres of ancient forests in Central and South America are being felled and cleared to make room for pastureland to graze cattle. Cattle herding is responsible for much of the spreading desertification in the sub-Sahara of Africa and the western range land of the United States and Australia. The overgrazing of semiarid and arid lands has left parched and barren deserts on four continents. Organic runoff from feedlots is now a major source of organic pollution in our nation's ground water. Cattle are also a major cause of global warming... The devastating environmental, economic, and human toll of maintaining a worldwide cattle complex is little discussed in public policy circles... Yet, cattle production and beef consumption now rank among the gravest threats to the future well being of the earth and its human population."
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2. The Moral Madness of the Biblical Prophets
If current animal-based diets and modern intensive livestock agriculture constitute madness and sheer insanity, how does one respond to this madness. As Robert McAfee Brown, former professor and theologian at Union Theological Seminary in NYC, stated in 1979 at Riverside Church, while referring to the "madness and sheer insanity" of the nuclear arms race, we need what Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called "moral madness"-- the madness of the biblical prophets.
While there are no biblical prophets today, Jews are "b’nei nevi’im," decendants of the prophets. So let us consider some of the challenging ideas of the prophets whom we are to take as our models. The statements below about the prophets and related issues are from the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of my great heroes. It is particularly fitting that we consider these teachings now because Rabbi Heschel’s 32nd Yohrtzei (anniversary of his death) started on the evening of December 29th this year, and this Shabbat we begin reading in synagogues the Torah portions about Moses, the greatest of the prophets, and how he helped free the Israelis from slavery in Egypt and led them for 40 years in the wilderness.
Here are some of Rabbi Heschel’s writings about the prophets:
The prophets were some of the most disturbing people who ever lived.
Their task was to convey a divine view.
Their words are onslaughts, scuttling illusions of false security, challenging evasions, calling faith to account, questioning prudence and impartiality.
The prophet was a person who said no to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, syncretism.
The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. His ear is attuned to a cry imperceptible to others.
The prophet is an iconoclast, challenging the apparently holy, revered and awesome.
The prophets knew that man could distort what the Lord demanded of man...
Behind his austerity is love and compassion for mankind.
The prophet disdains those for whom God’s presence is comfort and security; to him it is a challenge, an incessant demand.
The prophets' great contribution to humanity was the discovery of the evil of indifference. One may be decent and sinister, pious and sinful.
The prophet is a person who suffers the harms done to others. Wherever a crime is committed, it is as if the prophet were the victim and the prey. The prophet's angry words cry. The wrath of God is a lamentation. All prophecy is one great exclamation: God is not indifferent to evil! He is always concerned, He is personally affected by what man does to man. He is a God of pathos.
The prophets passionately proclaim that God himself is concerned with "the transitory social problems," with the blights of society, with the affairs of the market place.
What is the essence of being a prophet? A prophet is a person who holds God and men in one thought at one time, at all times. Our tragedy begins with the segregation of God, with the bifurcation of the secular and sacred. We worry more about the purity of dogma than about the integrity of love. We think of God in the past tense and refuse to realize that God is always present and never, never past; that God may be more intimately present in slums than in mansions, with those who are smarting under the abuse of the callous. (From "Religion and Race," in The Insecurity of Freedom , pp. 110-111.)
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"The beginning of prayer is praise. The power of worship is song. To worship is to join the cosmos in praising God. . . . Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision." ("On Prayer," pp. 257-267, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, Susannah Heschel, ed. (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1996).
Inspired by the words of the prophets, Rabbi Heschel wrote: "Our civilization is in need of redemption. The evil, the falsehood, the vulgarity of our way of living cry to high heaven. There is a war to be waged against the vulgar, against the glorification of power, a war that is incessant, universal. There is much purification that needs to be done, ought to be done, and could be
done through bringing to bear the radical wisdom, the sacrificial devotion, the uncompromising loyalty of our forefathers upon the issues of our daily living."
I hope that we will also be inspired by the teachings of the biblical prophets as we respectfully challenge the religious establishments re vegetarianism and related issues.
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3. The World Threatened as Perhaps Never Before
The world is arguably threatened as never before today, in terms of global climate change (with the respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicting a 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years), species disappearing at the fastest rate in history, the destruction of tropical rain forests, widening droughts, and many other environmental threats, all of which have strong connections of animal-based diets. When we try to feed not only the world’s 6.3 billion people, but also 50 billion farmed animals, it requires far more land, water, fuel, and other resources than plant-based diets would, and contributes to many environmental threats and widespread hunger (seventy percent of the grain produced in North America is fed to animals destined for slaughter). Although ignored by many, animal-based diets are also contributing to an epidemic of chronic, degenerative diseases, and attempts to cure these diseases has required huge expenditures which has resulted in major changes in our health care systems.
There is a need for major changes if the world is to avoid increasingly severe threats. In 1992, over 1,670 scientists, including 104 Nobel laureates -- a majority of the living recipients of the Prizes in the sciences -- signed a "World Scientists' Warning To Humanity." Their introduction states: "Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.
The scientists’ analysis discussed threats to the atmosphere, rivers and streams, oceans, soil, living species, and forests. Their warning: "We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated."
I believe that it is essential to help make people aware of the many threats to humanity as we continue to promote a shift toward vegetarian/vegan diets as an essential part of the necessary changes. When we consider all of the negative environmental and climate-change effects, and then add the harmful effects of animal-based diets on human health and global hunger, it is clear that animal-centered diets and the livestock agriculture needed to sustain them pose tremendous threats to global survival. It is not surprising that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) ranks the consumption of meat and poultry as the second most harmful consumer activity (surpassed only by the use of cars and light trucks).
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4. Vegetarianism as a Societal Imperative
Because of the many great threats to humanity, and the major role that animal-based agriculture plays in many of these threats (as discussed in many previous messages), a shift toward a plant-based diet is not only an important individual choice today, “it is a societal imperative, essential for global sustainability and fiscal solvency.
A shift toward vegetarianism is arguably the most effective way to:
The aims of vegetarians and environmental activists are similar: simplify our life styles, have regard for the earth and all forms of life, and apply the knowledge that "the earth is the Lord's." In view of the many negative effects of animal-based agriculture on the earth's environment, resources, and climate, it is becoming increasingly clear that a shift toward vegetarianism is imperative to move our precious but imperiled planet away from its present catastrophic path.
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5. Vegetarianism as a Spiritual Imperative
There are many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products:
* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
While Judaism emphasizes tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, the prohibition against causing needless suffering for animals, animals are raised for food today under cruel conditions, in crowded, confined cells, where they are denied fresh air, exercise, and any natural existence.
* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, global climate change, and other environmental damages.
* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of land, water, fuel, grain, and other resources.
* While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, over 70% of the grain grown in the U.S. is fed to animals destined for slaughter. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-finished beef.
* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by wasting valuable resources, perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that often lead to instability and war.
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6. Getting Vegetarianism Onto the Jewish Agenda
Based on the contradictions between the realities of the production and consumption of animals and basic Jewish values discussed above, we should very respectfully raise the following question In discussions: In view of Judaism's strong teachings with regard to preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving resources, and helping the hungry, and the very negative effects that the production and consumption of meat has in each of these areas, shouldn't Jews eliminate or sharply reduce their consumption of animal products?
Some other questions and arguments that we should use to respectfully challenge the establishment are:
* Since Jews can only mistreat or kill animals to meet an essential human need, and it is not necessary to consume animal products in order to maintain good health (the contrary is the case), how can we justify the slaughtering of animals for food?
* Could G-d possibly prefer us to have an animal-based diet when the production and consumption of animal products harm our health, mistreat animals, threaten ecosystems, waste resources, and make war and violence more likely? In fact, doesn't the Torah only allow the consumption of meat under numerous restrictions, as a concession to human desire?
* Why is it that while some Jews are building fences around some ritual mitzvot, other mitzvot such as tikkun olam (repair the world), bal tashchit (do not waste resources), bakesh shalom v'rodef shalom (seek peace and pursue it), and tsa'ar ba'alei chayim (do not cause "pain to living creatures") are often ignored?
* Can we justify the force-feeding of ducks and geese to create pate de foie gras? Can we justify taking day-old calves from their mothers so that they can be raised for veal in very cramped conditions? Can we justify the killing of over 250 million male chicks immediately after birth at egg-laying hatcheries because they cannot produce eggs and have not been genetically programmed to be able to have much flesh? Can we justify artificially impregnating cows every year so that they will be able to continue to produce milk? Can we justify the many other horrors of factory farming?
As b'nei nevi'im, with a mandate to be "a light onto the nations" and G-d's witnesses, can we remain silent when so many basic Jewish values are being violated and while present policies are leading the world to an unsustainable future?
Since we are to be "rachmanim b'nei rachmanim" (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors), we worship a G-d who is "Harachamon" (the compassionate One) and "Av Harachamim' (the Father of mercies), and "the soul of all living beings shall praise G-d's name", can we continue to partake so heavily in a diet that involves so much cruelty to animals?
I have been thinking about how we can express the case for Jewish vegetarianism in the simplest way. Here is my "first draft", and I would welcome input very much.
a. Judaism teaches that we may not harm animals unless an essential human need will be met that cannot easily be met in any other way.
b. It is NOT NECESSARY to eat meat (or to consume any animal product. We can sustain our lives completely on plant foods. As a matter of fact, animal-centered diets have very negative effects on human health, on the environment, on hungry people, and on animals, and are very wasteful of resources.
c. Possible conclusion: Consuming animal products seems to be contrary to halacha (Jewish law).
Perhaps, we should adapt the song, "It ain't necessarily so", and make our message to the Jewish community, "It ain't necessary, and SO?" The SO is meant to question the Jewish community as to why animal-centered diets are continuing, when they appear to violate basic Jewish mandates.
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7. Avoiding Criticism of our Views
We have an extremely powerful case for vegetarianism based on Jewish teachings and the realities of the widespread production and consumption of animal products, and we should take every opportunity to engage as many people as possible in dialogues about it, while striving to avoid arguments and comparisons that will turn people off and/or give them a chance to shift the focus of the discussion.
Here are some considerations:
* We should always be respectful.
* We should stress that we are trying to start respectful dialogues, not to assert that we have the complete truth.
* We should also stress that we are not arguing that Jews are forbidden from eating meat, but, rather that Jews have a choice in their diets, but we believe that this choice should be based on a consideration of the realities of producing and consuming animal products and how they impinge on Jewish values.
* We should acknowledge that Judaism teaches that people have been given dominion over animals, but that our sages interpret this as "responsible stewardship," so our "dominion" obligates us to treat the earth and the animals on it with reverence and care.
* We should also acknowledge that Judaism teaches that only human beings are created in G-d’s image, but this too is positive for our causes, because it mandates that we imitate G-d’s positive attributes of compassion, justice, and concern for the earth and its inhabitants.
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8. Final Thoughts and Action Ideas
It is urgent that vegetarianism be put squarely on the Jewish agenda, and on other agendas, because the revitalization of Judaism and the sustainability of the global environment depend on a shift to plant-based diets.
In trying to get the issue of vegetarianism onto the Jewish agenda (and other agendas), we are willing, ready, and able to discuss or respectfully debate "Should Jews (and everyone else) Be Vegetarians?" We are also calling for the formation of a commission of rabbis, other Jewish scholars, health experts, nutritionists, environmentalists, and other objective experts to investigate the realities of the production and consumption of animal products and how they impinge on basic Jewish values.
We should also point out that additional information may be obtained at JewishVeg.com, from my book Judaism and Vegetarianism, and from books by Roberta Kalechofsky, including Vegetarian Judaism.
ACTION IDEAS As indicated above, vegetarianism is increasingly a societal imperative because of the many negative environmental and economic effects of the mass production and widespread consumption of animal products. Hence, since it is essential that people shift toward vegetarianism, here are some suggestions to promote plant-based diets:
1) Become well informed. Learn the facts about vegetarianism from the JVNA web site (JewishVeg.com), including my over 100 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz and other Internet and printed sources. Learn how to effectively answer questions about vegetarianism, and use such questions as an opportunity to inform others.
2) Help educate others about vegetarianism. Wear a button. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Make up and display posters. Write timely letters to the editors of your local newspapers. Set up programs and discussions. There are a wide variety of interesting vegetarian slogans on buttons, bumper sticker s, and T-shirts and sweat shirts. For example:
3) Use the material in this message and other vegetarian sources in discussions with doctors. Help increase their knowledge of the many health benefits of a vegetarian diet
4) Ask the rabbi of your synagogue if Jews should eliminate or at least sharply reduce their consumption of meat today because of important Jewish principles such as bal tashchit, tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, and pikuach nefesh that are being violated. Ask if these concepts can be included in sermons and classes.
5) Request that meat or fish not be served at synagogue and Jewish organizational functions and celebrations. Ask school principals and school directors to provide students with nutritious vegetarian options.
6) Ask the rabbi and/or head of a Hebrew school to organize a trip to a slaughterhouse so that people can observe for themselves how animals are slaughtered. A trip to a factory farm to see how cattle, chickens, and other animals are raised would also be very instructive.
7) Arrange synagogue and Jewish organizational sessions where vegetarian dishes are sampled and recipes exchanged.
8) Speak or organize an event with a guest speaker on the advantages of vegetarianism and how vegetarianism relates to Judaism.
9) Get vegetarian books into public and synagogue libraries by donating duplicates, requesting that libraries purchase such books, and, if you can afford it, by buying some and donating them. Ask local librarians to set up special exhibits about vegetarian foods and vegetarian-related issues. I am offering complimentary copies of my book "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and a related tape cassette to anyone who contacts me and indicates how he or she would use it to help increase awareness of Jewish teachings on vegetarianism.
10) Work with others to set up a vegetarian food co-op or restaurant or help support such places if they already exist. Encourage people to patronize such establishments.
11) Register yourself with a community, library, or school speakers' bureau. Take advantage of your increased knowledge and awareness to start speaking out.
12) Contact the food editor of your local newspaper and ask that more vegetarian recipes be included.
13) When applicable, raise awareness by showing how values of the Sabbath and festivals are consistent with vegetarian concepts. For example: Point out that the kiddush recited before lunch on the Sabbath indicates that animals are also to be able to rest on the Sabbath day; on Sukkot, note that the sukkah (temporary dwelling place) is decorated with pictures and replicas of fruits and vegetables (never with animal products); on Yom Kippur, consider the mandate expressed in the prophetic reading of Isaiah to "share your bread with the hungry," which can be carried out best by not having a diet that wastes large amounts of land, grain, water, fuel, and other agricultural resources.
14) Join the International Jewish Vegetarian Society, the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (addresses given later) and local vegetarian groups.
15) Support groups that are working to reduce world hunger, especially, these groups that generally go beyond merely providing charitable aid to the needy, but rather strive, in accordance with Maimonides' concept of the highest form of charity, to make people self-reliant in producing their own food.
16) If people are not willing to become vegetarians, encourage them to at least make a start by giving up red meat and having one or two meatless meals a week (perhaps Mondays and Thursdays, which were traditional Jewish fast days).
17) Do not concentrate only on vegetarianism. It is only part of the pursuit of justice, compassion, and peace. Become aware and try to affect public policy with regard to vegetarian-related issues: preserving health, showing compassion for animals, saving human lives, conserving resources, helping hungry people, and see king and pursuing peace. If you ever feel overwhelmed by the many crises facing the world today and the difficulties of trying to move people toward vegetarian diets, please consider the following: Jewish tradition teaches, "It is not for you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it" We must make a start and do whatever we can to improve the world. Judaism teaches that a person is obligated to protest when there is evil and to proceed from protest to action Each person should imagine that the world is evenly balanced between good and evil and that his or her actions can determine the destiny of the entire world. Even if little is accomplished, trying to make improvements will prevent the hardening of your heart and will affirm that you accept moral responsibility. The ver y act of consciousness raising is important because it may lead to future changes.
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Appendix: Some Jewish Teachings On Involvement and Protest
The following is from the preliminary section of my book, "Judaism and Global Survival."
INVOLVEMENT AND PROTEST
Judaism teaches that people must struggle to create a better society. The Torah frequently admonishes: "And you shall eradicate the evil from your midst" (Deuteronomy 13:6, 17:7, 21:21, 24:7). Injustice can not be passively accepted; it must be actively resisted and, ultimately, eliminated. The Talmudic sages teach that one reason Jerusalem was destroyed was because its citizens failed in their responsibility to constructively criticize one another’s improper behavior. They indicate that "Love which does not contain the element of criticism is not really love."
The essential elements of Jewish practice include devotion to Torah, study, prayer, performing good deeds and other mitzvot (Commandments), and cultivating a life of piety. But, as indicated in the following Midrash (a rabbinic story or teaching based on Biblical events or concepts), in order to be considered pious, a person must protest against injustice. Even God is challenged to apply this standard in judging people:
Rabbi Joachim Prinz, a refugee from pre-World War II Nazi Germany and former president of the American Jewish Congress, spoke to the 250,000 people who took part in the "March on Washington" organized by the Reverend Martin Luther King and others in 1963 on behalf of Civil Rights. He stated that under Hitler's rule, he had learned about the problem of apathy toward fellow human beings: "Bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and most tragic problem is silence."
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leading twentieth century philosopher, believed that apathy toward injustice results in greater wickedness. He writes that "indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself " and that silent acquiescence leads to evil being accepted and becoming the rule.
Jews are required to protest against injustice and to try to agitate for change even when successful implementation appears very difficult. The Talmudic sage Rabbi Zera states, "Even though people will not accept it, you should rebuke them." We can never be sure that our words and actions will be ineffective. Thus the only responsible approach is to try our best. In Rabbi Tarfon’s famous formulation in the Mishna:
There are times when a person must continue to protest in order to avoid being corrupted:
The result of failing to speak out against injustice is well expressed by the following statement by the German theologian Martin Niemoller:
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Please note: (1) the statement below is written for a primarily committed vegetarian audience, so some of the arguments should be softened when dealing with non-vegetarians; (2) the statement is long, and some repeats previous arguments for completeness, but I hope it fits together to make a compelling case for increased and more effective involvement in promoting vegetarianism. I plan to send a much shorter summary statement in the next regular JVNA newsletter.
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We have a very strong case for vegetarianism based on Jewish teachings, and we have truth, morality and justice on our side, but we have made very little progress in getting a consideration of vegetarianism and related issues onto the Jewish agenda. I hope that the thoughts below will help us consider how we can greatly increase the effectiveness of our efforts to move society toward plant-centered diets. For completeness, some of the material is repetitious of points we have been trying to emphasize for a long time.
This document is a work in progress so, as always, comments and suggestions are very welcome.
This statement has the following items:
1. Madness and Sheer Insanity
2. The Moral Madness of the Biblical Prophets
3. The World Threatened as Perhaps Never Before
4. Vegetarianism as a Societal Imperative
5. Vegetarianism as a Spiritual Imperative
6. Getting Vegetarianism Onto the Jewish Agenda
7. Avoiding Criticism of our Views
8. Final Thoughts and Action Ideas
Appendix: Some Jewish Teachings On Involvement and Protest
=========================
1. Madness and Sheer Insanity
In order to properly consider how to be most effective, we should first consider what we are dealing with. We should call the production and consumption of meat today what it is: madness and sheer insanity. While people can be properly nourished and healthier on vegetarian/vegan diets, consider the many negative effects of the production and consumption of animal products.
* The production of animal products is a major contributor to soil depletion and erosion, extensive pesticide use, air and water pollution, the rapid destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, rapid species extinction, and potential global warming.
*A meat-based diet requires up to 20 times more land and 10 times more water and energy than a vegetarian diet. Non-vegetarian diets also require vast amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, and other resources.
* Over 70% of the grain grown in the United States and almost 40% of the grain grown worldwide is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while 20 million
people die annually due to hunger and its effects. The US is also a major importer of beef and fish, and these imports are generally from countries where people are starving.
* Over 10 billion farm animals are killed for their flesh annually in the United States. Most have suffered a lifetime of extreme confinement in filthy, overcrowded sheds without sunlight, fresh air or normal activity and stimulation.
As a person with many problems and shortcomings in my life, I generally refrain from advising others on how to live their lives. However, because of their many threats to the planet and so many people, and the horrible ways that animals are raised on "factory farms," I think it has to be said that animal-based diets and agriculture today constitute madness and sheer insanity and that it is essential that there be a shift toward plant-based diets. It is scandalous that the Jewish community (and other communities) are not protesting about the many violations of religious mandates, and that environmentalists are generally not speaking out about the devastating environmental consequences of raising 10 billion farmed animals in the US and 50 billion worldwide.
I could give many more examples of the madness and sheer insanity of modern intensive "livestock" agriculture, but I hope the following eloquent brief excerpt from "Beyond Beef" by Jeremy Rifkin will suffice for now:
"The ever-increasing cattle population is wreaking havoc on the earth's ecosystems, destroying habitats on six continents. Cattle raising is a primary factor in the destruction of the world's remaining tropical rain forests. Millions of acres of ancient forests in Central and South America are being felled and cleared to make room for pastureland to graze cattle. Cattle herding is responsible for much of the spreading desertification in the sub-Sahara of Africa and the western range land of the United States and Australia. The overgrazing of semiarid and arid lands has left parched and barren deserts on four continents. Organic runoff from feedlots is now a major source of organic pollution in our nation's ground water. Cattle are also a major cause of global warming... The devastating environmental, economic, and human toll of maintaining a worldwide cattle complex is little discussed in public policy circles... Yet, cattle production and beef consumption now rank among the gravest threats to the future well being of the earth and its human population."
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2. The Moral Madness of the Biblical Prophets
If current animal-based diets and modern intensive livestock agriculture constitute madness and sheer insanity, how does one respond to this madness. As Robert McAfee Brown, former professor and theologian at Union Theological Seminary in NYC, stated in 1979 at Riverside Church, while referring to the "madness and sheer insanity" of the nuclear arms race, we need what Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called "moral madness"-- the madness of the biblical prophets.
While there are no biblical prophets today, Jews are "b’nei nevi’im," decendants of the prophets. So let us consider some of the challenging ideas of the prophets whom we are to take as our models. The statements below about the prophets and related issues are from the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of my great heroes. It is particularly fitting that we consider these teachings now because Rabbi Heschel’s 32nd Yohrtzei (anniversary of his death) started on the evening of December 29th this year, and this Shabbat we begin reading in synagogues the Torah portions about Moses, the greatest of the prophets, and how he helped free the Israelis from slavery in Egypt and led them for 40 years in the wilderness.
Here are some of Rabbi Heschel’s writings about the prophets:
The prophets were some of the most disturbing people who ever lived.
Their task was to convey a divine view.
Their words are onslaughts, scuttling illusions of false security, challenging evasions, calling faith to account, questioning prudence and impartiality.
The prophet was a person who said no to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, syncretism.
The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. His ear is attuned to a cry imperceptible to others.
The prophet is an iconoclast, challenging the apparently holy, revered and awesome.
The prophets knew that man could distort what the Lord demanded of man...
Behind his austerity is love and compassion for mankind.
The prophet disdains those for whom God’s presence is comfort and security; to him it is a challenge, an incessant demand.
The prophets' great contribution to humanity was the discovery of the evil of indifference. One may be decent and sinister, pious and sinful.
The prophet is a person who suffers the harms done to others. Wherever a crime is committed, it is as if the prophet were the victim and the prey. The prophet's angry words cry. The wrath of God is a lamentation. All prophecy is one great exclamation: God is not indifferent to evil! He is always concerned, He is personally affected by what man does to man. He is a God of pathos.
The prophets passionately proclaim that God himself is concerned with "the transitory social problems," with the blights of society, with the affairs of the market place.
What is the essence of being a prophet? A prophet is a person who holds God and men in one thought at one time, at all times. Our tragedy begins with the segregation of God, with the bifurcation of the secular and sacred. We worry more about the purity of dogma than about the integrity of love. We think of God in the past tense and refuse to realize that God is always present and never, never past; that God may be more intimately present in slums than in mansions, with those who are smarting under the abuse of the callous. (From "Religion and Race," in The Insecurity of Freedom , pp. 110-111.)
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"The beginning of prayer is praise. The power of worship is song. To worship is to join the cosmos in praising God. . . . Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision." ("On Prayer," pp. 257-267, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, Susannah Heschel, ed. (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1996).
Inspired by the words of the prophets, Rabbi Heschel wrote: "Our civilization is in need of redemption. The evil, the falsehood, the vulgarity of our way of living cry to high heaven. There is a war to be waged against the vulgar, against the glorification of power, a war that is incessant, universal. There is much purification that needs to be done, ought to be done, and could be
done through bringing to bear the radical wisdom, the sacrificial devotion, the uncompromising loyalty of our forefathers upon the issues of our daily living."
I hope that we will also be inspired by the teachings of the biblical prophets as we respectfully challenge the religious establishments re vegetarianism and related issues.
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3. The World Threatened as Perhaps Never Before
The world is arguably threatened as never before today, in terms of global climate change (with the respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicting a 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years), species disappearing at the fastest rate in history, the destruction of tropical rain forests, widening droughts, and many other environmental threats, all of which have strong connections of animal-based diets. When we try to feed not only the world’s 6.3 billion people, but also 50 billion farmed animals, it requires far more land, water, fuel, and other resources than plant-based diets would, and contributes to many environmental threats and widespread hunger (seventy percent of the grain produced in North America is fed to animals destined for slaughter). Although ignored by many, animal-based diets are also contributing to an epidemic of chronic, degenerative diseases, and attempts to cure these diseases has required huge expenditures which has resulted in major changes in our health care systems.
There is a need for major changes if the world is to avoid increasingly severe threats. In 1992, over 1,670 scientists, including 104 Nobel laureates -- a majority of the living recipients of the Prizes in the sciences -- signed a "World Scientists' Warning To Humanity." Their introduction states: "Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.
The scientists’ analysis discussed threats to the atmosphere, rivers and streams, oceans, soil, living species, and forests. Their warning: "We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated."
I believe that it is essential to help make people aware of the many threats to humanity as we continue to promote a shift toward vegetarian/vegan diets as an essential part of the necessary changes. When we consider all of the negative environmental and climate-change effects, and then add the harmful effects of animal-based diets on human health and global hunger, it is clear that animal-centered diets and the livestock agriculture needed to sustain them pose tremendous threats to global survival. It is not surprising that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) ranks the consumption of meat and poultry as the second most harmful consumer activity (surpassed only by the use of cars and light trucks).
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4. Vegetarianism as a Societal Imperative
Because of the many great threats to humanity, and the major role that animal-based agriculture plays in many of these threats (as discussed in many previous messages), a shift toward a plant-based diet is not only an important individual choice today, “it is a societal imperative, essential for global sustainability and fiscal solvency.
A shift toward vegetarianism is arguably the most effective way to:
1) reduce disease rates sharply;
2) halt soaring medical costs;
3) reduce the mistreatment of animals;
4) protect the environment;
5) conserve resources;
6) help hungry people;
7) reduce violence.
The aims of vegetarians and environmental activists are similar: simplify our life styles, have regard for the earth and all forms of life, and apply the knowledge that "the earth is the Lord's." In view of the many negative effects of animal-based agriculture on the earth's environment, resources, and climate, it is becoming increasingly clear that a shift toward vegetarianism is imperative to move our precious but imperiled planet away from its present catastrophic path.
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5. Vegetarianism as a Spiritual Imperative
There are many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products:
* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
While Judaism emphasizes tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, the prohibition against causing needless suffering for animals, animals are raised for food today under cruel conditions, in crowded, confined cells, where they are denied fresh air, exercise, and any natural existence.
* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, global climate change, and other environmental damages.
* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of land, water, fuel, grain, and other resources.
* While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, over 70% of the grain grown in the U.S. is fed to animals destined for slaughter. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-finished beef.
* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by wasting valuable resources, perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that often lead to instability and war.
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6. Getting Vegetarianism Onto the Jewish Agenda
Based on the contradictions between the realities of the production and consumption of animals and basic Jewish values discussed above, we should very respectfully raise the following question In discussions: In view of Judaism's strong teachings with regard to preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving resources, and helping the hungry, and the very negative effects that the production and consumption of meat has in each of these areas, shouldn't Jews eliminate or sharply reduce their consumption of animal products?
Some other questions and arguments that we should use to respectfully challenge the establishment are:
* Since Jews can only mistreat or kill animals to meet an essential human need, and it is not necessary to consume animal products in order to maintain good health (the contrary is the case), how can we justify the slaughtering of animals for food?
* Could G-d possibly prefer us to have an animal-based diet when the production and consumption of animal products harm our health, mistreat animals, threaten ecosystems, waste resources, and make war and violence more likely? In fact, doesn't the Torah only allow the consumption of meat under numerous restrictions, as a concession to human desire?
* Why is it that while some Jews are building fences around some ritual mitzvot, other mitzvot such as tikkun olam (repair the world), bal tashchit (do not waste resources), bakesh shalom v'rodef shalom (seek peace and pursue it), and tsa'ar ba'alei chayim (do not cause "pain to living creatures") are often ignored?
* Can we justify the force-feeding of ducks and geese to create pate de foie gras? Can we justify taking day-old calves from their mothers so that they can be raised for veal in very cramped conditions? Can we justify the killing of over 250 million male chicks immediately after birth at egg-laying hatcheries because they cannot produce eggs and have not been genetically programmed to be able to have much flesh? Can we justify artificially impregnating cows every year so that they will be able to continue to produce milk? Can we justify the many other horrors of factory farming?
As b'nei nevi'im, with a mandate to be "a light onto the nations" and G-d's witnesses, can we remain silent when so many basic Jewish values are being violated and while present policies are leading the world to an unsustainable future?
Since we are to be "rachmanim b'nei rachmanim" (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors), we worship a G-d who is "Harachamon" (the compassionate One) and "Av Harachamim' (the Father of mercies), and "the soul of all living beings shall praise G-d's name", can we continue to partake so heavily in a diet that involves so much cruelty to animals?
I have been thinking about how we can express the case for Jewish vegetarianism in the simplest way. Here is my "first draft", and I would welcome input very much.
a. Judaism teaches that we may not harm animals unless an essential human need will be met that cannot easily be met in any other way.
b. It is NOT NECESSARY to eat meat (or to consume any animal product. We can sustain our lives completely on plant foods. As a matter of fact, animal-centered diets have very negative effects on human health, on the environment, on hungry people, and on animals, and are very wasteful of resources.
c. Possible conclusion: Consuming animal products seems to be contrary to halacha (Jewish law).
Perhaps, we should adapt the song, "It ain't necessarily so", and make our message to the Jewish community, "It ain't necessary, and SO?" The SO is meant to question the Jewish community as to why animal-centered diets are continuing, when they appear to violate basic Jewish mandates.
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7. Avoiding Criticism of our Views
We have an extremely powerful case for vegetarianism based on Jewish teachings and the realities of the widespread production and consumption of animal products, and we should take every opportunity to engage as many people as possible in dialogues about it, while striving to avoid arguments and comparisons that will turn people off and/or give them a chance to shift the focus of the discussion.
Here are some considerations:
* We should always be respectful.
* We should stress that we are trying to start respectful dialogues, not to assert that we have the complete truth.
* We should also stress that we are not arguing that Jews are forbidden from eating meat, but, rather that Jews have a choice in their diets, but we believe that this choice should be based on a consideration of the realities of producing and consuming animal products and how they impinge on Jewish values.
* We should acknowledge that Judaism teaches that people have been given dominion over animals, but that our sages interpret this as "responsible stewardship," so our "dominion" obligates us to treat the earth and the animals on it with reverence and care.
* We should also acknowledge that Judaism teaches that only human beings are created in G-d’s image, but this too is positive for our causes, because it mandates that we imitate G-d’s positive attributes of compassion, justice, and concern for the earth and its inhabitants.
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8. Final Thoughts and Action Ideas
It is urgent that vegetarianism be put squarely on the Jewish agenda, and on other agendas, because the revitalization of Judaism and the sustainability of the global environment depend on a shift to plant-based diets.
In trying to get the issue of vegetarianism onto the Jewish agenda (and other agendas), we are willing, ready, and able to discuss or respectfully debate "Should Jews (and everyone else) Be Vegetarians?" We are also calling for the formation of a commission of rabbis, other Jewish scholars, health experts, nutritionists, environmentalists, and other objective experts to investigate the realities of the production and consumption of animal products and how they impinge on basic Jewish values.
We should also point out that additional information may be obtained at JewishVeg.com, from my book Judaism and Vegetarianism, and from books by Roberta Kalechofsky, including Vegetarian Judaism.
ACTION IDEAS As indicated above, vegetarianism is increasingly a societal imperative because of the many negative environmental and economic effects of the mass production and widespread consumption of animal products. Hence, since it is essential that people shift toward vegetarianism, here are some suggestions to promote plant-based diets:
1) Become well informed. Learn the facts about vegetarianism from the JVNA web site (JewishVeg.com), including my over 100 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz and other Internet and printed sources. Learn how to effectively answer questions about vegetarianism, and use such questions as an opportunity to inform others.
2) Help educate others about vegetarianism. Wear a button. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Make up and display posters. Write timely letters to the editors of your local newspapers. Set up programs and discussions. There are a wide variety of interesting vegetarian slogans on buttons, bumper sticker s, and T-shirts and sweat shirts. For example:
Love animals. Don't eat them.Use the world vegetarian symbol on correspondence. This will help the vegetarian movement obtain publicity that it badly needs and, because of prohibitive costs, cannot be easily obtained otherwise. Stickers and rubber stamps with the world vegetarian symbol can be obtained from the International Jewish Vegetarian Society.
Vegetarianism is good for life.
Happiness is reverence for life. Be vegetarian.
3) Use the material in this message and other vegetarian sources in discussions with doctors. Help increase their knowledge of the many health benefits of a vegetarian diet
4) Ask the rabbi of your synagogue if Jews should eliminate or at least sharply reduce their consumption of meat today because of important Jewish principles such as bal tashchit, tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, and pikuach nefesh that are being violated. Ask if these concepts can be included in sermons and classes.
5) Request that meat or fish not be served at synagogue and Jewish organizational functions and celebrations. Ask school principals and school directors to provide students with nutritious vegetarian options.
6) Ask the rabbi and/or head of a Hebrew school to organize a trip to a slaughterhouse so that people can observe for themselves how animals are slaughtered. A trip to a factory farm to see how cattle, chickens, and other animals are raised would also be very instructive.
7) Arrange synagogue and Jewish organizational sessions where vegetarian dishes are sampled and recipes exchanged.
8) Speak or organize an event with a guest speaker on the advantages of vegetarianism and how vegetarianism relates to Judaism.
9) Get vegetarian books into public and synagogue libraries by donating duplicates, requesting that libraries purchase such books, and, if you can afford it, by buying some and donating them. Ask local librarians to set up special exhibits about vegetarian foods and vegetarian-related issues. I am offering complimentary copies of my book "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and a related tape cassette to anyone who contacts me and indicates how he or she would use it to help increase awareness of Jewish teachings on vegetarianism.
10) Work with others to set up a vegetarian food co-op or restaurant or help support such places if they already exist. Encourage people to patronize such establishments.
11) Register yourself with a community, library, or school speakers' bureau. Take advantage of your increased knowledge and awareness to start speaking out.
12) Contact the food editor of your local newspaper and ask that more vegetarian recipes be included.
13) When applicable, raise awareness by showing how values of the Sabbath and festivals are consistent with vegetarian concepts. For example: Point out that the kiddush recited before lunch on the Sabbath indicates that animals are also to be able to rest on the Sabbath day; on Sukkot, note that the sukkah (temporary dwelling place) is decorated with pictures and replicas of fruits and vegetables (never with animal products); on Yom Kippur, consider the mandate expressed in the prophetic reading of Isaiah to "share your bread with the hungry," which can be carried out best by not having a diet that wastes large amounts of land, grain, water, fuel, and other agricultural resources.
14) Join the International Jewish Vegetarian Society, the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (addresses given later) and local vegetarian groups.
15) Support groups that are working to reduce world hunger, especially, these groups that generally go beyond merely providing charitable aid to the needy, but rather strive, in accordance with Maimonides' concept of the highest form of charity, to make people self-reliant in producing their own food.
16) If people are not willing to become vegetarians, encourage them to at least make a start by giving up red meat and having one or two meatless meals a week (perhaps Mondays and Thursdays, which were traditional Jewish fast days).
17) Do not concentrate only on vegetarianism. It is only part of the pursuit of justice, compassion, and peace. Become aware and try to affect public policy with regard to vegetarian-related issues: preserving health, showing compassion for animals, saving human lives, conserving resources, helping hungry people, and see king and pursuing peace. If you ever feel overwhelmed by the many crises facing the world today and the difficulties of trying to move people toward vegetarian diets, please consider the following: Jewish tradition teaches, "It is not for you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it" We must make a start and do whatever we can to improve the world. Judaism teaches that a person is obligated to protest when there is evil and to proceed from protest to action Each person should imagine that the world is evenly balanced between good and evil and that his or her actions can determine the destiny of the entire world. Even if little is accomplished, trying to make improvements will prevent the hardening of your heart and will affirm that you accept moral responsibility. The ver y act of consciousness raising is important because it may lead to future changes.
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Appendix: Some Jewish Teachings On Involvement and Protest
The following is from the preliminary section of my book, "Judaism and Global Survival."
INVOLVEMENT AND PROTEST
Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of his own family and doesJudaism urges active involvement in issues facing society. A Jew must not be concerned only about his or her own personal affairs when the community is in trouble:
not do so is punished [liable, held responsible] for the transgressions of his
family. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the people of
his community and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of his
community. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the entire
world and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of the entire world.
(Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 54b)
If a person of learning participates in public affairs and serves as judge or
arbiter, he gives stability to the land. But if he sits in his home and says to
himself, "What have the affairs of society to do with me? ... Why should I
trouble myself with the people's voices of protest? Let my soul dwell in peace!"
-- if he does this, he overthrows the world.
Judaism teaches that people must struggle to create a better society. The Torah frequently admonishes: "And you shall eradicate the evil from your midst" (Deuteronomy 13:6, 17:7, 21:21, 24:7). Injustice can not be passively accepted; it must be actively resisted and, ultimately, eliminated. The Talmudic sages teach that one reason Jerusalem was destroyed was because its citizens failed in their responsibility to constructively criticize one another’s improper behavior. They indicate that "Love which does not contain the element of criticism is not really love."
The essential elements of Jewish practice include devotion to Torah, study, prayer, performing good deeds and other mitzvot (Commandments), and cultivating a life of piety. But, as indicated in the following Midrash (a rabbinic story or teaching based on Biblical events or concepts), in order to be considered pious, a person must protest against injustice. Even God is challenged to apply this standard in judging people:
Hence, it is not sufficient merely to do mitzvot while acquiescing in unjust conditions. The Maharal of Prague, a sixteenth-century sage, states that individual piety pales in the face of the sin of not protesting against an emerging communal evil, and a person will be held accountable for not preventing wickedness when capable of doing so. One of the most important dangers of silence in the face of evil is that it implies acceptance or possibly even support. According to Rabbeinu Yonah, a medieval sage, sinners may think to themselves, "Since others are neither reproving nor contending against us, our deeds are permissible."R. Acha ben R. Chanina said: Never did a favorable decree go forth from the mouth of the Holy One which He withdrew and changed into an unfavorable judgment, except the following: "And the Lord said to His angel: 'Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed there"' (Ezekiel 9:4). (Thus, they will be protected from the angels who are slaying the wicked.)
At that moment, the indignant prosecutor came forward in the Heavenly Court.
Prosecutor: Lord, wherein are these (marked ones) different from those (the rest)?
God: These are wholly righteous men, while those are wholly wicked.
Prosecutor: But Lord, they had the power to protest, but did not.
God: I knew that had they protested, they would not have been heeded.
Prosecutor: But Lord, if it was revealed to You, was it revealed to them? Accordingly, they should have protested and incurred scorn for thy holy Name, and have been ready to suffer blows... as the prophets of Israel suffered.
God revoked his original order, and the righteous were found guilty, because of their failure to protest. (Shabbat 55a, Tanchuma Tazria 9)
Rabbi Joachim Prinz, a refugee from pre-World War II Nazi Germany and former president of the American Jewish Congress, spoke to the 250,000 people who took part in the "March on Washington" organized by the Reverend Martin Luther King and others in 1963 on behalf of Civil Rights. He stated that under Hitler's rule, he had learned about the problem of apathy toward fellow human beings: "Bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and most tragic problem is silence."
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leading twentieth century philosopher, believed that apathy toward injustice results in greater wickedness. He writes that "indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself " and that silent acquiescence leads to evil being accepted and becoming the rule.
Jews are required to protest against injustice and to try to agitate for change even when successful implementation appears very difficult. The Talmudic sage Rabbi Zera states, "Even though people will not accept it, you should rebuke them." We can never be sure that our words and actions will be ineffective. Thus the only responsible approach is to try our best. In Rabbi Tarfon’s famous formulation in the Mishna:
It is not your obligation to complete the task. But neither are you free to desist from it.Just as many drops of water can eventually carve a hole in a rock, many small efforts can eventually have a major impact.
There are times when a person must continue to protest in order to avoid being corrupted:
A man stood at the entrance of Sodom crying out against the injustice and evilIn his article "The Rabbinic Ethics of Protest," Rabbi Reuven Kimelman observes that the means of protest must be consistent with responsibility to the community. He states that protest must involve both love and truth since love implies the willingness to suffer, and truth, the willingness to resist. Together, he concludes, they encompass an approach of nonviolent resistance, toward the ends of justice and peace. The Talmud teaches that controversy and protest must be "for the sake of Heaven". The protest of Korach against the rule of Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 16:1-35) is considered negatively by the Jewish tradition because it was based on jealousy and personal motives.
in that city. Someone passed by and said to him, "For years you have been urging
the people to repent, and yet no one has changed. Why do you continue?" He
responded: "When I first came, I protested because I hoped to change the people
of Sodom. Now I continue to cry out, because if I don't, they will have changed
me."
The result of failing to speak out against injustice is well expressed by the following statement by the German theologian Martin Niemoller:
In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Jews, and I didn't speak upQuoted from Jack Doueck, The Chesed Boomerang: How Acts of Kindness Enrich Our Lives, Deal, New Jersey: Yagdiyl Torah Publicatios, 1999, 83.
because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the gypsies, and I didn't speak up because I was not a gypsy. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me ... and by that time, there was no one to speak up for me.
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December 27, 2004
Special JVNA Newsletter - Postville Slaughterhouse Case #8
12/27/04
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the eighth follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups (please see item #1 below).
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Postville-related Blog
2. My Postville-related article is now on the Internet
3. Article by Agudath Israel Spokesperson/My Comments Interspersed
4. PETA’s Response to the Above Agudath Israel Article
5. Articles by Agriprocessors Lawyer Challenges PETA/My Comments Interspersed
6. More Letters to the Editor in the Jerusalem Post
7. Postville Issue Discussed on National Public Radio
8. Example of Responses To Videotapes of Postville Procedures
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Postville-related Blog
Much valuable material and interesting commentary re the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse controversy can be found at Failedmessiah.com. I do not know the source of the material and I do not endorse all the material at the site, but I have found important documents and significant commentary there. As indicated above, for additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of the OU, PETA, and other involved groups.
I also have posted some messages there.
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2. My Postville-related article is now on the Internet at www.aquarianonline.com (a few headlines down).
WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
This article, which also appeared in previous JVNA newsletters, attempts to use the Postville slaughterhouse situation as a means of showing that animal-based diets and modern intensive “livestock” agriculture violate at least six basic Jewish mandates.
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3. Article by Agudath Israel Spokesperson/My Comments Interspersed
THE PETA PRINCIPLE
Now that the blood has settled, a clearer perspective might be had about the recent brouhaha over shechita, or Jewish ritual slaughter, at a meat-processing plant in Iowa.
Rabbi Avi Shafran
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Shechita_Controversy.asp
[*** My respectful comments are interspersed below. I am aware of the many positive activities that the Agudath Israel (and the OU) carry out for the benefit of klal Yisrael (the Jewish people), but I feel that Rabbi Shafran’s thoughtful article deserves a response. My comments will be in brackets and preceded with ***]
Yes, the beginning of that sentence was meant to jar. Blood and attendant unpleasantness are part and parcel of the process of turning livestock into meat, and most people are content to interact only with the final product.
[*** A point that is generally overlooked is that the blood and unpleasantness produce a product that is not needed for proper nutrition, and, indeed, has very negative effects on human health and that of our imperiled planet.]
Some, though, choose not to do even that. They include people who are repulsed by the thought of eating what was once alive, and others who feel that meat consumption is a wasteful use of natural resources. Yet others shun meat for health or religious reasons.
[*** Yes, as the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) have often pointed out, the production and consumption of meat and other animal products violate at least six basic Jewish mandates. So, it is not surprising that some Jews have decided to be vegetarians.]
And then there are the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, who object to all killing of animals because, as Ingrid Newkirk, the group’s co-founder and president, famously put it, “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy” – because of their belief, in other words, that animals are no different from humans.
[*** The complete statement is that when it comes to feeling pain, “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” Since Rabbi Shafran’s columns often properly point out distortions in media coverage, I think that it is important to give the context for quotations that he gives.]
The Jewish religious tradition forbids causing animals unnecessary pain.
[*** Absolutely, as JVNA often points out. But, why then do Jewish leaders fail to speak out against the many abuses of animals on factory farms? For example, the killing almost immediately after birth of 250 million male chicks in the U.S. alone at egg-laying hatcheries because they can’t lay eggs and they are not of the breed (broilers) that have been genetically programmed to provide much meat; taking calves from their mothers after one day to raise them as veal; the force feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras; raising hens in spaces so small that they can’t raise even one wing, and then debeaking them to prevent them from pecking other hens in their very crowded, unnatural conditions; and much more.]
And there are observant Jews who are vegetarians; our tradition even teaches that the first man and woman – indeed all of humanity until Noah – were divinely forbidden to eat meat. But the Jewish faith expressly permits the killing of animals for human needs, including food. Which animals may be eaten and how to dispatch them are topics dealt with at considerable length in Jewish legal literature.
[*** Today, with our knowledge of scientific nutrition and with nutritional experts indicating that one can be properly nourished and even healthier without animal products in the diet, where is the “human need” met by slaughtering animals for food?]
Indeed, the “PETA Principle,” the moral equating of animals and humans, is an affront to the very essence of Jewish belief, which exalts the human being, alone among G-d’s creations, as, among other things, the possessor of free will, a being capable of choosing to do good or bad. That distinction is introduced in Genesis, where the first man is commanded to “rule over” the animal world.
[*** Yes, but “dominion” is interpreted by our sages as “responsible stewardship or guardianship,” and that humans are uniquely created in G-d’s image should obligate us to imitate G-d’s attributes of mercy and justice, not to unnecessarily slaughter 50 billion animals annually worldwide to produce products that are having such negative effects.]
The notion that humans are mere animals can lead to ethical obscenities, like PETA’s appeal to the director of the federal penitentiary where Timothy McVeigh was awaiting execution, that the mass murderer not be served meat so that he “not be allowed to take even one more life.” Or the group’s lodging of a protest with Yasir Arafat over a terrorist attack because the donkey carrying the explosives detonated in the attack was killed. Or its “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign, comparing the killing of chickens and cows to the murder of Jewish men, women and children. Or solemn declarations like Ms. Newkirk’s that “Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses.”
[*** JVNA disagrees with many of PETA’s positions and actions and we have urged changes. We should strive to end the mistreatment of animals, not because of PETA, but because of basic Jewish teachings. We should not use the beliefs and actions of our critics to excuse us from doing what Jewish values demand.]
[*** Also, PETA, to its credit, has asserted on its web site and in public statements that shechita is a superior method of slaughter when it is properly carried out. They have focussed on the Postville plant and they gave the operators a chance to improve conditions, before secretly videotaping at the Postville slaughterhouse.]
And so when PETA launched a media blitz several weeks ago, sending scores of journalists and others copies of surreptitiously filmed and carefully edited videotapes of animals being slaughtered at the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa – the largest producer of “glatt” – or highest-standard – kosher meat in the nation – the immediate reaction on the part of some Jewish organizations and many of those in the kosher food industry was understandably negative.
The video, to be sure, was disturbing. Although the PETA “mole” who secretly recorded the film likely witnessed thousands of unremarkable slaughters during his months on the job, the edited film showed a number of animals that seemed conscious after the act of shechita. In one case, an animal even righted itself and took several steps before collapsing.
Every method of animal slaughter yields a small percentage of such unfortunate results, when some degree of consciousness persists longer than it should. What PETA claims, though, is that what was depicted on its edited video of operations at the Iowa plant represents fully a quarter of the animals slaughtered over the seven-week period during which the video was made.
There is reason to be skeptical about this claim. A subsequent visit to the plant by Dr. I.M. Levinger, a veterinary surgeon and physiologist, yielded his testimony that, of the as many as 150 animals he saw slaughtered over the course of his two-day visit, only a single cow exhibited any conscious activity after shechita.
[*** This shows that the slaughterhouse operators have the ability to carry out the slaughtering process in a much more effective method than was revealed on the videotapes. An important word in the above paragraph is “subsequent,” a word that sharply reduces the importance of the observations.]
What is more, USDA inspectors are typically present on the killing floor during animal slaughter, to ensure that the process complies with federal standards. The inspectors present at the Postville plant during the period PETA compiled the images in its video presumably saw the entire picture, and never complained about any inordinately high number of post-slaughter displays of consciousness. A high-level USDA official, for that matter, visited the plant after PETA released its video to personally observe the allegedly inhumane practices and take appropriate action; what he saw apparently persuaded him that there was no need to shut down the plant or alter its basic practices.
[*** One would think that inspectors would be around during the slaughtering process, but several sources indicate that this is not generally true. They are generally further down the production line, checking for diseases. Even the OU has indicated that conditions at the plant will be changed. And long time animal welfare experts, including Temple Grandin, and experienced veterinarians and some rabbis have indicated their horror at what the video revealed and expressed their strong belief that conditions be changed.]
Likewise, top officials from the kashrut organizations that certify AgriProcessors’ meat visited the plant to monitor the shechita process and found that signs of post-slaughter consciousness were extremely rare. Indeed, Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Patty Judge, who had initially expressed her deep chagrin after watching PETA’s video – even calling for a federal investigation – concluded, after a personal visit to the plant, that the shechita there “…was humane… and there was absolutely no problem with the way they [the animals] were handled.”
[*** Can planned inspections after the PETA videos were distributed be used to show that the conditions before the appearance of the videos were acceptable?]
Those personal observations confirm what scientific theory would have predicted: that the incidence of displays of post-slaughter consciousness is more rare in cases of shechita than when non-kosher methods of slaughter are employed. That is because, as Dr. S.D. Rosen, MA, MD, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, noted earlier this year in a monograph in the Veterinary Record, studies have shown that after the cutting of the trachea, esophagus and carotid arteries – the shechita process in essence – an animal’s consciousness is lost within approximately two seconds, and irreversibly.
[*** Yes, as the JVNA has argued when opposing efforts to single out shechita for criticism, shechita when properly carried out is a superior method of slaughter. Also, in the study cited, the method of slaughter involved a different type of holding pen]
The evidence would appear to suggest, therefore, that PETA is grossly exaggerating the frequency of post-shechita signs of consciousness at the Iowa plant. Perhaps it should not be surprising that PETA’s 25% figure differs so dramatically from what others have seen. Because, while the group’s concern that animals not be caused unnecessary pain is commendable, PETA also has an ultimate, and openly declared, goal: to stop people from eating meat. And so, if a bit of dissembling is necessary to move in that direction, well… wouldn’t you stretch the truth to save Jews from Nazis?
[*** PETA has not tried to stop people from eating meat; they have tried to convince people that it would be better for them, for our threatened environment, for the conservation of resources, for a more humane, less violent world, and, yes, for animals, if they shifted to well-balanced, nutritious diets free of animal products. Since the production and consumption of animal products violate so many Jewish teachings, the wonder is that it is a secular group, and not Agudath Israel, the OU, and most other Jewish groups that is doing this.]
Precision, though, is not the only thing PETA seems prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve its goal. Our nation’s commitment to religious liberty, in PETA’s eyes, is eminently expendable as well.
[*** Can any proof be produced to show that PETA has ever attacked the concept of shechita, called for the consumption of meat to be outlawed, or, in any other way, tried to curtail religious liberty?]
Even though the Iowa plant has discontinued a bleeding-facilitating arterial cut that PETA deemed a “dismemberment” of live animals, the animal rights group is now demanding, among other things, that U.S. government regulations regarding animal slaughter be changed in fundamental ways and that the type of restraining pen required by some decisors of Jewish law be outlawed.
These are not minor points; they touch, and not gently, upon the issue of
rabbinic authority and religious autonomy. And that game is zero-sum: What constitutes proper animal-slaughter methods for observant American Jews will necessarily be determined in the future either by rabbis or by advocates for animal-rights.
[*** Once again, PETA is not calling for the abolition of shechita. Quite the contrary – in the Postville case they are defending it at a time when some have caused shechita to be associated with horrible mistreatment of animals.]
Shechita was attacked and outlawed by the Nazis when they came to power in. Germany. Today, animal rights activists have succeeded in banning it in several European and Scandinavian countries. If PETA’s misleading campaign is not seen for the partisan salvo it is, our own country may be next.
[*** Once again, PETA has defended shechita and publicly called it a superior method. But, if the horrible scenes revealed on the PETA videotapes become associated with shechita, this has the potential of harming shechita, Judaism, and possibly Jews. As one JVNA member stated, “By continuing to defend what happened in the Postville meat-processing plant in Iowa, you are doing more damage to our image than anything PETA might inadvertently do.”]
© AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.]
Am Echad Resources material may be reproduced without charge, provided Am Echad Resources is duly credited.
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4. PETA’s Reply to Rabbi Shafran’s Article (Above)
[JVNA has been critical of PETA’s statements and activities, most recently for their very ill-considered “Holocaust On Your Plate” exhibition, and we will again if necessary. But, PETA has acted responsibly and sensitively in the Postville controversy, focusing on the Postville facility, and reaffirming their belief that shechita, when properly carried out is a superior method of slaughter. I plan to discuss PETA more in my year end statement due out later this week.]
In his recent article titled "The PETA Principle," Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel, offers his thoughts on PETA's campaign for improved animal welfare standards at AgriProcessors. We appreciate Rabbi Shafran's clear concern for animal welfare, and would like to address the issues he raises.
In the wake of the slaughterhouse scandal, AgriProcessors has not been able to find a single scientist, animal welfare expert, or veterinarian who is willing to defend the shoddy slaughter practices we documented.
PETA, on the other hand, has received an outpouring of support from leaders in the veterinary, animal welfare, and even meat industries, as well as in the Jewish community, who were shocked by the brazenly cruel treatment of animals that has, for years, been the norm at
AgriProcessors.
Dr. Temple Grandin, consultant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Meat Institute, did not mince words after viewing the tapes, stating, "I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen." Dr. Lester Friedlander, a former USDA kosher slaughter inspector, echoed these sentiments, writing, "The footage captured by PETA represents the most egregious violation of the USDA Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) I have ever witnessed."
Our investigator witnessed the slaughter of 278 cattle; one-fourth were clearly and unarguably (according to scientists) still conscious after they were dumped onto the concrete floor, roughly a minute after shechita. Because of a Clinton-era USDA program, no USDA inspectors are assigned to the kill floor, and indeed, there were none there during the five hours that our investigator was there, on six occasions over about seven weeks.
The fact that three weeks later AgriProcessors killed animals properly for Dr. Levinger is encouraging, but this only further validates our position, proving that AgriProcessors could have slaughtered animals humanely all along but choose not to-this is why their actions were illegal.
AgriProcessors recent willingness to invite government inspectors to its plant is like a serial killer calling the police over to his house to watch him not kill people: "See, I'm not killing anyone." Criminals may sometimes act in accordance with the law, but that does not exonerate
them for their crimes.
The humane community is not asking much AgriProcessors; we're asking only that they adopt the widely-accepted regulatory standards for religious slaughter developed by the Food Marketing Institute. These guidelines, which can be read at GoVeg.com or FMI.org, will ensure that AgriProcessors' handling and slaughter practices are in keeping with Judaism's long-standing tradition of kindness to animals.
Striking animals in the face with electric prods, ripping their tracheas and esophagi out while they're fully conscious, slaughtering them in a haphazard way-these things were happening at AgriProcessors, in what can only be seen as a complete denial of Judaism's firm commitment to compassion. All Jews will surely agree that the standards that PETA, along with the Rabbinic Assembly of the Conservative movement and a swelling number of Jews from across the spectrum of Judaism, recommends will ensure that kosher slaughter is consistently quick and humane, as provided for in the Torah.
It is simply true, physiologically, that "where pain is concerned, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." This does not mean moral equivalency; it simply states that God designed us out of the same stuff (flesh, blood, bone) and with the same capacity to feel pain: No scientist will deny this, because it's true. And watching as they struggle to stand and flee while their windpipes hang from their bloody throats, one cannot deny that the animals at AgriProcessors felt immeasurable agony and fear as they fought against death.
Indeed, our respect for the uniquely human ability to make complex moral calculations is central to our mission. As human beings, as stated in the Torah, we have an obligation to make compassionate choices when confronted with the suffering of others. We both agree with and embrace this understanding as central to our mission. As Rabbi Shafran notes, for many, this calculation leads them to vegetarianism. For all, however, it should lead to profound moral outrage at the horrific and consistent cruelty to animals perpetrated by AgriProcessors for so many years.
In closing, please consider that PETA supplied our video and all relevant documentation and factual support to three government agencies.
Any exaggeration on our part would be criminal in nature and would subject us to forfeiture of our nonprofit status and thus would, most likely, lead to our demise. As the world's largest animal rights organization, with more than 800,000 members and supporters and 25-year history, this is not something we would ever do-both because dishonesty is the opposite of what we stand for and because our mission would be irreparably damaged.
After reviewing the video documentation and reading additional expert and rabbinical testimony at GoVeg.com, readers will surely agree with Rabbi Barry Schwartz of the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Task Force on Kashrut, who said, "The suffering of these animals during
slaughter is sickening. Death is neither quick nor merciful. If this is kosher, then we have a big problem."
For information on Judaism and vegetarianism, please visit the Web site run by the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, at www.JewishVeg.com .
Benjamin Goldsmith is a campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Comments by JVNA reader, Maida:
Here was my comment to the Aish Hatorah web site (URL at the top of the article above):
As far as I can tell PETA's primary concern is the most humane conditions for animals, which should also be the primary concern of shechita. Jews have often been their own worst enemies and I think this is the case here. By continuing to defend what happened in the Postville meat-processing plant in Iowa, you are doing more damage to our image than anything PETA might inadvertently do. I am sure that PETA has absolutely no interest in provoking anti-Semitism. They only want to have Jews react to flaws in what is supposed to be a better system.
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5. Articles by Agriprocessors Lawyer Challenges PETA/My Comments Interspersed
Some Questions For PETA
Nathan Lewin
[*** As in the above article by Rabbi Shafran, my respectful comments are interspersed below, preceded by ***.]
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently released a video bearing the incendiary title “PETA Undercover: Terrified Cows Stagger to Their Feet After Workers Rip Out Their Throats.” Visitors to the PETA Web site are told to watch the video and see “AgriProcessors workers ignore the suffering of cows that are still sensible to pain after having their throats slit by the ritual slaughterer. The animals stagger and slip in blood while their tracheas dangle from their necks. Watch now.”
The attack on shechita, kosher ritual slaughter, follows the line almost in precise words that has been taken for centuries by anti-Semites, culminating in Hitler’s laws enacted in April 1933 to protect Germany’s animals against the savagery of the Jewish ritual. (Der Stuermer’s 1938 description of “How Jews Torture Animals” described two German boys watching the animal after shechita “struggle to get up and then collapse” and, after a second cut by the Jew, “the blood spurts, and again the animal struggles to get up.”)
[*** There are certainly major differences here. First, PETA gave AgriProcessors, the slaughterhouse operators, a chance to correct things before they sent a volunteer to videotape conditions at the slaughterhouse. Second, PETA is focussing on the one plant and is seeking improvements that will reduce the suffering of animals. Third, PETA has made it clear through its web site and public statements that it regards shechita as a superior form of slaughter, when it is properly done. JVNA has been critical of some of PETA’s beliefs and actions, and plans to continue to do so, but the use of misleading statements about PETA does not do credit to shechita and other Jewish teachings.]
No matter that mounds of scientific evidence establish that an animal that loses blood to the brain loses any sense of pain. No matter that the shechita cut results in anemia of the brain within 2 seconds. No matter that the U.S. Congress held extensive hearings in 1957 and concluded that the Jewish ritual method of slaughter is at least as humane as any other method that modern science has devised. PETA’s “food specialists” and Ph.Ds know the cow that has its throat slit “suffers” and is “still sensible.”
[Mr. Lewin’s statements in this paragraph ignore the statements of many animal welfare experts, including the world renowned Temple Grandin, experienced veterinarians, and some rabbis.]
PETA made no such claim when it sent two accusatory letters to AgriProcessors last year, in June and November. I replied to PETA’s first letter that had said it would keep “entirely confidential” its allegation that “Jewish law is being violated” if AgriProcessors would agree to hire Dr. Temple Grandin, which PETA on its Web site calls “the country’s leading slaughter expert,” to institute “humane improvements.” (I noted that this sounded like extortion.) I asked PETA to provide “detailed descriptions of specific conduct to support your conclusions.”
Did PETA claim then that terrified cows were staggering to their feet after workers ripped out their throats? No way. Here is the substance of PETA’s list:
[*** These seven points seem to show that PETA was concerned with minimizing the suffering of animals.]
PETA added in the letter that listed its seven demands (none of which involved violations of Jewish law) that it “would prefer it if AgriProcessors stopped killing animals.” But it did not dare repeat the old anti-Semitic canard that cows with their throats slit by the ritual slaughterer were staggering or struggling.
[*** Jewish law is violated if animals suffer unnecessarily, and this is what PETA’s seven steps are aimed at preventing.]
Only after its investigator took “undercover” videos that would rouse emotions in people who have never seen a slaughtering plant in operation did PETA turn from complaining about “unloading ramps” to its publicized allegation that the throat slitting and what followed was brutal and contrary to Jewish law.
[*** It is not just their allegations, but, as indicated above, the considered opinions of experts on animal treatment and slaughter procedures, and a number of rabbis. Many of their statements, and much more re the Postville situation can be found at GoVeg.com.]
Every respected Orthodox authority on Jewish law has concluded that what was shown on the video was not contrary to Jewish law and that the shechita was 100 percent kosher. Some Orthodox rabbis urged that in order to avoid a public misperception of cruelty, one step in the process — a second cut and removal of the trachea — not be done.
[*** Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland feels that Jewish law was violated. And the Orthodox rabbis of the OU have requested changes in the procedures at the Postville slaughterhouse.]
It is legitimate, however, to ask PETA a few questions:
* How do you know that the animal that has its throat cut and loses blood flow to the brain is “still sensible?”
[*** Again, PETA’s view is backed up by many experts on animal welfare and veterinary science.]
Three Cambridge University professors (Wood, Barcroft and Newman) authored a report in 1924 on the “Jewish Method of Slaughtering Animals for Food.” They said of the post-shechita movements shown on the video: “Such movements are quite unconnected with sensation. Nevertheless they may appear so purposeful as to convince the lay observer that sensation continues and that the movements are evidence of pain or consciousness.”
Professor William Bayliss of University College in London said in a 1930 study that convulsions “may come on at a stage long after consciousness has ceased” and they “may include raising of the head.”
[*** These studies are many decades old, and they refer to different slaughtering procedures.]
Do you have comparable “undercover” video of a non-kosher slaughtering plant or of another kosher plant?
[*** They do at their web site. Over many years, PETA has taken on a wide variety of animal abuses.]
What transpires in any slaughtering plant is gruesome to watch. Animals are being put to death in order to be eaten.
[*** Why carry out this gruesome process and kill animals to create a product that is not needed for proper nutrition and, indeed, is harmful to human health and environmental sustainability.]
Before condemning any one plant, one in fairness must see what goes on in others. The process in non-kosher plants is less bloody because throat slitting is not the means of killing the animal, but other steps are probably as painful to watch and possibly more painful to the animal.
[*** Is this going to be our defense – that others are just as bad, or worse, especially when some veteran experts indicate that they have never seen such horrendous conditions?]
* Why are you less concerned about the treatment of live animals than about the final minutes of life of animals that are legitimately put to death for human consumption?
I wrote in my letter to PETA that “long before the rest of the world showed any ‘common decency’ to animals or had the slightest concern for the treatment of animals, the laws of the Torah and rabbinic teachings commanded the Jewish people to treat all living creatures humanely. Secular society — including your organization — has still not caught up with the precepts of Jewish law in this regard.”
[*** JVNA agrees re Judaism’s powerful teachings on compassion to animals. But, in view of these teachings, why is Mr. Lewin and many other Jewish leaders ignoring the many abuses on factory farms to 50 billion farmed animas worldwide every year?]
* Why is PETA not concerned, as the Torah is, about animals being overworked?
[*** They are concerned about all types of mistreatment of animals. Because of modern technology, far fewer animals are overworked today than in the past.]
PETA doesn’t demand a Sabbath for living animals or condemn pairing weak and strong animals or muzzling them in the presence of food. The morality of Torah law apparently is not a model for headline-hungry hypocrites who take cheap shots at targets they think cannot fight back.
[*** Again, in view of powerful Jewish teachings on compassion to animals, why isn’t the Jewish community actively involved in ending the horrors occurring daily due to modern, intensive “livestock” agriculture?]
* Why has PETA not taken on horse racing or dog racing, or rodeos or hunting, where live animals are abused for the sport of humans?
[*** They have, and much more.]
Observant Jews are more inviting targets, particularly since they are ready to confess sins even where there are none.
Nathan Lewin, a constitutional lawyer who has represented many Orthodox clients, is counsel for AgriProcessors in Postville, Iowa.
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6. More Letters to the Editor in the Jerusalem Post
Letters to the Editor
THE JERUSALEM POST Dec. 23, 2004
No mitzvah, this
Sir, - Saul Singer did a marvelous job of describing the irony of large animals being tortured at a (glatt!) kosher slaughterhouse in the US ("Cutting-edge kashrut," UpFront, December 17).
Judaism negates a mitzvah that comes as the result of a transgression. Surely, any mitzvah that results from kosher slaughter is nullified if the animal experiences agony in the process, the more so if that suffering is driven by monetary concerns.
MARK FEFFER [Mark is a JVNA advisor.]
Jerusalem
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Sir, - Most animals raised in modern-day agriculture suffer immensely even before slaughter. They are subjected to de-beaking, castration and dehorning, all without painkillers, and spend their stress-filled lives in barren warehouses, never setting foot outside.
JOSH TETRICK
Radnor, Pennsylvania
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Sir, - Kudos for the articles on ethical shehita by Temple Grandin ("Kosher slaughter done right," Upfront, December 17) and Saul Singer. It would be a long-overdue step for the rabbinical establishment to declare treif all food that follows suffering by living creatures.
Gastonomic "delights" such as pate de fois gras or veal, achieved through unspeakably cruel methods, or meat produced by subjecting helpless creatures to inhumane conditions during raising or slaughtering, have no place on a kosher table.
SHIFRA PAIKIN
Jerusalem
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Sir, - When I ask: "Is it kosher?" (meaning vegan, sustainably produced and fairly traded) I couldn't be more serious.
For me, a diet that does the least unavoidable harm and the most possible good is daily balm to a conscience that almost always has something weighing upon it.
SYD BAUMEL [Syd is also a JVNA advisor who recently made a generous donation to JVNA.]
Founder, Eatkind.net
Winnipeg
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...Grandin's labor of love
Sir, - Familiar with Temple Grandin's work in autism, which has helped thousands - parents, children, researchers, and simple therapists like myself - I wrote an article about her for Mishpacha magazine. Grandin herself is autistic and a walking resource on the subject.
She asked me, an Orthodox Jew, to approach the OU in America about the disturbing practices during shehita in South America. No one returned my calls.
I asked a rabbi who knew the OU's head to show him my article on Grandin's method of handling animals during shehita. The response came back: "She's a meshuggene."
The accusation that Grandin has a vested interest is falacious. Yes, she designs very expensive equipment. But her goal is more than monetary; it is to change the way people mistreat animals. It is a labor of love.
The issue is not PETA vs. the rabbis. Grandin is a leading researcher in animal science as it relates to slaughter - Jewish, Muslim, and secular.
While highly articulate, she is not capable of understanding concepts as abstract as anti-Semitism. To suggest even a hint of it is ludicrous.
Read Labeled Autistic or Thinking in Pictures and you will clearly see her views on shehita and those who perform it.
BENYOMIN WOLFSON
New York
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Sir, - The letter by Benjamin Goldsmith, PETA campaign coordinator (December 15), failed to reveal the real agenda of the animal rights movement. [letters]
The video scenes illegally obtained by a PETA representative at AgriProcessors may not have looked pretty to the untrained eye - but all leading rabbis in the US and Israel have subsequently ruled that the shehita was kosher, and that the animals' actions were reflexive, not conscious.
Shehita remains the most humane form of slaughter, a fact protected by US law. A veterinarian and four inspectors of the United States Department of Agriculture observe the kosher slaughter at AgriProcessors at all times, as do nine rabbis.
PETA is against all animal slaughter, which it has grotesquely equated with the Holocaust. It is hardly qualified to tell a 3,000-year-old religion what is humane.
MENACHEM LUBINSKY
Editor, 'Kosher Today'
New York
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This article [letters] can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103776317397&p=1006953079865
Copyright 1995-2004 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
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7. Postville Issue Discussed on National Public Radio
Forwarded message from Karen Dawn
DawnWatch: Excellent NPR coverage of PETA's horrifying undercover kosher slaughterhouse footage 12/20/04
On Monday, December 20, the National Public Radio show "All Things Considered" gave strong even-handed coverage to the story regarding PETA's undercover footage taken at the AgriProcessors plant, which the story described "the world's largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse," and "the only one in the US certified by Israeli rabbinic authorities."
You can hear the whole five minute story on line at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4236845
I will summarize it, briefly, below:
The reporter, Greg Allen, describes what one can see on the PETA tape: "A shochet, a ritual slaughterer, uses a sharp knife to cut a steer's throat, and as the blood begins to flow, a second man steps forward and pulls out the animal's trachea. In case after case, the animal struggles to its feet while its windpipe dangles from its open throat."
Arguments on both sides as to whether the practices involve horrendous cruelty or just involuntary post-conscious movements are presented. The story mentions that the footage has been posted to PETA's website. It is PETA's www.GoVeg.com website that has the story front and central; unfortunately that is not noted but hopefully listeners will go to PETA's main site and find their way easily to the footage. Nobody seeing it, who is not strongly invested in believing there to be no cruelty, could watch the footage and interpret the bellowing and staggering, sometimes for minutes, of cows who have risen to their feet, as involuntary movement.
Temple Grandin, who is described as "a veterinarian at Colorado State University," and an "expert on humane slaughtering processes" is not a PETA person. She is a meat-eater who helps design slaughterhouses with the intention of making them more humane. We hear her say:
"My reaction was I just about fell off my chair when I saw this procedure of yanking out the trachea."
Greg Allen reports:
"Grandin, an expert on humane slaughtering practices, has worked closely with dozens of kosher slaughterhouses. Kosher slaughter, she says, can be extremely humane if done well. One sign, Grandin says, that AgriProcessors was not doing things correctly was how many animals tried to get up after having their throats cut. PETA says one-quarter of the 276 animals the group documented showed signs of consciousness after being released from the holding chamber. AgriProcessors disputes that, however, along with most of PETA's other charges. Spokesman Mike Thomas says plant workers don't deliberately remove the animals' tracheas. He says it's sometimes done accidentally. And despite evidence on the tape, Thomas says the vast majority of animals die within seconds."
(Note: "Despite evidence on the tape.")
The story includes strong quotes from PETA's Bruce Friedrich:
"Many of the animals actually struggle and stand for up to three minutes after their throats have been slit open, which are unarguably, according to physiologists, signs of consciousness. What is happening on that slaughter plant line is clear and absolute cruelty to animals."
And to the suggestion that anti Semitism is motivating the campaign, Friedrich responds:
"We've been pretty flummoxed by the fact that anyone would defend the egregious cruelty to animals that is happening in this plant. Judaism actually has more vegetarians than any other faith, except Hinduism, and that's because of the fine Jewish tradition of compassion for animals."
You might like to listen on line, at the link above, to the whole piece. Most importantly, please let "All Things Considered" know its attention to this matter is appreciated. Positive feedback will encourage similar stories in the future. All Things Considered takes comments at:
atc@npr.org
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com.
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8. Example of Responses To Videotapes of Postville Procedures
Below is just one of many letters that I have received expressing outrage at scenes on the videotape. I believe that it indicates why it is so important that it be made clear that the procedures at Postville are not typical of shechita and that they will very soon be changed, and that proper regulations and inspection procedures will also soon be established to insure that shechita is properly carried out.
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Dear Richard,
After viewing footage of so-called kosher slaughter, I am horrified beyond description. To call such brutality acceptable is beyond justification.
Such cruelty must not exist in a civilized society, and especially must not be condoned by a religious community who theoretically stands for ethical and humane behavior. What I saw is not humane and not ethical. It is barbarism of the worst kind, and your tacit approval of it is totally unacceptable.
I would appreciate your comments to my concerns.
Lu Haner
9 Sherman Rd.
Millis, MA 02054
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This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the eighth follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups (please see item #1 below).
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Postville-related Blog
2. My Postville-related article is now on the Internet
3. Article by Agudath Israel Spokesperson/My Comments Interspersed
4. PETA’s Response to the Above Agudath Israel Article
5. Articles by Agriprocessors Lawyer Challenges PETA/My Comments Interspersed
6. More Letters to the Editor in the Jerusalem Post
7. Postville Issue Discussed on National Public Radio
8. Example of Responses To Videotapes of Postville Procedures
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Postville-related Blog
Much valuable material and interesting commentary re the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse controversy can be found at Failedmessiah.com. I do not know the source of the material and I do not endorse all the material at the site, but I have found important documents and significant commentary there. As indicated above, for additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of the OU, PETA, and other involved groups.
I also have posted some messages there.
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2. My Postville-related article is now on the Internet at www.aquarianonline.com (a few headlines down).
WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
This article, which also appeared in previous JVNA newsletters, attempts to use the Postville slaughterhouse situation as a means of showing that animal-based diets and modern intensive “livestock” agriculture violate at least six basic Jewish mandates.
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3. Article by Agudath Israel Spokesperson/My Comments Interspersed
THE PETA PRINCIPLE
Now that the blood has settled, a clearer perspective might be had about the recent brouhaha over shechita, or Jewish ritual slaughter, at a meat-processing plant in Iowa.
Rabbi Avi Shafran
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Shechita_Controversy.asp
[*** My respectful comments are interspersed below. I am aware of the many positive activities that the Agudath Israel (and the OU) carry out for the benefit of klal Yisrael (the Jewish people), but I feel that Rabbi Shafran’s thoughtful article deserves a response. My comments will be in brackets and preceded with ***]
Yes, the beginning of that sentence was meant to jar. Blood and attendant unpleasantness are part and parcel of the process of turning livestock into meat, and most people are content to interact only with the final product.
[*** A point that is generally overlooked is that the blood and unpleasantness produce a product that is not needed for proper nutrition, and, indeed, has very negative effects on human health and that of our imperiled planet.]
Some, though, choose not to do even that. They include people who are repulsed by the thought of eating what was once alive, and others who feel that meat consumption is a wasteful use of natural resources. Yet others shun meat for health or religious reasons.
[*** Yes, as the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) have often pointed out, the production and consumption of meat and other animal products violate at least six basic Jewish mandates. So, it is not surprising that some Jews have decided to be vegetarians.]
And then there are the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, who object to all killing of animals because, as Ingrid Newkirk, the group’s co-founder and president, famously put it, “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy” – because of their belief, in other words, that animals are no different from humans.
[*** The complete statement is that when it comes to feeling pain, “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” Since Rabbi Shafran’s columns often properly point out distortions in media coverage, I think that it is important to give the context for quotations that he gives.]
The Jewish religious tradition forbids causing animals unnecessary pain.
[*** Absolutely, as JVNA often points out. But, why then do Jewish leaders fail to speak out against the many abuses of animals on factory farms? For example, the killing almost immediately after birth of 250 million male chicks in the U.S. alone at egg-laying hatcheries because they can’t lay eggs and they are not of the breed (broilers) that have been genetically programmed to provide much meat; taking calves from their mothers after one day to raise them as veal; the force feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras; raising hens in spaces so small that they can’t raise even one wing, and then debeaking them to prevent them from pecking other hens in their very crowded, unnatural conditions; and much more.]
And there are observant Jews who are vegetarians; our tradition even teaches that the first man and woman – indeed all of humanity until Noah – were divinely forbidden to eat meat. But the Jewish faith expressly permits the killing of animals for human needs, including food. Which animals may be eaten and how to dispatch them are topics dealt with at considerable length in Jewish legal literature.
[*** Today, with our knowledge of scientific nutrition and with nutritional experts indicating that one can be properly nourished and even healthier without animal products in the diet, where is the “human need” met by slaughtering animals for food?]
Indeed, the “PETA Principle,” the moral equating of animals and humans, is an affront to the very essence of Jewish belief, which exalts the human being, alone among G-d’s creations, as, among other things, the possessor of free will, a being capable of choosing to do good or bad. That distinction is introduced in Genesis, where the first man is commanded to “rule over” the animal world.
[*** Yes, but “dominion” is interpreted by our sages as “responsible stewardship or guardianship,” and that humans are uniquely created in G-d’s image should obligate us to imitate G-d’s attributes of mercy and justice, not to unnecessarily slaughter 50 billion animals annually worldwide to produce products that are having such negative effects.]
The notion that humans are mere animals can lead to ethical obscenities, like PETA’s appeal to the director of the federal penitentiary where Timothy McVeigh was awaiting execution, that the mass murderer not be served meat so that he “not be allowed to take even one more life.” Or the group’s lodging of a protest with Yasir Arafat over a terrorist attack because the donkey carrying the explosives detonated in the attack was killed. Or its “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign, comparing the killing of chickens and cows to the murder of Jewish men, women and children. Or solemn declarations like Ms. Newkirk’s that “Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses.”
[*** JVNA disagrees with many of PETA’s positions and actions and we have urged changes. We should strive to end the mistreatment of animals, not because of PETA, but because of basic Jewish teachings. We should not use the beliefs and actions of our critics to excuse us from doing what Jewish values demand.]
[*** Also, PETA, to its credit, has asserted on its web site and in public statements that shechita is a superior method of slaughter when it is properly carried out. They have focussed on the Postville plant and they gave the operators a chance to improve conditions, before secretly videotaping at the Postville slaughterhouse.]
And so when PETA launched a media blitz several weeks ago, sending scores of journalists and others copies of surreptitiously filmed and carefully edited videotapes of animals being slaughtered at the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa – the largest producer of “glatt” – or highest-standard – kosher meat in the nation – the immediate reaction on the part of some Jewish organizations and many of those in the kosher food industry was understandably negative.
The video, to be sure, was disturbing. Although the PETA “mole” who secretly recorded the film likely witnessed thousands of unremarkable slaughters during his months on the job, the edited film showed a number of animals that seemed conscious after the act of shechita. In one case, an animal even righted itself and took several steps before collapsing.
Every method of animal slaughter yields a small percentage of such unfortunate results, when some degree of consciousness persists longer than it should. What PETA claims, though, is that what was depicted on its edited video of operations at the Iowa plant represents fully a quarter of the animals slaughtered over the seven-week period during which the video was made.
There is reason to be skeptical about this claim. A subsequent visit to the plant by Dr. I.M. Levinger, a veterinary surgeon and physiologist, yielded his testimony that, of the as many as 150 animals he saw slaughtered over the course of his two-day visit, only a single cow exhibited any conscious activity after shechita.
[*** This shows that the slaughterhouse operators have the ability to carry out the slaughtering process in a much more effective method than was revealed on the videotapes. An important word in the above paragraph is “subsequent,” a word that sharply reduces the importance of the observations.]
What is more, USDA inspectors are typically present on the killing floor during animal slaughter, to ensure that the process complies with federal standards. The inspectors present at the Postville plant during the period PETA compiled the images in its video presumably saw the entire picture, and never complained about any inordinately high number of post-slaughter displays of consciousness. A high-level USDA official, for that matter, visited the plant after PETA released its video to personally observe the allegedly inhumane practices and take appropriate action; what he saw apparently persuaded him that there was no need to shut down the plant or alter its basic practices.
[*** One would think that inspectors would be around during the slaughtering process, but several sources indicate that this is not generally true. They are generally further down the production line, checking for diseases. Even the OU has indicated that conditions at the plant will be changed. And long time animal welfare experts, including Temple Grandin, and experienced veterinarians and some rabbis have indicated their horror at what the video revealed and expressed their strong belief that conditions be changed.]
Likewise, top officials from the kashrut organizations that certify AgriProcessors’ meat visited the plant to monitor the shechita process and found that signs of post-slaughter consciousness were extremely rare. Indeed, Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Patty Judge, who had initially expressed her deep chagrin after watching PETA’s video – even calling for a federal investigation – concluded, after a personal visit to the plant, that the shechita there “…was humane… and there was absolutely no problem with the way they [the animals] were handled.”
[*** Can planned inspections after the PETA videos were distributed be used to show that the conditions before the appearance of the videos were acceptable?]
Those personal observations confirm what scientific theory would have predicted: that the incidence of displays of post-slaughter consciousness is more rare in cases of shechita than when non-kosher methods of slaughter are employed. That is because, as Dr. S.D. Rosen, MA, MD, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, noted earlier this year in a monograph in the Veterinary Record, studies have shown that after the cutting of the trachea, esophagus and carotid arteries – the shechita process in essence – an animal’s consciousness is lost within approximately two seconds, and irreversibly.
[*** Yes, as the JVNA has argued when opposing efforts to single out shechita for criticism, shechita when properly carried out is a superior method of slaughter. Also, in the study cited, the method of slaughter involved a different type of holding pen]
The evidence would appear to suggest, therefore, that PETA is grossly exaggerating the frequency of post-shechita signs of consciousness at the Iowa plant. Perhaps it should not be surprising that PETA’s 25% figure differs so dramatically from what others have seen. Because, while the group’s concern that animals not be caused unnecessary pain is commendable, PETA also has an ultimate, and openly declared, goal: to stop people from eating meat. And so, if a bit of dissembling is necessary to move in that direction, well… wouldn’t you stretch the truth to save Jews from Nazis?
[*** PETA has not tried to stop people from eating meat; they have tried to convince people that it would be better for them, for our threatened environment, for the conservation of resources, for a more humane, less violent world, and, yes, for animals, if they shifted to well-balanced, nutritious diets free of animal products. Since the production and consumption of animal products violate so many Jewish teachings, the wonder is that it is a secular group, and not Agudath Israel, the OU, and most other Jewish groups that is doing this.]
Precision, though, is not the only thing PETA seems prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve its goal. Our nation’s commitment to religious liberty, in PETA’s eyes, is eminently expendable as well.
[*** Can any proof be produced to show that PETA has ever attacked the concept of shechita, called for the consumption of meat to be outlawed, or, in any other way, tried to curtail religious liberty?]
Even though the Iowa plant has discontinued a bleeding-facilitating arterial cut that PETA deemed a “dismemberment” of live animals, the animal rights group is now demanding, among other things, that U.S. government regulations regarding animal slaughter be changed in fundamental ways and that the type of restraining pen required by some decisors of Jewish law be outlawed.
These are not minor points; they touch, and not gently, upon the issue of
rabbinic authority and religious autonomy. And that game is zero-sum: What constitutes proper animal-slaughter methods for observant American Jews will necessarily be determined in the future either by rabbis or by advocates for animal-rights.
[*** Once again, PETA is not calling for the abolition of shechita. Quite the contrary – in the Postville case they are defending it at a time when some have caused shechita to be associated with horrible mistreatment of animals.]
Shechita was attacked and outlawed by the Nazis when they came to power in. Germany. Today, animal rights activists have succeeded in banning it in several European and Scandinavian countries. If PETA’s misleading campaign is not seen for the partisan salvo it is, our own country may be next.
[*** Once again, PETA has defended shechita and publicly called it a superior method. But, if the horrible scenes revealed on the PETA videotapes become associated with shechita, this has the potential of harming shechita, Judaism, and possibly Jews. As one JVNA member stated, “By continuing to defend what happened in the Postville meat-processing plant in Iowa, you are doing more damage to our image than anything PETA might inadvertently do.”]
© AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.]
Am Echad Resources material may be reproduced without charge, provided Am Echad Resources is duly credited.
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4. PETA’s Reply to Rabbi Shafran’s Article (Above)
[JVNA has been critical of PETA’s statements and activities, most recently for their very ill-considered “Holocaust On Your Plate” exhibition, and we will again if necessary. But, PETA has acted responsibly and sensitively in the Postville controversy, focusing on the Postville facility, and reaffirming their belief that shechita, when properly carried out is a superior method of slaughter. I plan to discuss PETA more in my year end statement due out later this week.]
In his recent article titled "The PETA Principle," Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel, offers his thoughts on PETA's campaign for improved animal welfare standards at AgriProcessors. We appreciate Rabbi Shafran's clear concern for animal welfare, and would like to address the issues he raises.
In the wake of the slaughterhouse scandal, AgriProcessors has not been able to find a single scientist, animal welfare expert, or veterinarian who is willing to defend the shoddy slaughter practices we documented.
PETA, on the other hand, has received an outpouring of support from leaders in the veterinary, animal welfare, and even meat industries, as well as in the Jewish community, who were shocked by the brazenly cruel treatment of animals that has, for years, been the norm at
AgriProcessors.
Dr. Temple Grandin, consultant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Meat Institute, did not mince words after viewing the tapes, stating, "I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen." Dr. Lester Friedlander, a former USDA kosher slaughter inspector, echoed these sentiments, writing, "The footage captured by PETA represents the most egregious violation of the USDA Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) I have ever witnessed."
Our investigator witnessed the slaughter of 278 cattle; one-fourth were clearly and unarguably (according to scientists) still conscious after they were dumped onto the concrete floor, roughly a minute after shechita. Because of a Clinton-era USDA program, no USDA inspectors are assigned to the kill floor, and indeed, there were none there during the five hours that our investigator was there, on six occasions over about seven weeks.
The fact that three weeks later AgriProcessors killed animals properly for Dr. Levinger is encouraging, but this only further validates our position, proving that AgriProcessors could have slaughtered animals humanely all along but choose not to-this is why their actions were illegal.
AgriProcessors recent willingness to invite government inspectors to its plant is like a serial killer calling the police over to his house to watch him not kill people: "See, I'm not killing anyone." Criminals may sometimes act in accordance with the law, but that does not exonerate
them for their crimes.
The humane community is not asking much AgriProcessors; we're asking only that they adopt the widely-accepted regulatory standards for religious slaughter developed by the Food Marketing Institute. These guidelines, which can be read at GoVeg.com or FMI.org, will ensure that AgriProcessors' handling and slaughter practices are in keeping with Judaism's long-standing tradition of kindness to animals.
Striking animals in the face with electric prods, ripping their tracheas and esophagi out while they're fully conscious, slaughtering them in a haphazard way-these things were happening at AgriProcessors, in what can only be seen as a complete denial of Judaism's firm commitment to compassion. All Jews will surely agree that the standards that PETA, along with the Rabbinic Assembly of the Conservative movement and a swelling number of Jews from across the spectrum of Judaism, recommends will ensure that kosher slaughter is consistently quick and humane, as provided for in the Torah.
It is simply true, physiologically, that "where pain is concerned, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." This does not mean moral equivalency; it simply states that God designed us out of the same stuff (flesh, blood, bone) and with the same capacity to feel pain: No scientist will deny this, because it's true. And watching as they struggle to stand and flee while their windpipes hang from their bloody throats, one cannot deny that the animals at AgriProcessors felt immeasurable agony and fear as they fought against death.
Indeed, our respect for the uniquely human ability to make complex moral calculations is central to our mission. As human beings, as stated in the Torah, we have an obligation to make compassionate choices when confronted with the suffering of others. We both agree with and embrace this understanding as central to our mission. As Rabbi Shafran notes, for many, this calculation leads them to vegetarianism. For all, however, it should lead to profound moral outrage at the horrific and consistent cruelty to animals perpetrated by AgriProcessors for so many years.
In closing, please consider that PETA supplied our video and all relevant documentation and factual support to three government agencies.
Any exaggeration on our part would be criminal in nature and would subject us to forfeiture of our nonprofit status and thus would, most likely, lead to our demise. As the world's largest animal rights organization, with more than 800,000 members and supporters and 25-year history, this is not something we would ever do-both because dishonesty is the opposite of what we stand for and because our mission would be irreparably damaged.
After reviewing the video documentation and reading additional expert and rabbinical testimony at GoVeg.com, readers will surely agree with Rabbi Barry Schwartz of the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Task Force on Kashrut, who said, "The suffering of these animals during
slaughter is sickening. Death is neither quick nor merciful. If this is kosher, then we have a big problem."
For information on Judaism and vegetarianism, please visit the Web site run by the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, at www.JewishVeg.com .
Benjamin Goldsmith is a campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Comments by JVNA reader, Maida:
Here was my comment to the Aish Hatorah web site (URL at the top of the article above):
As far as I can tell PETA's primary concern is the most humane conditions for animals, which should also be the primary concern of shechita. Jews have often been their own worst enemies and I think this is the case here. By continuing to defend what happened in the Postville meat-processing plant in Iowa, you are doing more damage to our image than anything PETA might inadvertently do. I am sure that PETA has absolutely no interest in provoking anti-Semitism. They only want to have Jews react to flaws in what is supposed to be a better system.
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5. Articles by Agriprocessors Lawyer Challenges PETA/My Comments Interspersed
Some Questions For PETA
Nathan Lewin
[*** As in the above article by Rabbi Shafran, my respectful comments are interspersed below, preceded by ***.]
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently released a video bearing the incendiary title “PETA Undercover: Terrified Cows Stagger to Their Feet After Workers Rip Out Their Throats.” Visitors to the PETA Web site are told to watch the video and see “AgriProcessors workers ignore the suffering of cows that are still sensible to pain after having their throats slit by the ritual slaughterer. The animals stagger and slip in blood while their tracheas dangle from their necks. Watch now.”
The attack on shechita, kosher ritual slaughter, follows the line almost in precise words that has been taken for centuries by anti-Semites, culminating in Hitler’s laws enacted in April 1933 to protect Germany’s animals against the savagery of the Jewish ritual. (Der Stuermer’s 1938 description of “How Jews Torture Animals” described two German boys watching the animal after shechita “struggle to get up and then collapse” and, after a second cut by the Jew, “the blood spurts, and again the animal struggles to get up.”)
[*** There are certainly major differences here. First, PETA gave AgriProcessors, the slaughterhouse operators, a chance to correct things before they sent a volunteer to videotape conditions at the slaughterhouse. Second, PETA is focussing on the one plant and is seeking improvements that will reduce the suffering of animals. Third, PETA has made it clear through its web site and public statements that it regards shechita as a superior form of slaughter, when it is properly done. JVNA has been critical of some of PETA’s beliefs and actions, and plans to continue to do so, but the use of misleading statements about PETA does not do credit to shechita and other Jewish teachings.]
No matter that mounds of scientific evidence establish that an animal that loses blood to the brain loses any sense of pain. No matter that the shechita cut results in anemia of the brain within 2 seconds. No matter that the U.S. Congress held extensive hearings in 1957 and concluded that the Jewish ritual method of slaughter is at least as humane as any other method that modern science has devised. PETA’s “food specialists” and Ph.Ds know the cow that has its throat slit “suffers” and is “still sensible.”
[Mr. Lewin’s statements in this paragraph ignore the statements of many animal welfare experts, including the world renowned Temple Grandin, experienced veterinarians, and some rabbis.]
PETA made no such claim when it sent two accusatory letters to AgriProcessors last year, in June and November. I replied to PETA’s first letter that had said it would keep “entirely confidential” its allegation that “Jewish law is being violated” if AgriProcessors would agree to hire Dr. Temple Grandin, which PETA on its Web site calls “the country’s leading slaughter expert,” to institute “humane improvements.” (I noted that this sounded like extortion.) I asked PETA to provide “detailed descriptions of specific conduct to support your conclusions.”
Did PETA claim then that terrified cows were staggering to their feet after workers ripped out their throats? No way. Here is the substance of PETA’s list:
1. Repair your unloading ramps.
2. Restrict the use of electric
prods.
3. Ensure that no more than 5 percent of cows
vocalize.
4. Ensure that each chicken is held one at a time, by one
person, for slaughter.
5. Provide fresh, clean water for all
animals at unloading.
6. Ensure that all animals are calm at all
stages of processing.
7. Engage in self-audits on a regular
basis.
[*** These seven points seem to show that PETA was concerned with minimizing the suffering of animals.]
PETA added in the letter that listed its seven demands (none of which involved violations of Jewish law) that it “would prefer it if AgriProcessors stopped killing animals.” But it did not dare repeat the old anti-Semitic canard that cows with their throats slit by the ritual slaughterer were staggering or struggling.
[*** Jewish law is violated if animals suffer unnecessarily, and this is what PETA’s seven steps are aimed at preventing.]
Only after its investigator took “undercover” videos that would rouse emotions in people who have never seen a slaughtering plant in operation did PETA turn from complaining about “unloading ramps” to its publicized allegation that the throat slitting and what followed was brutal and contrary to Jewish law.
[*** It is not just their allegations, but, as indicated above, the considered opinions of experts on animal treatment and slaughter procedures, and a number of rabbis. Many of their statements, and much more re the Postville situation can be found at GoVeg.com.]
Every respected Orthodox authority on Jewish law has concluded that what was shown on the video was not contrary to Jewish law and that the shechita was 100 percent kosher. Some Orthodox rabbis urged that in order to avoid a public misperception of cruelty, one step in the process — a second cut and removal of the trachea — not be done.
[*** Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland feels that Jewish law was violated. And the Orthodox rabbis of the OU have requested changes in the procedures at the Postville slaughterhouse.]
It is legitimate, however, to ask PETA a few questions:
* How do you know that the animal that has its throat cut and loses blood flow to the brain is “still sensible?”
[*** Again, PETA’s view is backed up by many experts on animal welfare and veterinary science.]
Three Cambridge University professors (Wood, Barcroft and Newman) authored a report in 1924 on the “Jewish Method of Slaughtering Animals for Food.” They said of the post-shechita movements shown on the video: “Such movements are quite unconnected with sensation. Nevertheless they may appear so purposeful as to convince the lay observer that sensation continues and that the movements are evidence of pain or consciousness.”
Professor William Bayliss of University College in London said in a 1930 study that convulsions “may come on at a stage long after consciousness has ceased” and they “may include raising of the head.”
[*** These studies are many decades old, and they refer to different slaughtering procedures.]
Do you have comparable “undercover” video of a non-kosher slaughtering plant or of another kosher plant?
[*** They do at their web site. Over many years, PETA has taken on a wide variety of animal abuses.]
What transpires in any slaughtering plant is gruesome to watch. Animals are being put to death in order to be eaten.
[*** Why carry out this gruesome process and kill animals to create a product that is not needed for proper nutrition and, indeed, is harmful to human health and environmental sustainability.]
Before condemning any one plant, one in fairness must see what goes on in others. The process in non-kosher plants is less bloody because throat slitting is not the means of killing the animal, but other steps are probably as painful to watch and possibly more painful to the animal.
[*** Is this going to be our defense – that others are just as bad, or worse, especially when some veteran experts indicate that they have never seen such horrendous conditions?]
* Why are you less concerned about the treatment of live animals than about the final minutes of life of animals that are legitimately put to death for human consumption?
I wrote in my letter to PETA that “long before the rest of the world showed any ‘common decency’ to animals or had the slightest concern for the treatment of animals, the laws of the Torah and rabbinic teachings commanded the Jewish people to treat all living creatures humanely. Secular society — including your organization — has still not caught up with the precepts of Jewish law in this regard.”
[*** JVNA agrees re Judaism’s powerful teachings on compassion to animals. But, in view of these teachings, why is Mr. Lewin and many other Jewish leaders ignoring the many abuses on factory farms to 50 billion farmed animas worldwide every year?]
* Why is PETA not concerned, as the Torah is, about animals being overworked?
[*** They are concerned about all types of mistreatment of animals. Because of modern technology, far fewer animals are overworked today than in the past.]
PETA doesn’t demand a Sabbath for living animals or condemn pairing weak and strong animals or muzzling them in the presence of food. The morality of Torah law apparently is not a model for headline-hungry hypocrites who take cheap shots at targets they think cannot fight back.
[*** Again, in view of powerful Jewish teachings on compassion to animals, why isn’t the Jewish community actively involved in ending the horrors occurring daily due to modern, intensive “livestock” agriculture?]
* Why has PETA not taken on horse racing or dog racing, or rodeos or hunting, where live animals are abused for the sport of humans?
[*** They have, and much more.]
Observant Jews are more inviting targets, particularly since they are ready to confess sins even where there are none.
Nathan Lewin, a constitutional lawyer who has represented many Orthodox clients, is counsel for AgriProcessors in Postville, Iowa.
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6. More Letters to the Editor in the Jerusalem Post
Letters to the Editor
THE JERUSALEM POST Dec. 23, 2004
No mitzvah, this
Sir, - Saul Singer did a marvelous job of describing the irony of large animals being tortured at a (glatt!) kosher slaughterhouse in the US ("Cutting-edge kashrut," UpFront, December 17).
Judaism negates a mitzvah that comes as the result of a transgression. Surely, any mitzvah that results from kosher slaughter is nullified if the animal experiences agony in the process, the more so if that suffering is driven by monetary concerns.
MARK FEFFER [Mark is a JVNA advisor.]
Jerusalem
--------------------------
Sir, - Most animals raised in modern-day agriculture suffer immensely even before slaughter. They are subjected to de-beaking, castration and dehorning, all without painkillers, and spend their stress-filled lives in barren warehouses, never setting foot outside.
JOSH TETRICK
Radnor, Pennsylvania
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Sir, - Kudos for the articles on ethical shehita by Temple Grandin ("Kosher slaughter done right," Upfront, December 17) and Saul Singer. It would be a long-overdue step for the rabbinical establishment to declare treif all food that follows suffering by living creatures.
Gastonomic "delights" such as pate de fois gras or veal, achieved through unspeakably cruel methods, or meat produced by subjecting helpless creatures to inhumane conditions during raising or slaughtering, have no place on a kosher table.
SHIFRA PAIKIN
Jerusalem
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Sir, - When I ask: "Is it kosher?" (meaning vegan, sustainably produced and fairly traded) I couldn't be more serious.
For me, a diet that does the least unavoidable harm and the most possible good is daily balm to a conscience that almost always has something weighing upon it.
SYD BAUMEL [Syd is also a JVNA advisor who recently made a generous donation to JVNA.]
Founder, Eatkind.net
Winnipeg
------------------------
...Grandin's labor of love
Sir, - Familiar with Temple Grandin's work in autism, which has helped thousands - parents, children, researchers, and simple therapists like myself - I wrote an article about her for Mishpacha magazine. Grandin herself is autistic and a walking resource on the subject.
She asked me, an Orthodox Jew, to approach the OU in America about the disturbing practices during shehita in South America. No one returned my calls.
I asked a rabbi who knew the OU's head to show him my article on Grandin's method of handling animals during shehita. The response came back: "She's a meshuggene."
The accusation that Grandin has a vested interest is falacious. Yes, she designs very expensive equipment. But her goal is more than monetary; it is to change the way people mistreat animals. It is a labor of love.
The issue is not PETA vs. the rabbis. Grandin is a leading researcher in animal science as it relates to slaughter - Jewish, Muslim, and secular.
While highly articulate, she is not capable of understanding concepts as abstract as anti-Semitism. To suggest even a hint of it is ludicrous.
Read Labeled Autistic or Thinking in Pictures and you will clearly see her views on shehita and those who perform it.
BENYOMIN WOLFSON
New York
-------------------
Sir, - The letter by Benjamin Goldsmith, PETA campaign coordinator (December 15), failed to reveal the real agenda of the animal rights movement. [letters]
The video scenes illegally obtained by a PETA representative at AgriProcessors may not have looked pretty to the untrained eye - but all leading rabbis in the US and Israel have subsequently ruled that the shehita was kosher, and that the animals' actions were reflexive, not conscious.
Shehita remains the most humane form of slaughter, a fact protected by US law. A veterinarian and four inspectors of the United States Department of Agriculture observe the kosher slaughter at AgriProcessors at all times, as do nine rabbis.
PETA is against all animal slaughter, which it has grotesquely equated with the Holocaust. It is hardly qualified to tell a 3,000-year-old religion what is humane.
MENACHEM LUBINSKY
Editor, 'Kosher Today'
New York
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This article [letters] can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103776317397&p=1006953079865
Copyright 1995-2004 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
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7. Postville Issue Discussed on National Public Radio
Forwarded message from Karen Dawn
On Monday, December 20, the National Public Radio show "All Things Considered" gave strong even-handed coverage to the story regarding PETA's undercover footage taken at the AgriProcessors plant, which the story described "the world's largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse," and "the only one in the US certified by Israeli rabbinic authorities."
You can hear the whole five minute story on line at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4236845
I will summarize it, briefly, below:
The reporter, Greg Allen, describes what one can see on the PETA tape: "A shochet, a ritual slaughterer, uses a sharp knife to cut a steer's throat, and as the blood begins to flow, a second man steps forward and pulls out the animal's trachea. In case after case, the animal struggles to its feet while its windpipe dangles from its open throat."
Arguments on both sides as to whether the practices involve horrendous cruelty or just involuntary post-conscious movements are presented. The story mentions that the footage has been posted to PETA's website. It is PETA's www.GoVeg.com website that has the story front and central; unfortunately that is not noted but hopefully listeners will go to PETA's main site and find their way easily to the footage. Nobody seeing it, who is not strongly invested in believing there to be no cruelty, could watch the footage and interpret the bellowing and staggering, sometimes for minutes, of cows who have risen to their feet, as involuntary movement.
Temple Grandin, who is described as "a veterinarian at Colorado State University," and an "expert on humane slaughtering processes" is not a PETA person. She is a meat-eater who helps design slaughterhouses with the intention of making them more humane. We hear her say:
"My reaction was I just about fell off my chair when I saw this procedure of yanking out the trachea."
Greg Allen reports:
"Grandin, an expert on humane slaughtering practices, has worked closely with dozens of kosher slaughterhouses. Kosher slaughter, she says, can be extremely humane if done well. One sign, Grandin says, that AgriProcessors was not doing things correctly was how many animals tried to get up after having their throats cut. PETA says one-quarter of the 276 animals the group documented showed signs of consciousness after being released from the holding chamber. AgriProcessors disputes that, however, along with most of PETA's other charges. Spokesman Mike Thomas says plant workers don't deliberately remove the animals' tracheas. He says it's sometimes done accidentally. And despite evidence on the tape, Thomas says the vast majority of animals die within seconds."
(Note: "Despite evidence on the tape.")
The story includes strong quotes from PETA's Bruce Friedrich:
"Many of the animals actually struggle and stand for up to three minutes after their throats have been slit open, which are unarguably, according to physiologists, signs of consciousness. What is happening on that slaughter plant line is clear and absolute cruelty to animals."
And to the suggestion that anti Semitism is motivating the campaign, Friedrich responds:
"We've been pretty flummoxed by the fact that anyone would defend the egregious cruelty to animals that is happening in this plant. Judaism actually has more vegetarians than any other faith, except Hinduism, and that's because of the fine Jewish tradition of compassion for animals."
You might like to listen on line, at the link above, to the whole piece. Most importantly, please let "All Things Considered" know its attention to this matter is appreciated. Positive feedback will encourage similar stories in the future. All Things Considered takes comments at:
atc@npr.org
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com.
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8. Example of Responses To Videotapes of Postville Procedures
Below is just one of many letters that I have received expressing outrage at scenes on the videotape. I believe that it indicates why it is so important that it be made clear that the procedures at Postville are not typical of shechita and that they will very soon be changed, and that proper regulations and inspection procedures will also soon be established to insure that shechita is properly carried out.
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Dear Richard,
After viewing footage of so-called kosher slaughter, I am horrified beyond description. To call such brutality acceptable is beyond justification.
Such cruelty must not exist in a civilized society, and especially must not be condoned by a religious community who theoretically stands for ethical and humane behavior. What I saw is not humane and not ethical. It is barbarism of the worst kind, and your tacit approval of it is totally unacceptable.
I would appreciate your comments to my concerns.
Lu Haner
9 Sherman Rd.
Millis, MA 02054
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
December 24, 2004
12/24/04 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
* Announcements
1. You Can Now Contribute Online to the JVNA
2. Report on the International Vegetarian Congress Meeting Just Completed in Brazil
3. Book Review/Reasons for Vegan Diets
4. Rabbi Menashe of Ilya (1767-1832) on Compassion for Animals
5. Update on NJ Model Nutrition Policy Proposal
6. Important New Book on Global Threats
7. Environmental Impacts of Factory Farms
8. Vegan Courses at the Tree of Life Institute
9. Article on Jewish teachings on Compassion to Animals
10. A Little Humor
Much material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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Announcements
* Please note that previous recent newsletters can be found in a convenient form for reading at the JVNA web site at http://JewishVeg.blogspot.com .
We plan to post this one soon. It might be there by the time you are reading this.
* I am still trying to catch up on material for the JVNA newsletters as so much time recently has been devoted to the Postville controversy. So, some material is still being deferred until the next issue.
* I plan to send out an update re Postville in another special newsletter soon. 1. You Can Now Contribute Online to the JVNA
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1. Looking for an end of the year tax deduction?
There is absolutely no obligation to contribute to the JVNA in order to continue to receive JVNA newsletters or to participate in discussions or activities. However, all contributions will be most welcome and would be used for outreach work to help spread the Jewish vegetarian message, by getting literature to rabbis and other Jewish leaders, perhaps by putting ads in newspapers, and in other ways. Suggestions on how to use contributions and/or about other fundraising ideas are very welcome. Thanks.
You can now easily contribute at the bottom of the "What You Can Do" page of the JVNA web site, at http://JewishVeg.com/do.html . If you prefer, you can send a tax deductible donation to the JVNA c/o Eva and Israel Mossman, 6938 Reliance Road, Federalsburg, MD 21632.
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2. Report on the International Vegetarian Congress Meeting Just Completed in Brazil
Forwarded message:
INTERNATIONAL VEGETARIAN UNION
IVU ONLINE NEWS - December, 2004
WE'RE ALL NUTS ABOUT BRAZIL!
The 36th IVU World Vegetarian Congress has come and gone - Brazil is a wonderful country and few of us wanted to come home again. The final tally was about 500 in residence, representing a record breaking number of 32 different countries. The most frequently heard comment was: "this is the best food ever" (100% vegan of course), and many said that the location was the best ever too - the Costao do Santinho was in an idyllic spot on Santa Catarina Island where the tree-covered mountains meet the sea. It has glorious beaches, an amazing variety of wildlife along the woodland trails and facilities of a very high standard in the resort itself. Add to that a tantalizing choice of up to five lectures and two cookery demos at every session (in a mixture of English, Portuguese and Spanish), plus dance and fashion shows in the evenings, and there really was something for everyone.
But this Congress may turn out to have been of greater sigficance, and we need to go back a bit to put it in perspective. The previous 35 IVU Congresses have all been inspiring for those fortunate enoughto attend them, but just a few have achieved a wider role - 1908, 1929, 1957 and 1975 are the most obvious of those. That last one, 1975, was held at the University of Orono, in Maine, USA, and was the first IVU Congress ever to be held in North America. About 1,500 visitors were in residence, still a record outside of India, and recent commentators have seen it as the launch pad for organized vegetarianism in the region. There were vegetarian groups in North America before 1975 of course, the first being as far back as 1850, but they were generally rather small and isolated, along with a large number of even more isolated individuals. After Orono hundreds of vegetarian societies sprang up, along with a dozens of conferences, festivals and publications - many of them founded by people who first met at that extraordinary Congress.
It doesn't always turn out that way of course - there were high hopes that the 1999 Congress, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, would have a similar effect for the South East Asian region as that was the first there too, but there were never more than a few ripples from it. This isn't the place to analyze why it didn't reach its full potential but it does remind us that we have much to learn about such things.
The 2004 Congress already shows signs of having a much wider impact than just one week in Florianopolis. Until the last few years Latin America was rather a 'dead' region for IVU and this was the first time that anything on this scale had been attempted there. It was always going to be a gamble, but the IVU International Council provided as much support as it could, both practical and financial. The Council then, crucially, stood back and allowed the Brazilians space to run their own show - the result is that all the vegetarian leaders in Latin America will have gained enormous strength and confidence from the stunning achievement that was Florianopolis 2004.
The Argentine Vegetarian Society led the way by holding their first, and highly successful, National Congress just before the IVU event, now they have the support of the Vegetarian Union of Latin America (UVL), launched during the Brazil Congress and which is already planning another meeting in Bolivia next year. The new Union was announced during the IVU General Meeting by one of the Spanish speaking delegates, demonstrating the solidarity between the Spanish and Portuguese speaking veg communities.
The dazzling cruelty-free veg fashion shows, held during the Congress, attracted huge audiences from outside the Congress itself and are now set to become an annual event in their own right. But the biggest result of this Congress has to be the wonderful number of young Brazilians in attendance, a great inspiration for the future and the Brazil Vegetarian Society (only founded last year) is now well into planning it's own National Congress in Sao Paulo next year.
We'll have to wait and see if Florianopolis achieves the full 'Orono effect' for Latin America, but the indications are very promising (see the new IVU Members below). It is just possible that, in years to come, those of us privileged to be there will be able to look back at the time we witnessed one of those rare moments that changed the course of vegetarian history.
Even if you couldn't be there in person you can still share a virtual experience of the Congress - simply go to http://www.ivu.org/congress/2004 where you'll find:
- texts and photos of lectures
- recipes and photos from cookery demonstrations
- hundreds more photos of every aspect of the Congress including the stalls, the resort, dancing, food, people, wildlife, tours
- and the complete cruelty-free veg-fashion shows.
Lots more to come in the next few weeks.
WERE YOU THERE?
- if so we still need more of all the above, lecture texts, recipes, photos of everything.
And, if you attended any previous IVU World Vegetarian Congress we still need more from those too.
- or do you have old copies of your Society's magazines/newsletters with reports on IVU Congresses? If so we would like copies of those too - in any language.
This is all part of our archive of all Congresses since 1908 - the details of the Congresses in the early 1990s (pre mass-internet days) are particularly thin and many of you reading this must have attended some of them.
So do help by sending your old texts and photos to the IVU Webmaster, John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org - if you can't scan them please send photocopies, just ask for the postal address.
For everything we have so far see: http://www.ivu.org/history
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3. Book Review/Reasons for Vegan Diets
Plant Roots: 101 Reasons Why the Human Diet is Rooted Exclusively in Plants
By Rex Bowlby
Reviewed by Dan Balogh www.vegsource.com/articles2/balogh_plant_roots.htm
To be honest, when I first starting flipping through this book I was skeptical. I wondered why we needed yet another book on the merits of veganism. I wondered whether the cheesy clip art at the beginning of each section would try my patience and inhibit my ability to get through all 500 pages. A web search on Rex Bowlby found one previous book by him -- dealing with how to keep kids entertained without spending loads of money. What does this guy know about veganism, I thought?
Gosh was I wrong! Now, after having read the book, and finding it quite easy to do so, I believe it is one of the most important contributions to vegan literature in some time. Yes, there are plenty of good books on veganism out there, as well as journal and magazine articles -- but the value that Bowlby adds with "Plant Roots" is very important. After climbing that mountain of existing information, and absorbing it all, he does an amazing job of isolating the most compelling facts and distilling them into bite-sized portions for us. One can think of "Plant Roots" as the Cliff Notes version of the vegan literature -- only this Cliff Notes is 500 pages long!
"Plant Roots" covers every possible angle from health to the environment, from animal rights to religion. The breadth of material covered is astonishing. The 101 "reasons" of the book’s subtitle actually refers to its 101 chapters, each of which offers dozens of reasons why veganism is our natural diet. To prove that he’s climbed the mountain, Bowlby lists loads of footnotes and rigorously traces them back to one or more of the 1,001 sources listed in the bibliography. When was the last time you saw a bibliography with 1,001 sources?
A 500-page Cliff Notes? That can’t be entertaining, can it? Think again. Bowlby jumps hoops to make the information as accessible and entertaining as possible, concocting fictional radio interviews, movie plots, games and other devices to keep the reader entertained. In most cases it works, at other times it distracts from the main points. Bowlby is at his best, however, when he’s being dead serious, formulating his unique insights into some very memorable analogies.
For example, Bowlby’s observation regarding the American obsession with eating chicken eggs (which is to chickens as the human placenta is to humans) is stark -- "Most likely after witnessing a human birth, and seeing the placenta expelled, our thoughts did not include the desire to cook up an omelet." Later on, when describing the deplorable conditions that broiler chickens are forced to endure during their mercifully short lives Bowlby notes, "Broilers will live their lives crammed four to five in a 16-by-18 inch cage. Imagine living our total life in an elevator with 20 other people." He continues "To reduce the damage, chickens’ beaks are partially removed. Imagine having our fingernails torn off."
At other times the book is very funny. In describing how we eat animals to get vitamins, instead of just directly eating the plants that the animals eat, Bowlby says, "This might be compared to chewing someone else’s already-chewed gum." Taking vitamin supplements to combat our lousy eating habits is like "pu tting out a three-alarm fire with a water pistol."
In the chapter on manipulation, Bowlby takes on the food pyramid. Defenders of the food pyramid, which is far from satisfactory, claim that it’s a good compromise between what is realistic and what is optimal -- after all, folks are going to eat eggs and bacon anyway, so they should be told to merely limit their intake. Bowlby ponders how this reasoning would work when it comes to parenting -- "We know our kids are going to run into traffic anyway, so we should advise them not to do so more than two or three times a week."
At other times Bowlby’s observations are simply brilliant. In the section on pork, after describing the many similarities between pigs and humans, and explaining how pig hearts are now being used as human transplants, he observes, "If the absurdity of replacing our heart, with the heart of the we consumed that ruined our heart isn’t evident, then we should fear for the future of our species."
As if his amazing distillation of the mountain of information into the first 400 pages wasn’t enough, Bowlby closes the book with a 32-page summary of what came before, listing nearly 300 facts and observations. In essence, he first reduces the mountain into chewable bites and then chews those bites for us in the last 32 pages. This alone is worth the price of the book.
So if you’re interested in learning more about veganism, you have a couple of choices. You can begin climbing the mountain yourself (reading all the existing books and articles), or you can read Rex Bowlby’s amazing trip report. Ironically, in this case it seems preferable to chew someone else’s already-chewed bubble gum!
Dan Balogh is a frequent contributor to VegSource.com and a member of EarthSave New York City. He works as a systems engineer in the telecommunications industry. He and his wife have been vegans for several years; their kitty Lulu happily approves.
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4. Rabbi Menashe of Ilya (1767-1832) on Compassion for Animals
Translated by David Sears, author of "The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism
My heart is anxious within me concerning the bitterness and pain of animals in the world! Aside from the destruction that takes place in the world, that each creature swallows alive its weaker counterpart, most of the world's evils result from insufficient sustenance. The masses of humanity pursue their livelihood, but ever fail to reach it. Few are they, less than one in a thousand, whose livelihood is secure. Most of the world struggles to survive, lacking bread and afflicted by hunger and thirst. The naked go without clothing; there is no cover against the cold, and no home in which to dwell. In addition to this there are natural catastrophes and severe and chronic sicknesses, may God protect us.
Without a doubt, the justice of the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be questioned; God did not create His world for vengeance and evil, heaven forbid. However, for all this my heart is aggrieved. Although God, may He be blessed, has been gracious unto me, and has always sustained me and protected me from oppression and starvation, nevertheless my heart has not been untroubled by need -- yet I am ashamed to feel sorry for my own troubles when I behold the great oppression and suffering in the world. I recognize in myself the greatness of God's kindness, how great is His goodness unto me. Yet my main suffering and grief has always been the affliction that my eyes have seen constantly around me in the world. My eyes pine away from this all the day.
I am powerless and lack any solution. Again and again I tell myself, "Perhaps I can find a solution, perhaps it may fall to my lot to bring merit and relief to the world!"
In most of the world, each person exerts himself only for the welfare of a few individuals, for himself and his household and his offspring. Even those who exert themselves with fear of Heaven in order to attain eternal life, their entire motivation is solely to benefit themselves and the lives of their progeny. (Rabbi Menashe of Ilya, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon, from Tikkun Klalli, Hakdamah, cited in Introduction to Alfei Menashe, Part II).
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5. Update on NJ Model Nutrition Policy Proposal
Forwarded messages from Satya Dosapati
Our meeting with Senator Shirley Turner's office (chief of staff, Meredith) occurred as planned.Maureen Pfeffer represented NJ Parent Teacher Association. NJ Coalition made the slide show presentation that went into details of the causes, remedies, roadblocks, fiscal issues to address children health and how to complement NJ Model Nutrition policy. Maureen from NJ PTA presented the material from the Team Nutrition activity. Our input was very well received. We also provided a folder with all presentation materials.
We sought Senator's assistance to sponsor Senate version of A3196 and help us in getting to meet the Governor to express our concerns/issues to NJ Model Nutrition policy.Meredith will present the material to the senator and said she will provide us help to get to meet the Governor's office.If that materializes we hope to have different leaders to present our case to the Governor. Several assemblypersons have assured that they would be joining such a meeting with the Governor.
We are also setting up to meet with Assemblypersons Herbert Conaway and Morgan Stanley who are authors of A3196 before January 15th.
Remember, if we we don't take care of our children, who will. Please give this the priority it is due and come forward to become active. Different states are leading efforts in this and we can also do it in New Jersey.
Have a very happy holidays.
-----------------
Previous message:
Public hearing of NJ Model Nutrition Policy was held on Dec 1st as scheduled. There were about 30-40 of testimonials with almost 90% of testimonials coming from Food industry comprising of food vending machine operators,Coca Cola and other soft drink manufacturers, lobbyists, Food Services Directors etc.There were only about 4 or 5 testimonials representing the interests of health of children (2 of them from NJ Coalition).
It is disheartening to see in the midst of this epidemic, there is hardly anyone representing the children and their interests. DO WE WANT TO LEAVE WHAT OUR CHILDREN EATS TO FOOD INDUSTRY AND THEIR INTERESTS?
While the NJ Model nutrition policy is a step in right direction, it need to address some key issues to make a real difference. Its focus is mainly on removing food of minimal nutrition value and replacing the vending machine contents with 100% fruit drinks and milk. The issues are given below. Currently, we are planning to meet Senator Shirley Turner as well as Governor Codey to express our concerns/issues.
1) It does not address education of healthy eating habits. No matter what policies are made, proper education is key to success. Successful and proven programs such as Antonia Demas from Food Services Institute are key to make any real impact.
2) Overemphasis of milk. Given the multi-cultural nature of our state population, this policy is ignoring the fact that 90% of Asians, 75% of African Americans and 53% of Hispanics are lactose intolerant (while only 15% Caucasians are lactose intolerant).We believe unlimited 2% milk is also not the best solution(given that 2% is misleading because there is 5g saturated fat in 2% milk compared to 8gms saturated fat in whole milk).Also, while many tout milk as an ideal food, the jury is still out there with child specialists like Dr. Spock recommending that milk be completed stopped atvery young age and is increasingly said to be contributing to Asthma, allergies and ear infections.
3) Our suggestion to vending items is to take a balanced approach.We concur with the bill that recently passed in NJ State Assembly (A 3196, http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/A3500/3196_I1.htm).It states that:
>> Before school opens and during school hours, food items sold through a vending machine to a pupil at a public elementary or middle school shall be limited to the following:
(1) whole grain, enriched or fortified grains or grain products;
(2) fruits or 100% fruit juices;
(3) water;
(4) milk or dairy products;
(5) soy-based products;
(6) vegetables or vegetable juices;
(7) electrolyte-replacement beverages; or
(8) nuts, nut spreads, seeds, legumes or trail mixes.
4) This policy does not address enough about the school lunches. Every single health organizations as well as USDA is emphasizing that plant based foods are key for fighting diseases and children are consuming too little of these. While USDA has certain standards, they are lax and are based on weekly consumption. Children usually end up eating high fatty, fiberless food and throw away any other foods. We suggest the following:
>>Include one complete plant based protein option on all lunch items (including la carte items)
>>Do not permit any product that is not whole grain or at the least whole grain should be the primary ingredient.
5) There is growing number of vegetarians in New Jersey state who chose to be vegetarian or vegan for religious, ethnic or ethical reasons and these children are left out of school lunch system. It was suggested that this be handled by each school district. However, it is simply impractical to try to implement this in each school district given the very large number of school districts in each of the 20+ counties in the state. Adding to this is the fact that even where children from this population is few in number, there is a psychological issue when children feel they are left out of the system.
6) Should avoid Foods with minimal nutrition at all times and all days in school campus.
With best regards, Satya Dosapati NJ Coalition for healthy foods in schools
satyad@att.com
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6. Important New Book on Global Threats
Forwarded message:
OUTGROWING THE EARTH: THE FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGE IN AN AGE OF FALLING WATER TABLES AND RISING TEMPERATURES
by Lester R. Brown (W.W. Norton and Co.)
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
Preface from Outgrowing the Earth:
On hearing his political opponent described as a modest chap, Winston Churchill reputedly responded that "he has much to be modest about." Having just completed a book dealing with the increasingly complex issue of world food security, I too feel that I have a lot to be modest about.
Assessing the world food prospect was once rather straightforward, largely a matter of extrapolating, with minor adjustments, historically recent agricultural supply and demand trends. Now suddenly that is all changing. It is no longer just a matter of trends slowing or accelerating; in some cases they are reversing direction.
Grain harvests that were once rising everywhere are now falling in some countries. Fish catches that were once rising are now falling. Irrigated area, once expanding almost everywhere, is now shrinking in some key food-producing regions.
Beyond this, some of the measures that are used to expand food production today, such as overpumping aquifers, almost guarantee a decline in food production tomorrow when the aquifers are depleted and the wells go dry. The same can be said for overplowing and overgrazing. We have entered an era of discontinuity on the food front, an era where making reliable projections is ever more difficult.
New research shows that a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to a decline in wheat, rice, and corn yields of 10 percent. In a century where temperatures could rise by several degrees Celsius, harvests could be devastated.
Although climate change is widely discussed, we are slow to grasp its full meaning. Everyone knows the earth’s temperature is rising, but commodity analysts often condition their projections on weather returning to "normal," failing to realize that with climate now in flux, there is no normal to return to.
Falling water tables are also undermining food security. Water tables are now falling in countries that contain more than half the world’s people. While there is a broad realization that we are facing a future of water shortages, not everyone has connected the dots to see that a future of water shortages will be a future of food shortages.
Perhaps the biggest agricultural reversal in recent times has been the precipitous decline in China’s grain production since 1998. Ten years ago, in Who Will Feed China?, I projected that China’s grain production would soon peak and begin to decline. But I did not anticipate that it would drop by 50 million tons between 1998 and 2004. Since 1998 China has covered this decline by drawing down its once massive stocks of grain. Now stocks are largely depleted and China is turning to the world market. Its purchase of 8 million tons of wheat to import in 2004 could signal the beginning of a shift from a world food economy dominated by surpluses to one dominated by scarcity.
Overnight, China has become the world’s largest wheat importer. Yet it will almost certainly import even more wheat in the future, not to mention vast quantities of rice and corn. It is this potential need to import 30, 40, or 50 million tons of grain a year within the next year or two and the associated emergence of a politics of food scarcity that is likely to put food security on the front page of newspapers.
SNIP
Beyond the Earth’s Limits" (online now in Adobe format). http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
To order a copy, please call 202.496.9290 x 13.
Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste 403
Washington, DC 20036
T: (202) 496.9290
F: (202) 496.9325
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7. Environmental Impacts of Factory Farms
Down on the Filthy Farm
by Jim Motavalli
E Magazine
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2152
An investigative report in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer November 27 makes it plain why large corporate animal farms are terrible neighbors-and why communities that welcomed them in often regret their decision.
o Economic benefits illusory. In rural Paulding County, the 125,000 turkeys, 3,700 cows and 13,000 hogs far outnumber the 20,000 residents. And they don’t pay their way. Only 25 percent of the money from the county’s large dairies reaches the schools. A whopping 75 percent goes to road maintenance (not even covering the extensive damage done by transported cows). But Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey welcomes the big operators. "In Ohio, they’re all family farms," he says. And all farms "are beneficial to us, if they operate in a manner that doesn’t cause environmental problems." Oh, but they do cause environmental problems, say activists and, increasingly, public health officials.
o No local windfalls. Only about one percent of the grain used in the Paulding County dairies is bought locally, according to an Ohio State study. Few local residents work in the megafarms, because the pay at $7.50 an hour is too low. Instead, most of the jobs are filled with Mexican migrant workers.
o Mountains of manure. The biggest problem for local residents is the open lagoons of liquefied manure, which are frequently mismanaged. Three dairies in Paulding County have violated the Clean Water Act, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. For longtime residents like Bob and Diane Thornell, the coming of corporate hog farms means exile from their own 40-acre farm. Both have been diagnosed with brain damage. Ron and Vicki Kadesch were forced to abandon the 80-acre farm they’d lived on for 16 years after a 680-cow dairy farm (complete with manure storage lagoon) moved in nearby.
According to Farm Sanctuary, huge hog farms are the biggest problem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that large farms now dominate the hog industry, with operations housing over 5,000 animals accounting for nearly three-quarters of U.S. pig production. "In 1994," reports Farm Sanctuary from USDA figures, "73 percent of pigs raised in the U.S. were on small farms, and 27 percent were on large farms. In 2001, those numbers were switched, with 73 percent of pigs raised on large farms and 27 percent on small farms." As the farms get bigger, they turn increasingly to intensive confinement systems, which crowd animals tightly together.
And the giant farms are a disaster all around. The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) reports, "The livestock industry’s claim that a productive animal is, by nature, a healthy one is extremely deceptive. The reality is that drugs, hormones, and other chemicals are routinely administered to animals in intensive confinement systems to mask stress and disease and to speed growth. In addition, farm animals have been selectively bred for productivity at the expense of their well-being, and they quickly become worn out. Hundreds of thousands of these animals die every day. Physical disorders brought on by exhaustive production demands are common.
"What’s more," HSUS adds, "dust and toxic gases accumulate in crowded, enclosed systems, causing respiratory diseases and death. Agricultural animal disease annually costs $17 billion in the U.S. Such huge losses are considered acceptable because factory farm profits depend on overall output and the optimal use of space and equipment-not on the well-being of individual animals."
The large farms are a growing human health concern. The New York Times reports, "A growing number of scientists and public health officials around the country say they have traced a variety of health problems faced by neighbors of huge industrial farms to vast amounts of concentrated animal waste, which emit toxic gases while collecting in open-air cesspools or evaporating through sprays. The gases, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, are poisonous. Livestock trade officials and Bush administration regulators say more study is needed before any cause and effect can be proved. But Dr. Kaye H. Kilburn, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies the effects of toxic chemicals on the brain, said evidence strongly supported a link between the farms and the illnesses."
Hog farms have their defenders, of course, including the Heartland and Hudson Institutes. Dennis and Alex Avery of the latter claim that corporate hog farms have not damaged North Carolina’s waterways. "Between 1985 and 1995, they report, "the hog population in [two North Carolina counties] increased tenfold, from 500,000 to 5.5 million animals. By 1997, this area accounted for 10 percent of the total U.S. swine inventory."
The Raleigh News & Observer ran a Pulitzer Prize-winning five-article series in 1995 titled, "Boss Hog: North Carolina’s Pork Revolution," which raised concern about the "9.5 million tons" of hog waste coming from the "megalopolis of seven million animals that live in metal confinement barns" in eastern North Carolina. But the two Averys, citing Duke University studies, say that "there is still no evidence whatsoever that water quality has gotten worse in North Carolina." By suppressing the results of these studies, they charge, "the government of North Carolina effectively stole the great economic opportunity of hog farm expansion from some of its poorest citizens."
But South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux have also realized that the revenue from corporate hog farms isn’t worth the pollution that comes with it. According to a report in Agribusiness Examiner, the Sioux were triumphant last year after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved with the tribe’s rejection of what would have been the third-largest hog farm in the world, sucking up 1.7 million gallons of water from the Ogalalla Aquifer daily. What’s more, an appeals panel determined that Bell Farms was without legal standing to continue operation on the reservation, meaning that 48,000 hogs and their waste were to be moved off the reservation. Native American activist Winona LaDuke calls this "the first such industrial plant closure in history." But it probably won’t be the last.
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8. Vegan Courses at the Tree of Life Institute
Forwarded message from the Tree of Life Institute
Conscious Eating Intensive Learn to Prepare Delicious Creative Live-Food Vegan Meals! February 13th-20th 2005
Bring Pleasure and Health to Family, Friends, and Yourself with Joy and Ease!
Experienced and dedicated chefs instruct and guide you with the latest and most loved recipes, based on the concepts in the book, "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine," by Rebbe Gabriel Cousens M.D., M.D.(H), and the Tree of Life Cafe Chefs
The foundation of the cuisine at the Tree of Life Cafe is food that supports spiritual life. Conscious Eating begins with Conscious Food preparation. The living water contained in food has a memory, a crystal structure that retains our state of presence and the environment in which we are working while preparing the foods. Science has also shown that we influence the smallest particles known, so we can create food that has a deep healing vibration on all levels of creation. At the Tree of Life cafe we teach people that if they leave wi th one skill, that would be, to remain present and in your heart while preparing vegan live foods; in that you have the essence of conscious food preparation.
Course Includes
*·Workbook of your training week
*·Hands On Training (3 hours/ day) - You make the meals!
*·Demonstrations (1 hour/ day) - Watch the experts
*·Expert Guidance and Support
*·Access to the Best Resources, Food, and Equipment
*·Three all vegan organic live food meals each day
*·Covers basic and advanced skills
*·Basic Live Food Chef Certificate
Four group sessions with Gabriel Cousens:
*·Live Foods & Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine
*·How to Individualize your Diet
*·Two Questions and Answer sessions
Daily Kali Ray Tri Yoga with Shanti GoldsCousens Every morning connect with the beautiful flows of Tri Yoga. Loosen up the body and awaken the spirit. Course Reservations: 520 394 2520, ext 201/206, reservations@treeoflife.nu
Basic Program Details: Special Introductory Rate (last time at this price): $1,395 (will rise to $1700 at the next program). Includes 7 nights lodging, meals, nutrition and food prep classes, yoga classes, and evening programs with Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD (H), Diplomat in Ayurveda which include meditation, spiritual Q&A, chanting, mikveh, Smicha L'Shefa, Shamanic Kabbalat Shabbat, and Havdallah.
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9. Article on Jewish teachings on Compassion to Animals
The Journey to Unity - 72 The Divine Tzedekah to All Creatures
By Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen, JVNA advisor and author
On Friday evening, before saying the Sabbath "Kiddush" - blessing of sanctification, we chant the following words: "The heaven and the earth and all their host were brought to their destined completion" (Genesis 2:1). One of the classical commentators, the Ramban, explains that the "host" of creation includes all creatures and plant life on earth. The Hebrew word for "host" is tzava - a group assembled and united for a common purpose. The Midrash on our verse therefore explains that the word tzava is conveying to us the following message: All forms of life serve the unifying Divine purpose, even those creatures that a human being may feel are not needed, such as "flies, fleas, and mosquitoes" (Genesis Rabbah).
Dear Friends,
If all forms of life serve the unifying Divine purpose, then we can understand why the Divine plan entitles each creature to receive what it needs in order to fulfill its purpose within creation. As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes in his commentary on the Torah (Genesis 15:8), this Divine plan is called "tzedek" - one of the biblical terms for justice; moreover, the deeds which fulfill this plan are called "tzedakah" - loving and nurturing deeds which are done with an awareness that the recepients are entitled by the Creator to receive what they need.
In fact, the Creator of all life does tzedekah, and our sages describe the Creator's nurturing of all life in the following manner:
"He does tzedekah and nourishes, supports, and sustains all who come into the world and all that He created." (Tanna Devei Eliyahu 17:8)
Since human beings are created in the Divine Image, they have the capacity to emulate the benevolent tzedekah of the Compassionate One; in fact, there is a mitzvah - Divine mandate - to "go in His ways" (Deuteronomy 28:9). And in order "to go in His ways," we need to remember that the Divine benevolence is extended to all, as it is written: "The Compassionate One is good to all, and His compassion is on all His works" (Psalm 145:9).
If we have a general mitzvah to emulate the benevolent ways of the Compassionate One, including the Divine tzedekah to all life, then why were we given a specific mitzvah to give tzedekah to human beings? The Midrash cites a story which can provide us with the beginning of an answer. In this story, the Midrash cites a dialogue between Avraham, our father, and his ancestor, Shem, the son of Noah - who was also known as "Malki-Tzedek":
Malki -Tzedek and his family were in the ark during the great flood, and Avraham asked Malki-Tzedek: "By what merit were you able to leave the ark and begin a new life?"
Malki-Tzedek responded: "Through the merit of acts of tzedakah that we performed in the ark."
Avraham then asked" "To whom did you give tzedakah? There were no poor people in the ark; there was only you and your family."
Malki-Tzedek replied: "All night, we were busy feeding the livestock, wild creatures, and birds; in fact, we were too busy to sleep!"
Avraham said to himself: "If they were able to leave the ark because of the tzedakah which they gave to livestock, wild creatures, and birds, then how much more would I accomplish if I performed acts of tzedakah for human beings who are created in the Divine image!" He then opened an inn for needy travelers (Genesis 21:33), and he provided them with food, drink, and escort. (Yalkut Shimoni on Psalm 37)
Avraham realized that the greatest service he could do for the entire world is to nurture human beings, who are created in the Divine image. For he understood that human beings have the unique potential to emulate the universal Divine nurturing. It is for this reason that the Creator gave humankind the sacred task "to serve and to protect" the earth (Genesis 2:15). Given the unique potential and role of humankind, we were given a specific mitzvah to give tzedekah to human beings.
In fact, even before the Torah was given, Avraham stressed this mitzvah, as the Compassionate One said about Avraham:
"For I have loved him because he commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Compassionate One to do tzedakah and justice" (Genesis 18:19).
Shalom,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See below)
Related Teachings and Stories:
1. "Tzedek" is the Divine plan that entitles each creature to receive what it needs in order to fulfill its purpose within creation. A person who strives to live according to the Torah's principle of tzedek in all areas of his existence is called a "tzadik." In this spirit, King Solomon wrote, "A tzadik knows the needs of his animal's soul" (Proverbs 12:10). The Malbin, a noted 19th century biblical commentator, explains that the tzadik understands the nature of his animal, and he gives the animal its food in its proper time and according to the amount it needs. He also makes sure to fulfill the Torah's mitzvah to feed one's animal before one feeds oneself. For the tzadik, writes the Malbim, lives according to the following code:
"The tzadik acts according to the laws of tzedek; not only does he act according to these laws with human beings, but also with his own animal."
2. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and his family lived in Germany, which had cold, snowy winters. Rabbi Hirsch's wife would put food on her window sill every morning for the sparrows who gathered there. After her passing, Rabbi Hirsch continued this practice until his last days. When he was on his final sickbed, he told his sons not to forget to take care of the birds. (This story is found in the ArtScroll biography, "Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch" by Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Klugman: For further information on this inspiring biography, visit: www.artscroll.com.)
3. The poor Jews who lived in the villages of Eastern Europe often supplemented their meager income by having some chickens and even a cow or a goat in their yard. The accomplished Talmud scholar, Rabbi Isaac Rosensweig, was one of these poor Jews who tried to make a living by raising chickens. After the German army invaded his village in World War 2, Rabbi Isaac was deported to the death camps. The German soldiers laughed when he cried out beseechingly from the window of the death train, "Go to my house and give the chickens food and water, for they have not touched food and water for a whole day!" (A longer version of this story appears in, "The Vision of Eden - Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism" by David Sears, Orot: www.orot.com.)
4. Despite his aura of reverence for God, Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian (1876-1970), a noted teacher of Mussar (Torah ethics), always exuded gentleness and love, not only to human beings who are created in the Divine image, but to animals as well. Once he noticed a lost kitten that had taken refuge in the yeshiva (Torah academy) of Kfar Chassidim, a village in Northern Israel. Immediately, he became this kitten's patron and concerned himself with all its needs. This elderly sage placed a saucer of milk before the purring kitten every morning, and with pleasure, he watched it take each sip from the milk. (Ibid)
Hazon - Our Universal Vision: www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
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10. A Little Humor
CONCERNED ABOUT TOO MANY CARBS IN YOUR DIET?
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink much red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you!
"The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease." Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead
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** Fair Use Notice** This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners.I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
* Announcements
1. You Can Now Contribute Online to the JVNA
2. Report on the International Vegetarian Congress Meeting Just Completed in Brazil
3. Book Review/Reasons for Vegan Diets
4. Rabbi Menashe of Ilya (1767-1832) on Compassion for Animals
5. Update on NJ Model Nutrition Policy Proposal
6. Important New Book on Global Threats
7. Environmental Impacts of Factory Farms
8. Vegan Courses at the Tree of Life Institute
9. Article on Jewish teachings on Compassion to Animals
10. A Little Humor
Much material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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Announcements
* Please note that previous recent newsletters can be found in a convenient form for reading at the JVNA web site at http://JewishVeg.blogspot.com .
We plan to post this one soon. It might be there by the time you are reading this.
* I am still trying to catch up on material for the JVNA newsletters as so much time recently has been devoted to the Postville controversy. So, some material is still being deferred until the next issue.
* I plan to send out an update re Postville in another special newsletter soon. 1. You Can Now Contribute Online to the JVNA
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1. Looking for an end of the year tax deduction?
There is absolutely no obligation to contribute to the JVNA in order to continue to receive JVNA newsletters or to participate in discussions or activities. However, all contributions will be most welcome and would be used for outreach work to help spread the Jewish vegetarian message, by getting literature to rabbis and other Jewish leaders, perhaps by putting ads in newspapers, and in other ways. Suggestions on how to use contributions and/or about other fundraising ideas are very welcome. Thanks.
You can now easily contribute at the bottom of the "What You Can Do" page of the JVNA web site, at http://JewishVeg.com/do.html . If you prefer, you can send a tax deductible donation to the JVNA c/o Eva and Israel Mossman, 6938 Reliance Road, Federalsburg, MD 21632.
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2. Report on the International Vegetarian Congress Meeting Just Completed in Brazil
Forwarded message:
INTERNATIONAL VEGETARIAN UNION
IVU ONLINE NEWS - December, 2004
WE'RE ALL NUTS ABOUT BRAZIL!
The 36th IVU World Vegetarian Congress has come and gone - Brazil is a wonderful country and few of us wanted to come home again. The final tally was about 500 in residence, representing a record breaking number of 32 different countries. The most frequently heard comment was: "this is the best food ever" (100% vegan of course), and many said that the location was the best ever too - the Costao do Santinho was in an idyllic spot on Santa Catarina Island where the tree-covered mountains meet the sea. It has glorious beaches, an amazing variety of wildlife along the woodland trails and facilities of a very high standard in the resort itself. Add to that a tantalizing choice of up to five lectures and two cookery demos at every session (in a mixture of English, Portuguese and Spanish), plus dance and fashion shows in the evenings, and there really was something for everyone.
But this Congress may turn out to have been of greater sigficance, and we need to go back a bit to put it in perspective. The previous 35 IVU Congresses have all been inspiring for those fortunate enoughto attend them, but just a few have achieved a wider role - 1908, 1929, 1957 and 1975 are the most obvious of those. That last one, 1975, was held at the University of Orono, in Maine, USA, and was the first IVU Congress ever to be held in North America. About 1,500 visitors were in residence, still a record outside of India, and recent commentators have seen it as the launch pad for organized vegetarianism in the region. There were vegetarian groups in North America before 1975 of course, the first being as far back as 1850, but they were generally rather small and isolated, along with a large number of even more isolated individuals. After Orono hundreds of vegetarian societies sprang up, along with a dozens of conferences, festivals and publications - many of them founded by people who first met at that extraordinary Congress.
It doesn't always turn out that way of course - there were high hopes that the 1999 Congress, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, would have a similar effect for the South East Asian region as that was the first there too, but there were never more than a few ripples from it. This isn't the place to analyze why it didn't reach its full potential but it does remind us that we have much to learn about such things.
The 2004 Congress already shows signs of having a much wider impact than just one week in Florianopolis. Until the last few years Latin America was rather a 'dead' region for IVU and this was the first time that anything on this scale had been attempted there. It was always going to be a gamble, but the IVU International Council provided as much support as it could, both practical and financial. The Council then, crucially, stood back and allowed the Brazilians space to run their own show - the result is that all the vegetarian leaders in Latin America will have gained enormous strength and confidence from the stunning achievement that was Florianopolis 2004.
The Argentine Vegetarian Society led the way by holding their first, and highly successful, National Congress just before the IVU event, now they have the support of the Vegetarian Union of Latin America (UVL), launched during the Brazil Congress and which is already planning another meeting in Bolivia next year. The new Union was announced during the IVU General Meeting by one of the Spanish speaking delegates, demonstrating the solidarity between the Spanish and Portuguese speaking veg communities.
The dazzling cruelty-free veg fashion shows, held during the Congress, attracted huge audiences from outside the Congress itself and are now set to become an annual event in their own right. But the biggest result of this Congress has to be the wonderful number of young Brazilians in attendance, a great inspiration for the future and the Brazil Vegetarian Society (only founded last year) is now well into planning it's own National Congress in Sao Paulo next year.
We'll have to wait and see if Florianopolis achieves the full 'Orono effect' for Latin America, but the indications are very promising (see the new IVU Members below). It is just possible that, in years to come, those of us privileged to be there will be able to look back at the time we witnessed one of those rare moments that changed the course of vegetarian history.
Even if you couldn't be there in person you can still share a virtual experience of the Congress - simply go to http://www.ivu.org/congress/2004 where you'll find:
- texts and photos of lectures
- recipes and photos from cookery demonstrations
- hundreds more photos of every aspect of the Congress including the stalls, the resort, dancing, food, people, wildlife, tours
- and the complete cruelty-free veg-fashion shows.
Lots more to come in the next few weeks.
WERE YOU THERE?
- if so we still need more of all the above, lecture texts, recipes, photos of everything.
And, if you attended any previous IVU World Vegetarian Congress we still need more from those too.
- or do you have old copies of your Society's magazines/newsletters with reports on IVU Congresses? If so we would like copies of those too - in any language.
This is all part of our archive of all Congresses since 1908 - the details of the Congresses in the early 1990s (pre mass-internet days) are particularly thin and many of you reading this must have attended some of them.
So do help by sending your old texts and photos to the IVU Webmaster, John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org - if you can't scan them please send photocopies, just ask for the postal address.
For everything we have so far see: http://www.ivu.org/history
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3. Book Review/Reasons for Vegan Diets
Plant Roots: 101 Reasons Why the Human Diet is Rooted Exclusively in Plants
By Rex Bowlby
Reviewed by Dan Balogh www.vegsource.com/articles2/balogh_plant_roots.htm
To be honest, when I first starting flipping through this book I was skeptical. I wondered why we needed yet another book on the merits of veganism. I wondered whether the cheesy clip art at the beginning of each section would try my patience and inhibit my ability to get through all 500 pages. A web search on Rex Bowlby found one previous book by him -- dealing with how to keep kids entertained without spending loads of money. What does this guy know about veganism, I thought?
Gosh was I wrong! Now, after having read the book, and finding it quite easy to do so, I believe it is one of the most important contributions to vegan literature in some time. Yes, there are plenty of good books on veganism out there, as well as journal and magazine articles -- but the value that Bowlby adds with "Plant Roots" is very important. After climbing that mountain of existing information, and absorbing it all, he does an amazing job of isolating the most compelling facts and distilling them into bite-sized portions for us. One can think of "Plant Roots" as the Cliff Notes version of the vegan literature -- only this Cliff Notes is 500 pages long!
"Plant Roots" covers every possible angle from health to the environment, from animal rights to religion. The breadth of material covered is astonishing. The 101 "reasons" of the book’s subtitle actually refers to its 101 chapters, each of which offers dozens of reasons why veganism is our natural diet. To prove that he’s climbed the mountain, Bowlby lists loads of footnotes and rigorously traces them back to one or more of the 1,001 sources listed in the bibliography. When was the last time you saw a bibliography with 1,001 sources?
A 500-page Cliff Notes? That can’t be entertaining, can it? Think again. Bowlby jumps hoops to make the information as accessible and entertaining as possible, concocting fictional radio interviews, movie plots, games and other devices to keep the reader entertained. In most cases it works, at other times it distracts from the main points. Bowlby is at his best, however, when he’s being dead serious, formulating his unique insights into some very memorable analogies.
For example, Bowlby’s observation regarding the American obsession with eating chicken eggs (which is to chickens as the human placenta is to humans) is stark -- "Most likely after witnessing a human birth, and seeing the placenta expelled, our thoughts did not include the desire to cook up an omelet." Later on, when describing the deplorable conditions that broiler chickens are forced to endure during their mercifully short lives Bowlby notes, "Broilers will live their lives crammed four to five in a 16-by-18 inch cage. Imagine living our total life in an elevator with 20 other people." He continues "To reduce the damage, chickens’ beaks are partially removed. Imagine having our fingernails torn off."
At other times the book is very funny. In describing how we eat animals to get vitamins, instead of just directly eating the plants that the animals eat, Bowlby says, "This might be compared to chewing someone else’s already-chewed gum." Taking vitamin supplements to combat our lousy eating habits is like "pu tting out a three-alarm fire with a water pistol."
In the chapter on manipulation, Bowlby takes on the food pyramid. Defenders of the food pyramid, which is far from satisfactory, claim that it’s a good compromise between what is realistic and what is optimal -- after all, folks are going to eat eggs and bacon anyway, so they should be told to merely limit their intake. Bowlby ponders how this reasoning would work when it comes to parenting -- "We know our kids are going to run into traffic anyway, so we should advise them not to do so more than two or three times a week."
At other times Bowlby’s observations are simply brilliant. In the section on pork, after describing the many similarities between pigs and humans, and explaining how pig hearts are now being used as human transplants, he observes, "If the absurdity of replacing our heart, with the heart of the we consumed that ruined our heart isn’t evident, then we should fear for the future of our species."
As if his amazing distillation of the mountain of information into the first 400 pages wasn’t enough, Bowlby closes the book with a 32-page summary of what came before, listing nearly 300 facts and observations. In essence, he first reduces the mountain into chewable bites and then chews those bites for us in the last 32 pages. This alone is worth the price of the book.
So if you’re interested in learning more about veganism, you have a couple of choices. You can begin climbing the mountain yourself (reading all the existing books and articles), or you can read Rex Bowlby’s amazing trip report. Ironically, in this case it seems preferable to chew someone else’s already-chewed bubble gum!
Dan Balogh is a frequent contributor to VegSource.com and a member of EarthSave New York City. He works as a systems engineer in the telecommunications industry. He and his wife have been vegans for several years; their kitty Lulu happily approves.
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4. Rabbi Menashe of Ilya (1767-1832) on Compassion for Animals
Translated by David Sears, author of "The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism
My heart is anxious within me concerning the bitterness and pain of animals in the world! Aside from the destruction that takes place in the world, that each creature swallows alive its weaker counterpart, most of the world's evils result from insufficient sustenance. The masses of humanity pursue their livelihood, but ever fail to reach it. Few are they, less than one in a thousand, whose livelihood is secure. Most of the world struggles to survive, lacking bread and afflicted by hunger and thirst. The naked go without clothing; there is no cover against the cold, and no home in which to dwell. In addition to this there are natural catastrophes and severe and chronic sicknesses, may God protect us.
Without a doubt, the justice of the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be questioned; God did not create His world for vengeance and evil, heaven forbid. However, for all this my heart is aggrieved. Although God, may He be blessed, has been gracious unto me, and has always sustained me and protected me from oppression and starvation, nevertheless my heart has not been untroubled by need -- yet I am ashamed to feel sorry for my own troubles when I behold the great oppression and suffering in the world. I recognize in myself the greatness of God's kindness, how great is His goodness unto me. Yet my main suffering and grief has always been the affliction that my eyes have seen constantly around me in the world. My eyes pine away from this all the day.
I am powerless and lack any solution. Again and again I tell myself, "Perhaps I can find a solution, perhaps it may fall to my lot to bring merit and relief to the world!"
In most of the world, each person exerts himself only for the welfare of a few individuals, for himself and his household and his offspring. Even those who exert themselves with fear of Heaven in order to attain eternal life, their entire motivation is solely to benefit themselves and the lives of their progeny. (Rabbi Menashe of Ilya, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon, from Tikkun Klalli, Hakdamah, cited in Introduction to Alfei Menashe, Part II).
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5. Update on NJ Model Nutrition Policy Proposal
Forwarded messages from Satya Dosapati
Our meeting with Senator Shirley Turner's office (chief of staff, Meredith) occurred as planned.Maureen Pfeffer represented NJ Parent Teacher Association. NJ Coalition made the slide show presentation that went into details of the causes, remedies, roadblocks, fiscal issues to address children health and how to complement NJ Model Nutrition policy. Maureen from NJ PTA presented the material from the Team Nutrition activity. Our input was very well received. We also provided a folder with all presentation materials.
We sought Senator's assistance to sponsor Senate version of A3196 and help us in getting to meet the Governor to express our concerns/issues to NJ Model Nutrition policy.Meredith will present the material to the senator and said she will provide us help to get to meet the Governor's office.If that materializes we hope to have different leaders to present our case to the Governor. Several assemblypersons have assured that they would be joining such a meeting with the Governor.
We are also setting up to meet with Assemblypersons Herbert Conaway and Morgan Stanley who are authors of A3196 before January 15th.
Remember, if we we don't take care of our children, who will. Please give this the priority it is due and come forward to become active. Different states are leading efforts in this and we can also do it in New Jersey.
Have a very happy holidays.
-----------------
Previous message:
Public hearing of NJ Model Nutrition Policy was held on Dec 1st as scheduled. There were about 30-40 of testimonials with almost 90% of testimonials coming from Food industry comprising of food vending machine operators,Coca Cola and other soft drink manufacturers, lobbyists, Food Services Directors etc.There were only about 4 or 5 testimonials representing the interests of health of children (2 of them from NJ Coalition).
It is disheartening to see in the midst of this epidemic, there is hardly anyone representing the children and their interests. DO WE WANT TO LEAVE WHAT OUR CHILDREN EATS TO FOOD INDUSTRY AND THEIR INTERESTS?
While the NJ Model nutrition policy is a step in right direction, it need to address some key issues to make a real difference. Its focus is mainly on removing food of minimal nutrition value and replacing the vending machine contents with 100% fruit drinks and milk. The issues are given below. Currently, we are planning to meet Senator Shirley Turner as well as Governor Codey to express our concerns/issues.
1) It does not address education of healthy eating habits. No matter what policies are made, proper education is key to success. Successful and proven programs such as Antonia Demas from Food Services Institute are key to make any real impact.
2) Overemphasis of milk. Given the multi-cultural nature of our state population, this policy is ignoring the fact that 90% of Asians, 75% of African Americans and 53% of Hispanics are lactose intolerant (while only 15% Caucasians are lactose intolerant).We believe unlimited 2% milk is also not the best solution(given that 2% is misleading because there is 5g saturated fat in 2% milk compared to 8gms saturated fat in whole milk).Also, while many tout milk as an ideal food, the jury is still out there with child specialists like Dr. Spock recommending that milk be completed stopped atvery young age and is increasingly said to be contributing to Asthma, allergies and ear infections.
3) Our suggestion to vending items is to take a balanced approach.We concur with the bill that recently passed in NJ State Assembly (A 3196, http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/A3500/3196_I1.htm).It states that:
>> Before school opens and during school hours, food items sold through a vending machine to a pupil at a public elementary or middle school shall be limited to the following:
(1) whole grain, enriched or fortified grains or grain products;
(2) fruits or 100% fruit juices;
(3) water;
(4) milk or dairy products;
(5) soy-based products;
(6) vegetables or vegetable juices;
(7) electrolyte-replacement beverages; or
(8) nuts, nut spreads, seeds, legumes or trail mixes.
4) This policy does not address enough about the school lunches. Every single health organizations as well as USDA is emphasizing that plant based foods are key for fighting diseases and children are consuming too little of these. While USDA has certain standards, they are lax and are based on weekly consumption. Children usually end up eating high fatty, fiberless food and throw away any other foods. We suggest the following:
>>Include one complete plant based protein option on all lunch items (including la carte items)
>>Do not permit any product that is not whole grain or at the least whole grain should be the primary ingredient.
5) There is growing number of vegetarians in New Jersey state who chose to be vegetarian or vegan for religious, ethnic or ethical reasons and these children are left out of school lunch system. It was suggested that this be handled by each school district. However, it is simply impractical to try to implement this in each school district given the very large number of school districts in each of the 20+ counties in the state. Adding to this is the fact that even where children from this population is few in number, there is a psychological issue when children feel they are left out of the system.
6) Should avoid Foods with minimal nutrition at all times and all days in school campus.
With best regards, Satya Dosapati NJ Coalition for healthy foods in schools
satyad@att.com
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6. Important New Book on Global Threats
Forwarded message:
OUTGROWING THE EARTH: THE FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGE IN AN AGE OF FALLING WATER TABLES AND RISING TEMPERATURES
by Lester R. Brown (W.W. Norton and Co.)
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
Preface from Outgrowing the Earth:
On hearing his political opponent described as a modest chap, Winston Churchill reputedly responded that "he has much to be modest about." Having just completed a book dealing with the increasingly complex issue of world food security, I too feel that I have a lot to be modest about.
Assessing the world food prospect was once rather straightforward, largely a matter of extrapolating, with minor adjustments, historically recent agricultural supply and demand trends. Now suddenly that is all changing. It is no longer just a matter of trends slowing or accelerating; in some cases they are reversing direction.
Grain harvests that were once rising everywhere are now falling in some countries. Fish catches that were once rising are now falling. Irrigated area, once expanding almost everywhere, is now shrinking in some key food-producing regions.
Beyond this, some of the measures that are used to expand food production today, such as overpumping aquifers, almost guarantee a decline in food production tomorrow when the aquifers are depleted and the wells go dry. The same can be said for overplowing and overgrazing. We have entered an era of discontinuity on the food front, an era where making reliable projections is ever more difficult.
New research shows that a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to a decline in wheat, rice, and corn yields of 10 percent. In a century where temperatures could rise by several degrees Celsius, harvests could be devastated.
Although climate change is widely discussed, we are slow to grasp its full meaning. Everyone knows the earth’s temperature is rising, but commodity analysts often condition their projections on weather returning to "normal," failing to realize that with climate now in flux, there is no normal to return to.
Falling water tables are also undermining food security. Water tables are now falling in countries that contain more than half the world’s people. While there is a broad realization that we are facing a future of water shortages, not everyone has connected the dots to see that a future of water shortages will be a future of food shortages.
Perhaps the biggest agricultural reversal in recent times has been the precipitous decline in China’s grain production since 1998. Ten years ago, in Who Will Feed China?, I projected that China’s grain production would soon peak and begin to decline. But I did not anticipate that it would drop by 50 million tons between 1998 and 2004. Since 1998 China has covered this decline by drawing down its once massive stocks of grain. Now stocks are largely depleted and China is turning to the world market. Its purchase of 8 million tons of wheat to import in 2004 could signal the beginning of a shift from a world food economy dominated by surpluses to one dominated by scarcity.
Overnight, China has become the world’s largest wheat importer. Yet it will almost certainly import even more wheat in the future, not to mention vast quantities of rice and corn. It is this potential need to import 30, 40, or 50 million tons of grain a year within the next year or two and the associated emergence of a politics of food scarcity that is likely to put food security on the front page of newspapers.
SNIP
Beyond the Earth’s Limits" (online now in Adobe format). http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
To order a copy, please call 202.496.9290 x 13.
Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste 403
Washington, DC 20036
T: (202) 496.9290
F: (202) 496.9325
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7. Environmental Impacts of Factory Farms
Down on the Filthy Farm
by Jim Motavalli
E Magazine
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2152
An investigative report in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer November 27 makes it plain why large corporate animal farms are terrible neighbors-and why communities that welcomed them in often regret their decision.
o Economic benefits illusory. In rural Paulding County, the 125,000 turkeys, 3,700 cows and 13,000 hogs far outnumber the 20,000 residents. And they don’t pay their way. Only 25 percent of the money from the county’s large dairies reaches the schools. A whopping 75 percent goes to road maintenance (not even covering the extensive damage done by transported cows). But Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey welcomes the big operators. "In Ohio, they’re all family farms," he says. And all farms "are beneficial to us, if they operate in a manner that doesn’t cause environmental problems." Oh, but they do cause environmental problems, say activists and, increasingly, public health officials.
o No local windfalls. Only about one percent of the grain used in the Paulding County dairies is bought locally, according to an Ohio State study. Few local residents work in the megafarms, because the pay at $7.50 an hour is too low. Instead, most of the jobs are filled with Mexican migrant workers.
o Mountains of manure. The biggest problem for local residents is the open lagoons of liquefied manure, which are frequently mismanaged. Three dairies in Paulding County have violated the Clean Water Act, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. For longtime residents like Bob and Diane Thornell, the coming of corporate hog farms means exile from their own 40-acre farm. Both have been diagnosed with brain damage. Ron and Vicki Kadesch were forced to abandon the 80-acre farm they’d lived on for 16 years after a 680-cow dairy farm (complete with manure storage lagoon) moved in nearby.
According to Farm Sanctuary, huge hog farms are the biggest problem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that large farms now dominate the hog industry, with operations housing over 5,000 animals accounting for nearly three-quarters of U.S. pig production. "In 1994," reports Farm Sanctuary from USDA figures, "73 percent of pigs raised in the U.S. were on small farms, and 27 percent were on large farms. In 2001, those numbers were switched, with 73 percent of pigs raised on large farms and 27 percent on small farms." As the farms get bigger, they turn increasingly to intensive confinement systems, which crowd animals tightly together.
And the giant farms are a disaster all around. The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) reports, "The livestock industry’s claim that a productive animal is, by nature, a healthy one is extremely deceptive. The reality is that drugs, hormones, and other chemicals are routinely administered to animals in intensive confinement systems to mask stress and disease and to speed growth. In addition, farm animals have been selectively bred for productivity at the expense of their well-being, and they quickly become worn out. Hundreds of thousands of these animals die every day. Physical disorders brought on by exhaustive production demands are common.
"What’s more," HSUS adds, "dust and toxic gases accumulate in crowded, enclosed systems, causing respiratory diseases and death. Agricultural animal disease annually costs $17 billion in the U.S. Such huge losses are considered acceptable because factory farm profits depend on overall output and the optimal use of space and equipment-not on the well-being of individual animals."
The large farms are a growing human health concern. The New York Times reports, "A growing number of scientists and public health officials around the country say they have traced a variety of health problems faced by neighbors of huge industrial farms to vast amounts of concentrated animal waste, which emit toxic gases while collecting in open-air cesspools or evaporating through sprays. The gases, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, are poisonous. Livestock trade officials and Bush administration regulators say more study is needed before any cause and effect can be proved. But Dr. Kaye H. Kilburn, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies the effects of toxic chemicals on the brain, said evidence strongly supported a link between the farms and the illnesses."
Hog farms have their defenders, of course, including the Heartland and Hudson Institutes. Dennis and Alex Avery of the latter claim that corporate hog farms have not damaged North Carolina’s waterways. "Between 1985 and 1995, they report, "the hog population in [two North Carolina counties] increased tenfold, from 500,000 to 5.5 million animals. By 1997, this area accounted for 10 percent of the total U.S. swine inventory."
The Raleigh News & Observer ran a Pulitzer Prize-winning five-article series in 1995 titled, "Boss Hog: North Carolina’s Pork Revolution," which raised concern about the "9.5 million tons" of hog waste coming from the "megalopolis of seven million animals that live in metal confinement barns" in eastern North Carolina. But the two Averys, citing Duke University studies, say that "there is still no evidence whatsoever that water quality has gotten worse in North Carolina." By suppressing the results of these studies, they charge, "the government of North Carolina effectively stole the great economic opportunity of hog farm expansion from some of its poorest citizens."
But South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux have also realized that the revenue from corporate hog farms isn’t worth the pollution that comes with it. According to a report in Agribusiness Examiner, the Sioux were triumphant last year after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved with the tribe’s rejection of what would have been the third-largest hog farm in the world, sucking up 1.7 million gallons of water from the Ogalalla Aquifer daily. What’s more, an appeals panel determined that Bell Farms was without legal standing to continue operation on the reservation, meaning that 48,000 hogs and their waste were to be moved off the reservation. Native American activist Winona LaDuke calls this "the first such industrial plant closure in history." But it probably won’t be the last.
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8. Vegan Courses at the Tree of Life Institute
Forwarded message from the Tree of Life Institute
Conscious Eating Intensive Learn to Prepare Delicious Creative Live-Food Vegan Meals! February 13th-20th 2005
Bring Pleasure and Health to Family, Friends, and Yourself with Joy and Ease!
Experienced and dedicated chefs instruct and guide you with the latest and most loved recipes, based on the concepts in the book, "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine," by Rebbe Gabriel Cousens M.D., M.D.(H), and the Tree of Life Cafe Chefs
The foundation of the cuisine at the Tree of Life Cafe is food that supports spiritual life. Conscious Eating begins with Conscious Food preparation. The living water contained in food has a memory, a crystal structure that retains our state of presence and the environment in which we are working while preparing the foods. Science has also shown that we influence the smallest particles known, so we can create food that has a deep healing vibration on all levels of creation. At the Tree of Life cafe we teach people that if they leave wi th one skill, that would be, to remain present and in your heart while preparing vegan live foods; in that you have the essence of conscious food preparation.
Course Includes
*·Workbook of your training week
*·Hands On Training (3 hours/ day) - You make the meals!
*·Demonstrations (1 hour/ day) - Watch the experts
*·Expert Guidance and Support
*·Access to the Best Resources, Food, and Equipment
*·Three all vegan organic live food meals each day
*·Covers basic and advanced skills
*·Basic Live Food Chef Certificate
Four group sessions with Gabriel Cousens:
*·Live Foods & Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine
*·How to Individualize your Diet
*·Two Questions and Answer sessions
Daily Kali Ray Tri Yoga with Shanti GoldsCousens Every morning connect with the beautiful flows of Tri Yoga. Loosen up the body and awaken the spirit. Course Reservations: 520 394 2520, ext 201/206, reservations@treeoflife.nu
Basic Program Details: Special Introductory Rate (last time at this price): $1,395 (will rise to $1700 at the next program). Includes 7 nights lodging, meals, nutrition and food prep classes, yoga classes, and evening programs with Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD (H), Diplomat in Ayurveda which include meditation, spiritual Q&A, chanting, mikveh, Smicha L'Shefa, Shamanic Kabbalat Shabbat, and Havdallah.
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9. Article on Jewish teachings on Compassion to Animals
The Journey to Unity - 72 The Divine Tzedekah to All Creatures
By Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen, JVNA advisor and author
On Friday evening, before saying the Sabbath "Kiddush" - blessing of sanctification, we chant the following words: "The heaven and the earth and all their host were brought to their destined completion" (Genesis 2:1). One of the classical commentators, the Ramban, explains that the "host" of creation includes all creatures and plant life on earth. The Hebrew word for "host" is tzava - a group assembled and united for a common purpose. The Midrash on our verse therefore explains that the word tzava is conveying to us the following message: All forms of life serve the unifying Divine purpose, even those creatures that a human being may feel are not needed, such as "flies, fleas, and mosquitoes" (Genesis Rabbah).
Dear Friends,
If all forms of life serve the unifying Divine purpose, then we can understand why the Divine plan entitles each creature to receive what it needs in order to fulfill its purpose within creation. As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes in his commentary on the Torah (Genesis 15:8), this Divine plan is called "tzedek" - one of the biblical terms for justice; moreover, the deeds which fulfill this plan are called "tzedakah" - loving and nurturing deeds which are done with an awareness that the recepients are entitled by the Creator to receive what they need.
In fact, the Creator of all life does tzedekah, and our sages describe the Creator's nurturing of all life in the following manner:
"He does tzedekah and nourishes, supports, and sustains all who come into the world and all that He created." (Tanna Devei Eliyahu 17:8)
Since human beings are created in the Divine Image, they have the capacity to emulate the benevolent tzedekah of the Compassionate One; in fact, there is a mitzvah - Divine mandate - to "go in His ways" (Deuteronomy 28:9). And in order "to go in His ways," we need to remember that the Divine benevolence is extended to all, as it is written: "The Compassionate One is good to all, and His compassion is on all His works" (Psalm 145:9).
If we have a general mitzvah to emulate the benevolent ways of the Compassionate One, including the Divine tzedekah to all life, then why were we given a specific mitzvah to give tzedekah to human beings? The Midrash cites a story which can provide us with the beginning of an answer. In this story, the Midrash cites a dialogue between Avraham, our father, and his ancestor, Shem, the son of Noah - who was also known as "Malki-Tzedek":
Malki -Tzedek and his family were in the ark during the great flood, and Avraham asked Malki-Tzedek: "By what merit were you able to leave the ark and begin a new life?"
Malki-Tzedek responded: "Through the merit of acts of tzedakah that we performed in the ark."
Avraham then asked" "To whom did you give tzedakah? There were no poor people in the ark; there was only you and your family."
Malki-Tzedek replied: "All night, we were busy feeding the livestock, wild creatures, and birds; in fact, we were too busy to sleep!"
Avraham said to himself: "If they were able to leave the ark because of the tzedakah which they gave to livestock, wild creatures, and birds, then how much more would I accomplish if I performed acts of tzedakah for human beings who are created in the Divine image!" He then opened an inn for needy travelers (Genesis 21:33), and he provided them with food, drink, and escort. (Yalkut Shimoni on Psalm 37)
Avraham realized that the greatest service he could do for the entire world is to nurture human beings, who are created in the Divine image. For he understood that human beings have the unique potential to emulate the universal Divine nurturing. It is for this reason that the Creator gave humankind the sacred task "to serve and to protect" the earth (Genesis 2:15). Given the unique potential and role of humankind, we were given a specific mitzvah to give tzedekah to human beings.
In fact, even before the Torah was given, Avraham stressed this mitzvah, as the Compassionate One said about Avraham:
"For I have loved him because he commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Compassionate One to do tzedakah and justice" (Genesis 18:19).
Shalom,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See below)
Related Teachings and Stories:
1. "Tzedek" is the Divine plan that entitles each creature to receive what it needs in order to fulfill its purpose within creation. A person who strives to live according to the Torah's principle of tzedek in all areas of his existence is called a "tzadik." In this spirit, King Solomon wrote, "A tzadik knows the needs of his animal's soul" (Proverbs 12:10). The Malbin, a noted 19th century biblical commentator, explains that the tzadik understands the nature of his animal, and he gives the animal its food in its proper time and according to the amount it needs. He also makes sure to fulfill the Torah's mitzvah to feed one's animal before one feeds oneself. For the tzadik, writes the Malbim, lives according to the following code:
"The tzadik acts according to the laws of tzedek; not only does he act according to these laws with human beings, but also with his own animal."
2. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and his family lived in Germany, which had cold, snowy winters. Rabbi Hirsch's wife would put food on her window sill every morning for the sparrows who gathered there. After her passing, Rabbi Hirsch continued this practice until his last days. When he was on his final sickbed, he told his sons not to forget to take care of the birds. (This story is found in the ArtScroll biography, "Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch" by Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Klugman: For further information on this inspiring biography, visit: www.artscroll.com.)
3. The poor Jews who lived in the villages of Eastern Europe often supplemented their meager income by having some chickens and even a cow or a goat in their yard. The accomplished Talmud scholar, Rabbi Isaac Rosensweig, was one of these poor Jews who tried to make a living by raising chickens. After the German army invaded his village in World War 2, Rabbi Isaac was deported to the death camps. The German soldiers laughed when he cried out beseechingly from the window of the death train, "Go to my house and give the chickens food and water, for they have not touched food and water for a whole day!" (A longer version of this story appears in, "The Vision of Eden - Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism" by David Sears, Orot: www.orot.com.)
4. Despite his aura of reverence for God, Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian (1876-1970), a noted teacher of Mussar (Torah ethics), always exuded gentleness and love, not only to human beings who are created in the Divine image, but to animals as well. Once he noticed a lost kitten that had taken refuge in the yeshiva (Torah academy) of Kfar Chassidim, a village in Northern Israel. Immediately, he became this kitten's patron and concerned himself with all its needs. This elderly sage placed a saucer of milk before the purring kitten every morning, and with pleasure, he watched it take each sip from the milk. (Ibid)
Hazon - Our Universal Vision: www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
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10. A Little Humor
CONCERNED ABOUT TOO MANY CARBS IN YOUR DIET?
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink much red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you!
"The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease." Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead
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** Fair Use Notice** This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners.I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
December 21, 2004
Special JVNA Newsletter - Postville Slaughterhouse Case #7
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the seventh follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups. Please keep writing letters to editors.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. I Will Discuss the Postville Controversy on the Radio/Internet
2. Celebrity Bea Arthur Promotes Changes at Postville Slaughterhouse
3. Latest "Kosher Today" Statements
4. Statement Of Experts Re the Conditions Videotaped at the Postville Slaughterhouse
5. More Sample Letters
6. National Public Radio (NPR) Covers Postville Slaughterhouse Issue
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. I Will Discuss the Postville Controversy on the Radio/Internet
I am scheduled to be a guest on "In Tune With Nature," on WRFG 89.3 FM in Atlanta today (12/21/04) from 6:30 PM to about 6:50 PM EST. The program can be listened to online at: www.wrfg.org
The topic is Agriprocessors, Inc. and how their cruel treatment of animals relates to Judaism and Kosher law.
The broadcast will be live. However, they will not take any callers.
I plan to emphasize that the Postville controversy should be a wake up call to the many ways that animal-based diets and modern intensive livestock agriculture violate basic Jewish values and threaten human life, animals, and environmental sustainability.
Please tune in and please tell others about the program. Thanks.
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2. Celebrity Bea Arthur Promotes Changes at Postville Slaughterhouse
"Golden Girls" Bea Arthur asks for changes at kosher plant
By Associated Press
December 17, 2004
People/Places">http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041217/NEWS08/412170417/section?category=NEWS08&profile=>People/Places
An animal rights organization is getting help from actress Bea Arthur in calling attention to what it says is the abuse of cattle at a kosher slaughterhouse in Postville.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, alleges that Agriprocessors Inc. has violated state law that requires the use of humane methods of slaughter.
PETA recently filed a complaint with the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which helps oversee the plant, calling for the prosecution of Agriprocessors and the Orthodox Union, an international kosher certification agency.
In a letter to Orthodox Union leaders, Arthur, a Jew and longtime PETA supporter, expressed concern with the agency's reaction to allegations against Agriprocessors.
"The OU has defended the abuse at AgriProcessors, and I am concerned that it has not moved more quickly to publicly affirm that Judaism does not tolerate the kind of cruelty that PETA has documented," Arther said in the letter, which was provided to The Associated Press late Thursday.
Arthur encouraged the Orthodox Union to adopt the minimum guidelines developed by the Food Marketing Institute. Those standards provide for equipment, employee training and post-slaughter procedures to reduce the discomfort of animals who are killed without prior stunning, she said.
"Applying these standards in all kosher slaughterhouses will ensure that animals killed for food are given quick deaths, as provided for in Jewish law," Arthur said.
PETA's complaints of abuse came after a seven-week undercover investigation at the Postville plant, which is the world's largest glatt slaughterhouse. An undercover videotape showed animals attempting to stand and bellowing for up to three minutes after slaughter,
Agriprocessors, along with rabbinic leaders, scientists and kosher certification groups, have defended the plant's slaughtering techniques. They say it's natural for animals to experience involuntary reflexive movements after slaughter.
However, since PETA released the videotape, Agriprocessors has agreed to some changes, including a decision last week to let rabbis use an air bolt gun on animals that attempt to regain footing post slaughter.
PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said the star-power of Arthur, who starred in the popular television sitcom "The Golden Girls," brings attention to the situation at Agriprocessors.
"When Bea Arthur speaks, people do listen," he said.
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3. Latest "Kosher Today" Statements
As indicated before, Kosher Today is not a typical news source, but a publication that represents the views of the kosher food industry.
PETA Continues Campaign of Harassment Against Kosher Slaughter New York (http://www.koshertoday.com)
Jewish publications in many parts of the country were inundated last week with letters supporting the position of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in its campaign against Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. [I think we may have had something to do with this -- please keep up the momentum.] Some of the publications told Kosher Today that many of the letters came from outside their areas, suggesting an orchestrated campaign by the radical animal rights organization. PETA has also threatened a lawsuit against Agriprocessors if it does not comply with its demands to change schechita practices. Meanwhile, in a sharply worded letter published in The Forward, Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa and Senior Member of the Court of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, demanded that PETA refrain from further use of my name as questioning the kashrut of the Agriprocessors plant. Rabbi Cohen was cited by the New York Times and others as questioning the schechita at Agri seen on the video. Rabbi Cohen noted: I fully endorse the statement by my O. U. colleagues, Executive Vice President Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb and Rabbi Menachem Genack, the rabbinic administrator of the kashrut division, which declares the schechita of the Agriprocessors plant 100% kosher. I am indeed pleased to note that all rabbis involved reaffirm their commitment to prevent inhumane treatment of animals and congratulate the O. U. together with the Agriprocessors's executives for making further efforts and introducing changes that will stop the procedure that might have caused unnecessary suffering to the animals. [It would be nice if they looked into the realities at factory farms and how they violate Jewish teachings. It is up to us to use the Postville contriversy as an opportunity to raise these issues.] Rabbi Cohen’s letter comes after an unprecedented joint statement by 12 certifying agencies and rabbis of schechita defending schechita practices at Agriprocessors. It also follows the visit by Iowa Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge last week, after which she said: “What I saw today ... was humane. It was quick and there was absolutely no problem with the way they were handled.” [But was what she observed anything like what was going on for years before it was revealed by PETA’s videotapes]. In various correspondence with Jewish organizations, PETA has yet to address its characterization of animal slaughter as a Holocaust or to retract its letter to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat protesting his use of a donkey in a suicide bombing in Israel.
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4. Statement Of Experts Re the Conditions Videotaped at the Postville Slaughterhouse
Message forwarded from PETA:
AgriProcessors Investigation--Rubashkin v. The Experts
Sholom Rubashkin (president of the plant): "What you see on the video is not out of the ordinary... Nothing wrong was, or is being done. There is nothing to admit."
However, 100 percent (literally every single one) of animal welfare experts and veterinarians who have been asked for comment has condemned AgriProcessors for its horrific abuse of animals, as have a growing number of Rabbis, including the entire Conservative Movement (representing one-third of American Jews).
Examples follow (complete statements are at: http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/experts.asp)
Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement (message sent to every Conservative Rabbi, representing one-third of Jewish Americans): "[T]he scenes recorded are not what shehitah should be, nor does it correspond to the Jewish way of treating animals... When a company purporting to be kosher violates the prohibition against tza’ar ba’alei hayyim, causing pain to one of God’s living creatures, that company must answer to the Jewish community, and ultimately, to God."
Dr. Bernard Rollin, Ph.D., Colorado State University, farmed animal expert: "What was depicted on this videotape is one of the most atrocious incidents I have ever witnessed. This plant has shown itself unworthy of even minimal trust, and should be closed down."
Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM, former USDA slaughter inspector (including kosher): "The footage captured by PETA represents the most egregious violation of the USDA Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) I have ever witnessed."
Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., kosher slaughter expert, USDA slaughter consultant: "I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe it. I've been in at least 30 other kosher slaughter plants, and I had never ever seen that kind of procedure done before."
Dr. Chaim Milikowsky, Talmud Scholar, Bar Ilan University, Israel: "It very well may be that any plant performing such types of shechita is guilty of hillul hashem--the desecration of God's name--for to insist that God cares only about his ritual law and not about his moral law is to desecrate His Name."
Rabbi David Rosen, Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland: "I’ve been in many slaughterhouses in my time, and I’ve never seen anything like that."
Holly Cheever, DVM, large animal veterinarian: "...the cattle depicted in this distressing film footage...unequivocally and unarguably indicate that the cattle were conscious and suffering an agonal and inhumane death."
Gary Dahl, Representative, USDA slaughterhouse inspector of 21 years: "...the suffering of these animals was obvious, as was their consciousness after they had their tracheas removed."
Shimon Cohen, Shechita UK (UK based kosher slaughter group): "I don’t know what that is, but it’s not shechita."
Rabbi Ezra Raful, Israel’s Chief Rabbinate: "You see there, it looks like he ripped out the trachea and esophagus. We do not allow the animal to be touched after the shehita until the main part of the bleeding stops ..."
Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz, Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Task Force on Kashrut: "The suffering of these animals during slaughter is sickening. Death is neither quick nor merciful. If this is kosher, then we have a big problem."
Patty Judge, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture: "It's disturbing. Certainly it's nothing I would condone, or any of my meat inspectors or veterinarians would condone."
Rabbi Avrom Pollak, Ph.D., President of Star-K (kosher certification): "None of the practices seen on the video apply in any places Star-K is associated with."
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation: "The abuses in this ostensibly "kosher" slaughterhouse are sickening..."
Dr. Brenda Forsythe, M.S., Ph.D., D.V.M., Expert, Large Animal Behavior: "In my expert opinion, turning frightened animals upside down for the convenience of the slaughterer, cutting body parts out of conscious animals, dumping struggling dying animals out of chutes onto a blood soaked kill floor, using electric cattle prods on immobilized animals, and suspending heavy animals by a single limb prior to unconsciousness all result in unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress and are violations of humane slaughtering practices."
Rabbi Joel Rembaum, Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles: "...according to [the] Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) standards, even with the new policies [enforced] by the OU at the Postville plant, the meat that comes from there is not kosher." [He did indicate that some kashrut groups, including the OU do regard it as kosher.]
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President, The Orthodox Union: Has said that he found the procedure seen in our investigation footage "especially inhumane" and "generally unacceptable."
What about the statements from the Orthodox Union and other kosher certifiers that back AgriProcessors? Although AgriProcessors and its attorney, Nathan Lewin, continue to contend that animals who stand up minutes after their throats have been slit, as many of them did in our investigation, are not conscious, none of the kosher certification agencies have backed this notion. Read closely, the kosher agency and Orthodox Union statements are statements in support of kosher slaughter, not what was happening at AgriProcessors. Our reply to these statements is available here: http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/responseToOUStatement.asp
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5. More Sample Letters
Causing pain, suffering
Letters to the Editor:
We all remember where we were when we learned that John Kennedy was killed, as well as when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists. I can also vividly recall where I was sitting when my grandmother told me how cruelly Gentiles slaughtered animals.
Like most kids, I simply adored my grandma. She had been fiercely independent until failing health caused her to move in with our family.
In spite of everyone’s efforts to make her feel wanted, I know that she felt out of place, and tried not to make waves. So it is with great awe, thinking back over 50 years ago when she finally answered my question of why she kept kosher (which must’ve been a major effort to do in my immediate family’s non-kosher kitchen).
She described for me in great detail how much suffering was involved for the animals -- unless they were slaughtered humanely, viz. by kosher methods.
What truly astonishes me to this day is how grandma Esther, who had witnessed such terrible suffering of her family and friends at the hands of the Cossacks (she escaped from Russia so the torturers were not the Nazis) still had such compassion for the animals.
I love to think that this conversation was one of the major influences in my life that caused me to become vegetarian some 20 years later. Not that grandma was -- but that her being able to include animals in her circle of compassion instilled in me that animals are worthy of our moral consideration.
I believe that she smiles down from heaven that her youngest granddaughter is an animal rights activist. And, I know that she would turn over in her grave, had she known about the gratuitous suffering inflicted on animals at a kosher slaughterhouse.
When People For The Ethical Treatment (PETA) went undercover at this kosher slaughterhouse, they did not uncover compassion. Far from it. And to have fellow Jews defending these atrocities saddens me beyond words.
It must be made known that this slaughterhouse is not worse than other Slaughterhouses [please see statements by veterinarians and others above.]; they are all institutions of torture and suffering. What is truly sad though is that we Jews, who have seen so much suffering, could also be the cause of such pain and suffering.
L'Chayim: To Life. To ours. To yours. To theirs.
Going veg is the best thing that we can do on this planet to teach compassion to our children.
Jayn Brotman
Cincinnati
-------------------
Dear Mr. Chaim Abrams,
I am writing to you as an Orthodox Jew, whose family is Lubavitch. I have heard that Agriprocessers are planning an expansion of its slaughthouse. For the following reasons, it is crucial that your factory build strictly according to the plans outlined in www.grandin.com:
1. There are enormous numbers of Americans, both Jews and non-Jews, who eat meat but are deeply troubled that the animals are roughly dealt with on their way to slaughter, and how they are turned upside down during the slaughter. If the animal was humanely treated on its way to and during its shechita, this could be advertised on the label of your meat. For example, something like: "Our animals were humanely handled according to Temple Grandin's modern designs for humane slaughterhouses, according to animal behavioral studies. For further information, see www.grandin.com." This would surely cause Agriprocessor's image to soar, along with its profits.
2. Temple Grandin's designs result in fewer injuries along the way, hence monetary savings for Agriprocessors.
3. Although the Torah allows us to eat meat and to use animals for important medical studies, it is strictly forbidden to cause avoidable suffering. Upsetting Hashem by causing such mass avoidable suffering is not good for the Jews.
4. We are the Chosen People, and as such, you have the opportunity to make Agriprocessors a kiddush Hashem for the Jewish People by modelling what a humane slaughtering set-up looks like to the rest of the world. Please take the bad press you have been getting lately with courage to make complete compassionate and holy changes.
I would be very grateful if you could send to me the email addresses of every person who is involved with the decision-making for the design of the new plant. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely, Tova S___
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6. National Public Radio (NPR) Covers Postville Slaughterhouse Issue
Nation PETA Footage Puts Kosher Slaughterhouse on Defensive
Listen at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4236845
All Things Considered, December 20, 2004
* A grisly videotape recorded inside a kosher slaughterhouse depicts what the animal rights group PETA calls shocking images of animal cruelty. But people in Iowa and kosher authorities are expressing support for the owners of the slaughterhouse. NPR's Greg Allen reports.
Forwarded message from Laura Slitt:
Dear Friends and Activists, Perhaps we are at the cutting edge of penetrating mainstream media with animal issues. At 4:50 pm this evening, my neighbor called me from his cell phone to encourage me to turn on NPR, as there was a report that he thought would please me. A reporter whose name is Glen Allen, from NPR in the mid-west, was airing a report on the PETA investigation at the "kosher" slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. There were comments from Bruce Friedrich and Temple Grandin as well as defensive comments from Agriprocessors and others who attacked the messenger, all too common after these issues surface. All in all, it was a fair and balanced piece after which I called Mr. Allen at NPR at 202-513-2000 in DC, asked for his extension, and was able to leave him a message thanking him for the piece, encouraging FAR MORE coverage about under reported animal issues. I hope everyone takes a moment to acknowledge NPR for airing the information that talked about heinous animal cruelty.
Laura Slitt
All Things Considered takes comments at: atc@npr.org
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=========================
** Fair Use Notice** This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
December 19, 2004
12/19/04 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
Because of my recent focus on the Postville slaughterhouse case, I have fallen far behind on regular JVNA newsletters. So, I hope to get caught up soon, but meanwhile here are some recent items.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. JVNA Newsletters Can Now Be Found on the JVNA Web Site
2. Tu B'Shvat is Coming/Relating it to Vegetarianism and Environmental Awareness and Activism
3. Jewish Vegetarian Recipes/Please Send Entries
4. Major Environmental Campaign Planned
5. Making the Next Jewish Year a “Year of the Environment”
6. Great Article: Relating Environment Problems to the Production of Animal Products
7. Action Alert: Tell the FDA to Ban Starving of Hens by December 21!
8. The Tree of Life Foundation/Working for a Kosher, Vegetarian, Spiritual Community
9. COEJL's Executive Director on Radio Sunday Morning
10. Building an Activist Internet Environmental Group
Much material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
====================
1. JVNA newsletters can now be found on the JVNA web site (www.JewishVeg.com) at JewishVeg.blogspot.com in a more readable form.
Suggestions welcome.
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====================
2. Tu B'Shvat is Coming/Relating it to Vegetarianism and Environmental Awareness and Activism
Now that Chanukah is over, Tu B'Shvat is about 5 weeks away. Since it is Judaism's most environmental and vegetarian-related holiday, we should consider how to use it to help promote vegetarianism, environmental awareness and activism, and related issues. Please see my articles on these issues at the holiday and environmental sections of JewishVeg.com/schwartz. Please consider writing an article and/or a letter to the editor based on these articles. Suggestions welcome. Thanks.
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3. Jewish Vegetarian Recipes/Please Send Entries
a. A group in my community is producing a recipe book as a fund raiser. They are looking for recipes involving 5 or less items (not counting salt and pepper). My friend and neighbor Joel Goldberg, a JVNA reader and sometimes contributor, suggests that it would be great to have a vegetarian section in the recipe book. So, please send me your entries, along with your name and a brief ID. Thanks.
b. It is too late for this year, but Noam Mohr has created a new section of the recipe page for Hannukah recipes. It's at:
http://JewishVeg.com/recipes.html#Chanukah
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4. Major Environmental Campaign Planned
Forwarded message:
On January 1 -Think Globally, Act Locally- will not just be a slogan!
We, The World
Making A Difference - For Life
211 East 43rd Street Suite 710 / New York, NY 10017 / USA
Phone: 212-867-0846 / Fax: 212-867-0844 / Info@WeTheWorld.org
www.WeTheWorld.org
Volunteer Contribute
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Own 10% Account - A Global New Thought For World Peace
Dear Friends,
On January 1, 2005 "Think Globally, Act Locally" will not just be a slogan.
We have signed on to a compelling idea that will be launched January 1, 2005. And we would like to invite you, your affiliated organization(s) and members to join many others around the world in promoting the following simple yet profound action:
Starting January 1, 2005 commit at least 10% of your money/resources or your time to working for a better world. This means starting your own special bank account with your own money and/or setting up a regular schedule for service and volunteer work.
The goal is to disseminate this idea globally starting January 1st.
Co-Sponsors
We, The World (WeTheWorld.org)
World Peace 2000 (supportworldpeace2000.org)
Global Family Day (www.gfday.com)
If you would like to be part of this initiative, we are requesting that you pass this along to your affiliated organizations/members, friends, co-workers and others.
And we encourage you to copy and paste the webpage (www.WeTheWorld.org/globalthought) on your website and exchange links with us. We will post your links in the Co-Sponsors section.
Please contact us at globalthought@WeTheWorld.org with comments, questions and to be listed as a Co-Sponsor.
For more information about this please go to: WeTheWorld.org/globalthought
This initiative builds on our recent 11 Days of Global Unity and the development of the Global Resources Network designed to accelerate the formation of a powerful international movement of concerned and informed people that generates political will and the enlightened consumer power needed to create a world that truly works for all! The Global Resources Network will be a major source of socially conscious organizations, businesses, events and actions where people can effectively put their 10% to good use!
We are looking forward to hearing from you and working with you on this!
Take care,
Rick Ulfik
Director of We The World
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5. Making the Next Jewish Year a “Year of the Environment”
Along with some other activists involved with COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life), I am spearheading a drive to make the next Jewish year a “Year of the Environment.” The rational and some proposed activities are in my letter below to some COEJL activists. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions or if you would like to be involved. Thanks.
Shalom,
As many of you know, there has been a recent discussion at the COEJL listserv (kol-chai@jtsa.edu) re the possibility of declaring the next Hebrew year (starting on Rosh Hashanah) a “Year of the Environment.”
While much thinking still has to be done re this, and your suggestions are very welcome, some possibilities for activities during that year would be:
* Get environmental materials to rabbis and congregational leaders and encourage their use for sermons, classes, and other synagogue activities;
* Get environmental materials to principals and other Jewish educators and encourage their use in classes, assemblies, and projects;
* Try to affect public policy through letter writing campaigns and in other ways;
* Try to increase awareness of environmental threats in Israel and encourage support of Israeli groups that are working to reduce these threats. Years ago, when Yossi Sarid was Israel's Minister of the Environment, Israel had a very successful “Year of the Environment,” an event supported by many Israeli ministries, with events in most schools and at many other sites throughout the country. Perhaps a similar event could be held this coming year.
* Encourage the Jewish media to have special sections devoted to discussions of environmental issues.
* Perhaps try to broaden it to non-Jewish groups, starting on New Years Day, January 1, 2006.
* Once we get into it, I am sure that many additional ideas will be developed. Local groups would be encouraged to come up with projects they felt comfortable working on.
Here are some reasons why it is very important to have a “Year of the Environment.”
* The world is threatened as perhaps never before by global scorching,
species extinction, widening water shortages, deforestation and much more.
* Judaism has powerful teachings re environmental sustainability and
stewardship.
* We have perhaps the most anti-environmental national administration in US history.
* The Jewish establishment is generally ignoring the issue.
* COEJL is in a very good position to provide leadership on environment
issues, based on its record, its leadership, and the many talented, dedicated, knowledgable, experienced people on this listserv and people whom listserv members are in contact with.
* It would help revitalize/renew Judaism, by showing that our eternal
teachings have relevance in responding to modern challenges.
* It would help improve the image of Jews and Judaism.
* When our grandchildren ask what we did to try to avoid environmental
disasters, we will have a much better answer.
* We are obligated, for as Pirke Avot (the Ethics of the Fathers) states, "It is not our obligation to complete the task, but we are not free to desist from doing all that we can."
I am sure others can find other important arguments, but I hope this will serve as a start.
Below is a message from Lana Fayman whish provides additional reasons for having a “Year of the Environment”:
“I think a 'Year of the Environment' is a great idea and I hope it works out. I would point out that participating in such a program could be used as outreach to many Jews who aren't attracted to religious services, JCC programs, etc. and one other thing that bothers me, is that almost all work parties or ways to participate in environmental programs are conducted on Saturdays, so I usually don't go to them even though I would like to. Another point is that by having a Jewish environmental program, we could get people from all the different branches to work together. For example, here in San Diego, we almost never interact with Jews from other synagogues - it would be great to have something that we could all do together, it might help promote another point of Jewish unity besides Israel, and we're not even unified on that one!”
We plan to seek support for this project from COEJL and other Jewish environmental groups.
Please let me know what you think of the idea of having a “Year of the Environment” and please send me any suggestions that you have about it.
If you would like to be on an ad hoc committee trying to get the “Year of the Environment” off the ground, and/or if you have any suggestions, questions, or concerns re the concept, please let me know (rschw12345@aol.com).
If you would like to make a response that I can use to encourage others to support this project, please do so.
Many thanks,
Richard (Schwartz)
For an ad hoc committee planning for the “Year of the Environment”
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6. Great Article: Relating Environment Problems to the Production of Animal Products
Forwarded article:
If You Recycle, Why Are You Eating Meat
By Gordon, Andrea
Published: Thursday, December 9, 2004
The driver of the super eco-conscious hybrid car stopped at the traffic light caught my eye. Not because he had an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt. Or because he flashed me a sexy smile. But because he was happily munching chicken nuggets. Sighing, I pedaled off. Hypocrisy is such a turnoff.
If the Brad Pitt look alike paid up to a few thousand dollars more for an
environmentally friendly car, he likely cared about the environment. He
also knew his actions impact the earth. So what was he doing eating meat?
There is a direct relationship between eating meat and the environment. Quite simply, you can't be a meat-eating environmentalist. Sorry folks.
The Swedish government recently initiated a report entitled, Water - More Nutrition Per Drop. The report, released at the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, found that our current "demand for water-intensive commodities like meat and dairy products ... [is]
unsustainable. They involve large-scale groundwater overexploitation and widespread river depletion, which pose a major threat to biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems."
The World Watch Institute reported that only eight ounces of beef needed an incredible 25,000 liters of water. The average American consumes 256 pounds of meat annually. You do the math.
Here are some more quick facts:
87% of all agricultural land in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food. In other words, twenty times more land is needed to feed a meat-eater than to feed a pure vegetarian. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the United States. Finally, livestock emit 16% of the world's annual production of methane.
If all of this is news to you, there is a reason for it. Money. And lots of it. The agricultural, beef and dairy industries have a staggering amount of money at stake to ensure consumers buy their products. For example, the Got Milk? campaign, complete with celebrity backing and television ads, came with a hefty price tag. These industries resist changing the products they market, just as the automobile industry has resisted mass-producing hybrid cars until recently.
Recycling is based on the premise that individual actions have a significant and measurable effect on our world, particularly when there are over 6 billion humans. Most of us realize this. We act on this realization every time we throw our empty Corona bottles in the recycling bin instead of the rubbish. Recycling is easy, often free and quickly becoming a social norm.
Eliminating meat from your diet is even easier. Just don't buy it. There are plenty of tasty and healthier alternatives.
If the environmental effects of overconsumption of animal products do not affect us in our lifetime, they will surely affect the lives of our children and grandchildren. The day may eventually come when society frowns upon eating meat and dairy and considers it bad for the environment. How soon this day comes may depend on your next meal.
FULL STORY:
http://www.americanjurist.net/news/2004/12/09/Perspectives/If.You.Recycyle.Why.Are.You.Eating.Meat-826849.shtml
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7. Action Alert: Tell the FDA to Ban Forced Molting by December 21!
TELL THE FDA TO BAN FORCED MOLTING
The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) newly published requirementsfor egg producers contain little respite for the millions of laying hens languishing in factory farms. Instead, the requirements include measures such as improving hen house cleaning and rodent control aimed at reducing Salmonella enteriditis (SE) contamination of eggs. This particular bacterium is responsible for sickening hundreds of thousands of people and causing scores of deaths.
Absent from the list is a ban on forced molting, a common industry practice that entails epriving birds of food for up to 14 days. Producers essentially starve the birds to shock them into another egg production cycle. This practice is extremely stressful for the hens and causes mortality levels to spike. The FDA has not prohibited this callous and inhumane practice despite strong scientific evidence that the stress it causes compromises the birds' immunity systems and leaves them more vulnerable to SE infection.
Judaism strongly opposes starving animals. The Talmud insists, "A person should not eat or drink before first providing for his animals." Your help is needed urgently.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please contact the FDA by December 21st and tell them to prohibit forced molting for the sake of the birds and public health. The e-mail address is fdadockets@oc.fda.gov.
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Be sure to include the following in the subject line of your e-mail or letter: Docket Nos. 1996P-0418, 1997P-0197, 1998P-0203, and 2000N-050 and RIN number 0910-AC14
THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR ANIMALS --- TODAY!!
For other current action alerts on helping vegetarian-related legislation, visit http://JewishVeg.com/do.html
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8. The Tree of Life Foundation/Working for a Kosher, Vegetarian, Spiritual Community
Forwarded message from the Tree of Life Foundation:
The Tree of Life helps empower the individual and our culture into a kosher, vegetarian lifestyle through commitment to the highest spiritual ideals of Judaism.
The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center is directed by Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, M.D., the physician of Shlomo Carlebach, Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi, and many more ravs. Gabriel also faciliates the services and meditations on Kabbalat Shabbat, Havdallah, Holy Days, and sunset daily, while Shanti GoldsCousens, Gabriel's wife and Co-Director of the Tree of Life, teaches incredible live-food challah preparation classes on Friday mornings. Whether you are personalizing and deepening your current experience of a vegetarian or live-food diet, or transitioning into vegetarianism, the Tree of Life programs offers tools that will alter your life. We believe the fusion of spiritual practice, individualized nutritional expertise, supportive staff, and connection to the wide mountain-desert landscapes is the best way for success. The kitchen of the the Tree of Life Cafe is rabbinically kosher-approved.
Gabriel Cousens teaches intensive courses and retreats including Spiritual Fasting, the Zero Point Process, and Conscious Eating. Individuals can register for these programs. A group that registers in large numbers (12 or more) can also reserve space for additional events while you are staying at the Tree of Life to meet the group's interests.
Another option is to rent our land and facilities, which include 172 acres a vast hiking area, a prayer and meditation house, and a kosher mikveh in an Eden-inspired garden. Construction of the simple lodgings (Casitas) is non-toxic straw-bale, with either one or two persons per room. We are on the same degree north of the equator as Eretz Yisrael, where the high desert meets the oak trees. The facilities and staff enable your retreat to emphasize the group's interests, ranging from prayerful silence, meditation, and study to hands-on vegan live-food food preparation instruction to getting into the heart of nature. And if you would like Gabriel Cousens to share in the teaching, this may be scheduled as well pending Gabriel's schedule.
Whole Person Healing is a third option--the most medically rigorous--offering an advanced health evaluation, detailed advice for naturopathic self-healing presciptions, and full engagement in the Tree of Life spiritual experience.
Gabriel Cousens will visit Los Angeles on April 3 and New York City May 22 to release his new book: Spiritual Nutrition.
The Tree of Life Foundation - An Oasis for Awakening
686 Harshaw Road
HC2 Box 302
Patagonia, AZ 85624
520-394-2520 ext. 209
info@treeoflife.nu
www.treeoflife.nu
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9. COEJL's Executive Director on Radio Sunday Morning
Forwarded message from COEJL:
COEJL's executive director Adam Stern will discuss Jewish perspectives on protecting the environment on Air America Radio this Sunday, December 19, 2004 at 7:00 am. Adam will be interviewed by EcoTalk program host, Betsy Rosenberg, in a lively one-hour program. Rev. Sally Bingham, an Episcopalian minister who leads efforts to help churches purchase renewable energy, will also join the program to present a Christian point of view.
You can listen to the show on any of the AM stations listed below, or on the Internet at http://www.airamericaradio.com . We know the program is being broadcast at an early hour, but please join us.
Albuquerque, NM - KABQ 1350AM
Anchorage, AK - KUDO 1080AM
Ann Arbor, MI - WLBY 1290AM
Atlanta, GA - WWAA 1690AM
Denver, CO - KKZN 760AM
Eugene, OR - KOPT 1450AM
Madison, WI - WXXM 92.1 FM
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - KSNB 950AM
New York City - WLIB 1190AM
Phoenix, AZ - KXXT 1010AM
Portland, ME - WLVP 870AM
San Diego, CA - KLSD 1360AM
San Francisco, CA - KQKE 960AM
San Luis Obispo, CA - KYNS 1340AM
Santa Fe, NM - KTRC 1260AM
Seattle, WA - KPTK 1090AM
Air America Radio is the progressive radio station which features Al
Franken and others. EcoTalk is the leading commercial radio program
focused exclusively on environmental issues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbara Lerman-Golomb Communications Director Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)
work (212) 532-7436 email address: info@coejl.org web site: www.coejl.org
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10. Building an Activist Internet Environmental Group
Forwarded message:
We're building an army, and you are among the first to sign up. GoMainStream.org was launched when Mark Sundeen and I joined up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and asked ourselves -- could we combine Bobby's dedication to defending the environment with our lessons from the Dean campaign and revitalize the conservation movement in the United States?
We formed GoMainStream.org as an answer to that question.
We formed GoMainStream.org because more than 90% of Americans hold our values in common -- clean air, clean water, open lands -- yet 40% think that "most environmental activists don't really care about people."
We formed GoMainStream because the corporate plunderers have hijacked our public lands and the public process.
And we formed GoMainStream because they've hijacked our language. They call polluting the air "Clear Skies" -- and they call it "development" and "access" when they lock Americans out of the public lands that we hike, hunt, fish and love.
We're going to change that. And we're going to change it by building a new coalition from the bottom-up -- an organization that helps Americans take action and that works to reframe the debate about the future of our country.
We're going to do it by connecting hunters fighting to maintain access to elk habitat with suburbanites combating urban sprawl.
Because conservation is not an issue of right or left, or urban versus rural, or red versus blue.
It's an issue of who we are as Americans.
In the coming months, we'll be rolling out the online elements of GoMainStream.org -- tools that will speed up the networking potential of online activists, and that empower Americans to defend our way of life.
But first we have to build the army, and you can help today.
Take one minute to forward this email to everyone you know, and ask them to join us. They can sign up by clicking here:
http://www.gomainstream.org
Thank you for being with us at the very beginning.
Mathew Gross
GoMainStream.org
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”
Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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==========================
** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Because of my recent focus on the Postville slaughterhouse case, I have fallen far behind on regular JVNA newsletters. So, I hope to get caught up soon, but meanwhile here are some recent items.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. JVNA Newsletters Can Now Be Found on the JVNA Web Site
2. Tu B'Shvat is Coming/Relating it to Vegetarianism and Environmental Awareness and Activism
3. Jewish Vegetarian Recipes/Please Send Entries
4. Major Environmental Campaign Planned
5. Making the Next Jewish Year a “Year of the Environment”
6. Great Article: Relating Environment Problems to the Production of Animal Products
7. Action Alert: Tell the FDA to Ban Starving of Hens by December 21!
8. The Tree of Life Foundation/Working for a Kosher, Vegetarian, Spiritual Community
9. COEJL's Executive Director on Radio Sunday Morning
10. Building an Activist Internet Environmental Group
Much material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
====================
1. JVNA newsletters can now be found on the JVNA web site (www.JewishVeg.com) at JewishVeg.blogspot.com in a more readable form.
Suggestions welcome.
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====================
2. Tu B'Shvat is Coming/Relating it to Vegetarianism and Environmental Awareness and Activism
Now that Chanukah is over, Tu B'Shvat is about 5 weeks away. Since it is Judaism's most environmental and vegetarian-related holiday, we should consider how to use it to help promote vegetarianism, environmental awareness and activism, and related issues. Please see my articles on these issues at the holiday and environmental sections of JewishVeg.com/schwartz. Please consider writing an article and/or a letter to the editor based on these articles. Suggestions welcome. Thanks.
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3. Jewish Vegetarian Recipes/Please Send Entries
a. A group in my community is producing a recipe book as a fund raiser. They are looking for recipes involving 5 or less items (not counting salt and pepper). My friend and neighbor Joel Goldberg, a JVNA reader and sometimes contributor, suggests that it would be great to have a vegetarian section in the recipe book. So, please send me your entries, along with your name and a brief ID. Thanks.
b. It is too late for this year, but Noam Mohr has created a new section of the recipe page for Hannukah recipes. It's at:
http://JewishVeg.com/recipes.html#Chanukah
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4. Major Environmental Campaign Planned
Forwarded message:
On January 1 -Think Globally, Act Locally- will not just be a slogan!
We, The World
Making A Difference - For Life
211 East 43rd Street Suite 710 / New York, NY 10017 / USA
Phone: 212-867-0846 / Fax: 212-867-0844 / Info@WeTheWorld.org
www.WeTheWorld.org
Volunteer Contribute
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Your Own 10% Account - A Global New Thought For World Peace
Dear Friends,
On January 1, 2005 "Think Globally, Act Locally" will not just be a slogan.
We have signed on to a compelling idea that will be launched January 1, 2005. And we would like to invite you, your affiliated organization(s) and members to join many others around the world in promoting the following simple yet profound action:
Starting January 1, 2005 commit at least 10% of your money/resources or your time to working for a better world. This means starting your own special bank account with your own money and/or setting up a regular schedule for service and volunteer work.
The goal is to disseminate this idea globally starting January 1st.
Co-Sponsors
We, The World (WeTheWorld.org)
World Peace 2000 (supportworldpeace2000.org)
Global Family Day (www.gfday.com)
If you would like to be part of this initiative, we are requesting that you pass this along to your affiliated organizations/members, friends, co-workers and others.
And we encourage you to copy and paste the webpage (www.WeTheWorld.org/globalthought) on your website and exchange links with us. We will post your links in the Co-Sponsors section.
Please contact us at globalthought@WeTheWorld.org with comments, questions and to be listed as a Co-Sponsor.
For more information about this please go to: WeTheWorld.org/globalthought
This initiative builds on our recent 11 Days of Global Unity and the development of the Global Resources Network designed to accelerate the formation of a powerful international movement of concerned and informed people that generates political will and the enlightened consumer power needed to create a world that truly works for all! The Global Resources Network will be a major source of socially conscious organizations, businesses, events and actions where people can effectively put their 10% to good use!
We are looking forward to hearing from you and working with you on this!
Take care,
Rick Ulfik
Director of We The World
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5. Making the Next Jewish Year a “Year of the Environment”
Along with some other activists involved with COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life), I am spearheading a drive to make the next Jewish year a “Year of the Environment.” The rational and some proposed activities are in my letter below to some COEJL activists. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions or if you would like to be involved. Thanks.
Shalom,
As many of you know, there has been a recent discussion at the COEJL listserv (kol-chai@jtsa.edu) re the possibility of declaring the next Hebrew year (starting on Rosh Hashanah) a “Year of the Environment.”
While much thinking still has to be done re this, and your suggestions are very welcome, some possibilities for activities during that year would be:
* Get environmental materials to rabbis and congregational leaders and encourage their use for sermons, classes, and other synagogue activities;
* Get environmental materials to principals and other Jewish educators and encourage their use in classes, assemblies, and projects;
* Try to affect public policy through letter writing campaigns and in other ways;
* Try to increase awareness of environmental threats in Israel and encourage support of Israeli groups that are working to reduce these threats. Years ago, when Yossi Sarid was Israel's Minister of the Environment, Israel had a very successful “Year of the Environment,” an event supported by many Israeli ministries, with events in most schools and at many other sites throughout the country. Perhaps a similar event could be held this coming year.
* Encourage the Jewish media to have special sections devoted to discussions of environmental issues.
* Perhaps try to broaden it to non-Jewish groups, starting on New Years Day, January 1, 2006.
* Once we get into it, I am sure that many additional ideas will be developed. Local groups would be encouraged to come up with projects they felt comfortable working on.
Here are some reasons why it is very important to have a “Year of the Environment.”
* The world is threatened as perhaps never before by global scorching,
species extinction, widening water shortages, deforestation and much more.
* Judaism has powerful teachings re environmental sustainability and
stewardship.
* We have perhaps the most anti-environmental national administration in US history.
* The Jewish establishment is generally ignoring the issue.
* COEJL is in a very good position to provide leadership on environment
issues, based on its record, its leadership, and the many talented, dedicated, knowledgable, experienced people on this listserv and people whom listserv members are in contact with.
* It would help revitalize/renew Judaism, by showing that our eternal
teachings have relevance in responding to modern challenges.
* It would help improve the image of Jews and Judaism.
* When our grandchildren ask what we did to try to avoid environmental
disasters, we will have a much better answer.
* We are obligated, for as Pirke Avot (the Ethics of the Fathers) states, "It is not our obligation to complete the task, but we are not free to desist from doing all that we can."
I am sure others can find other important arguments, but I hope this will serve as a start.
Below is a message from Lana Fayman whish provides additional reasons for having a “Year of the Environment”:
“I think a 'Year of the Environment' is a great idea and I hope it works out. I would point out that participating in such a program could be used as outreach to many Jews who aren't attracted to religious services, JCC programs, etc. and one other thing that bothers me, is that almost all work parties or ways to participate in environmental programs are conducted on Saturdays, so I usually don't go to them even though I would like to. Another point is that by having a Jewish environmental program, we could get people from all the different branches to work together. For example, here in San Diego, we almost never interact with Jews from other synagogues - it would be great to have something that we could all do together, it might help promote another point of Jewish unity besides Israel, and we're not even unified on that one!”
We plan to seek support for this project from COEJL and other Jewish environmental groups.
Please let me know what you think of the idea of having a “Year of the Environment” and please send me any suggestions that you have about it.
If you would like to be on an ad hoc committee trying to get the “Year of the Environment” off the ground, and/or if you have any suggestions, questions, or concerns re the concept, please let me know (rschw12345@aol.com).
If you would like to make a response that I can use to encourage others to support this project, please do so.
Many thanks,
Richard (Schwartz)
For an ad hoc committee planning for the “Year of the Environment”
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6. Great Article: Relating Environment Problems to the Production of Animal Products
Forwarded article:
If You Recycle, Why Are You Eating Meat
By Gordon, Andrea
Published: Thursday, December 9, 2004
The driver of the super eco-conscious hybrid car stopped at the traffic light caught my eye. Not because he had an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt. Or because he flashed me a sexy smile. But because he was happily munching chicken nuggets. Sighing, I pedaled off. Hypocrisy is such a turnoff.
If the Brad Pitt look alike paid up to a few thousand dollars more for an
environmentally friendly car, he likely cared about the environment. He
also knew his actions impact the earth. So what was he doing eating meat?
There is a direct relationship between eating meat and the environment. Quite simply, you can't be a meat-eating environmentalist. Sorry folks.
The Swedish government recently initiated a report entitled, Water - More Nutrition Per Drop. The report, released at the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, found that our current "demand for water-intensive commodities like meat and dairy products ... [is]
unsustainable. They involve large-scale groundwater overexploitation and widespread river depletion, which pose a major threat to biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems."
The World Watch Institute reported that only eight ounces of beef needed an incredible 25,000 liters of water. The average American consumes 256 pounds of meat annually. You do the math.
Here are some more quick facts:
87% of all agricultural land in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food. In other words, twenty times more land is needed to feed a meat-eater than to feed a pure vegetarian. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the United States. Finally, livestock emit 16% of the world's annual production of methane.
If all of this is news to you, there is a reason for it. Money. And lots of it. The agricultural, beef and dairy industries have a staggering amount of money at stake to ensure consumers buy their products. For example, the Got Milk? campaign, complete with celebrity backing and television ads, came with a hefty price tag. These industries resist changing the products they market, just as the automobile industry has resisted mass-producing hybrid cars until recently.
Recycling is based on the premise that individual actions have a significant and measurable effect on our world, particularly when there are over 6 billion humans. Most of us realize this. We act on this realization every time we throw our empty Corona bottles in the recycling bin instead of the rubbish. Recycling is easy, often free and quickly becoming a social norm.
Eliminating meat from your diet is even easier. Just don't buy it. There are plenty of tasty and healthier alternatives.
If the environmental effects of overconsumption of animal products do not affect us in our lifetime, they will surely affect the lives of our children and grandchildren. The day may eventually come when society frowns upon eating meat and dairy and considers it bad for the environment. How soon this day comes may depend on your next meal.
FULL STORY:
http://www.americanjurist.net/news/2004/12/09/Perspectives/If.You.Recycyle.Why.Are.You.Eating.Meat-826849.shtml
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7. Action Alert: Tell the FDA to Ban Forced Molting by December 21!
TELL THE FDA TO BAN FORCED MOLTING
The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) newly published requirements
Absent from the list is a ban on forced molting, a common industry practice that entails epriving birds of food for up to 14 days. Producers essentially starve the birds to shock them into another egg production cycle. This practice is extremely stressful for the hens and causes mortality levels to spike. The FDA has not prohibited this callous and inhumane practice despite strong scientific evidence that the stress it causes compromises the birds' immunity systems and leaves them more vulnerable to SE infection.
Judaism strongly opposes starving animals. The Talmud insists, "A person should not eat or drink before first providing for his animals." Your help is needed urgently.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please contact the FDA by December 21st and tell them to prohibit forced molting for the sake of the birds and public health. The e-mail address is fdadockets@oc.fda.gov.
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Be sure to include the following in the subject line of your e-mail or letter: Docket Nos. 1996P-0418, 1997P-0197, 1998P-0203, and 2000N-050 and RIN number 0910-AC14
THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR ANIMALS --- TODAY!!
For other current action alerts on helping vegetarian-related legislation, visit http://JewishVeg.com/do.html
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8. The Tree of Life Foundation/Working for a Kosher, Vegetarian, Spiritual Community
Forwarded message from the Tree of Life Foundation:
The Tree of Life helps empower the individual and our culture into a kosher, vegetarian lifestyle through commitment to the highest spiritual ideals of Judaism.
The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center is directed by Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, M.D., the physician of Shlomo Carlebach, Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi, and many more ravs. Gabriel also faciliates the services and meditations on Kabbalat Shabbat, Havdallah, Holy Days, and sunset daily, while Shanti GoldsCousens, Gabriel's wife and Co-Director of the Tree of Life, teaches incredible live-food challah preparation classes on Friday mornings. Whether you are personalizing and deepening your current experience of a vegetarian or live-food diet, or transitioning into vegetarianism, the Tree of Life programs offers tools that will alter your life. We believe the fusion of spiritual practice, individualized nutritional expertise, supportive staff, and connection to the wide mountain-desert landscapes is the best way for success. The kitchen of the the Tree of Life Cafe is rabbinically kosher-approved.
Gabriel Cousens teaches intensive courses and retreats including Spiritual Fasting, the Zero Point Process, and Conscious Eating. Individuals can register for these programs. A group that registers in large numbers (12 or more) can also reserve space for additional events while you are staying at the Tree of Life to meet the group's interests.
Another option is to rent our land and facilities, which include 172 acres a vast hiking area, a prayer and meditation house, and a kosher mikveh in an Eden-inspired garden. Construction of the simple lodgings (Casitas) is non-toxic straw-bale, with either one or two persons per room. We are on the same degree north of the equator as Eretz Yisrael, where the high desert meets the oak trees. The facilities and staff enable your retreat to emphasize the group's interests, ranging from prayerful silence, meditation, and study to hands-on vegan live-food food preparation instruction to getting into the heart of nature. And if you would like Gabriel Cousens to share in the teaching, this may be scheduled as well pending Gabriel's schedule.
Whole Person Healing is a third option--the most medically rigorous--offering an advanced health evaluation, detailed advice for naturopathic self-healing presciptions, and full engagement in the Tree of Life spiritual experience.
Gabriel Cousens will visit Los Angeles on April 3 and New York City May 22 to release his new book: Spiritual Nutrition.
The Tree of Life Foundation - An Oasis for Awakening
686 Harshaw Road
HC2 Box 302
Patagonia, AZ 85624
520-394-2520 ext. 209
info@treeoflife.nu
www.treeoflife.nu
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9. COEJL's Executive Director on Radio Sunday Morning
Forwarded message from COEJL:
COEJL's executive director Adam Stern will discuss Jewish perspectives on protecting the environment on Air America Radio this Sunday, December 19, 2004 at 7:00 am. Adam will be interviewed by EcoTalk program host, Betsy Rosenberg, in a lively one-hour program. Rev. Sally Bingham, an Episcopalian minister who leads efforts to help churches purchase renewable energy, will also join the program to present a Christian point of view.
You can listen to the show on any of the AM stations listed below, or on the Internet at http://www.airamericaradio.com . We know the program is being broadcast at an early hour, but please join us.
Albuquerque, NM - KABQ 1350AM
Anchorage, AK - KUDO 1080AM
Ann Arbor, MI - WLBY 1290AM
Atlanta, GA - WWAA 1690AM
Denver, CO - KKZN 760AM
Eugene, OR - KOPT 1450AM
Madison, WI - WXXM 92.1 FM
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - KSNB 950AM
New York City - WLIB 1190AM
Phoenix, AZ - KXXT 1010AM
Portland, ME - WLVP 870AM
San Diego, CA - KLSD 1360AM
San Francisco, CA - KQKE 960AM
San Luis Obispo, CA - KYNS 1340AM
Santa Fe, NM - KTRC 1260AM
Seattle, WA - KPTK 1090AM
Air America Radio is the progressive radio station which features Al
Franken and others. EcoTalk is the leading commercial radio program
focused exclusively on environmental issues.
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Barbara Lerman-Golomb Communications Director Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)
work (212) 532-7436 email address: info@coejl.org web site: www.coejl.org
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10. Building an Activist Internet Environmental Group
Forwarded message:
We're building an army, and you are among the first to sign up. GoMainStream.org was launched when Mark Sundeen and I joined up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and asked ourselves -- could we combine Bobby's dedication to defending the environment with our lessons from the Dean campaign and revitalize the conservation movement in the United States?
We formed GoMainStream.org as an answer to that question.
We formed GoMainStream.org because more than 90% of Americans hold our values in common -- clean air, clean water, open lands -- yet 40% think that "most environmental activists don't really care about people."
We formed GoMainStream because the corporate plunderers have hijacked our public lands and the public process.
And we formed GoMainStream because they've hijacked our language. They call polluting the air "Clear Skies" -- and they call it "development" and "access" when they lock Americans out of the public lands that we hike, hunt, fish and love.
We're going to change that. And we're going to change it by building a new coalition from the bottom-up -- an organization that helps Americans take action and that works to reframe the debate about the future of our country.
We're going to do it by connecting hunters fighting to maintain access to elk habitat with suburbanites combating urban sprawl.
Because conservation is not an issue of right or left, or urban versus rural, or red versus blue.
It's an issue of who we are as Americans.
In the coming months, we'll be rolling out the online elements of GoMainStream.org -- tools that will speed up the networking potential of online activists, and that empower Americans to defend our way of life.
But first we have to build the army, and you can help today.
Take one minute to forward this email to everyone you know, and ask them to join us. They can sign up by clicking here:
http://www.gomainstream.org
Thank you for being with us at the very beginning.
Mathew Gross
GoMainStream.org
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future---deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”
Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Special JVNA Newsletter - Postville Slaughterhouse Case #6
12/19/04
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the sixth follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. JVNA Objectives Re the Postville Controversy
2. My Opinion Article Aiming To Broaden The Discussion to Vegetarianism Issues/suggestions Welcome
3. Petition Drive to Have Rabbis and Other Jewish Leaders Support Proper Changes and Supervision at Postville and Other Slaughterhouses
4. Article By the Jerusalem Post Editorial Page Editor/With My Comments
5. Action Ideas
6. Sample Letter
7. Publications That Had Recent Articles re Postville/Please Write Letters to Editors
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. JVNA Objectives Re the Postville Controversy
Here is an expanded version of a previously sent outline of JVNA objectives re the Postville situation:
* Make sure that people are aware of Judaism’s strong teachings on compassion to animals, that shechita, if properly done, is a superior method of slaughter, and that the horrible scenes videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse are not typical of Jewish ritual slaughter practivces. PETA has kept its focus on the abuses at the Postville plant and has acknowledged that properly carried out slaughter is a superior method.
If anyone has any doubts re the horrors at non-kosher slaughterhouses, they should read the excellent book “Slaughterhouse” by Gail Eisnitz.
* Join others in advocating that the methods used in the Postville plant be changed immediately and that the OU and other groups set up rigorous standards that will be strictly enforced so that there never be another situation like the Postville case. [Please see items 3 and 5 below.] There have been recent positive moves by the OU and others toward improving conditions at the Postville plant and setting up better standards.
* Make people aware that the Postville case should awaken us to the many ways that animal-based diets and agriculture threaten human health and the planet’s sustainability, and violate basic Jewish mandates re preserving health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people. Once the Postville situation is resolved, it is essential that people think that everything is now fine and they can continue their consumption of animal products with a clear conscience. They have a choice re their diets, but they should make that choice based on a knowledge of the realities. The article below emphasizes this objective.
While Jews are a small percent of the world’s people and thereby responsible for only a small part of the problems related to modern intensive livestock agriculture and other current practices, it is essential, in view of the many threats to humanity today, that we strive to fulfil our challenge to be a “light unto the nations,” and to work for “tikkun olam,” the healing, repair, and proper transformation of the world.
As we continue our struggles, we should keep in mind that we are trying to end or at least reduce a system that treats 10 billion animals in the US and 50 billion animals worldwide with tremendous cruelty on factory farms, that is causing an epidemic of disease, and that is having devastating effects on the environment. The future of humanity may be involved in our efforts.
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2. My Opinion Article Aiming To Broaden The Discussion to Vegetarianism
I am planning to soon send the article below to the Jewish media. Suggestions very welcome. Thanks. And thanks to Syd Baumel, Dan Brook, and Lewis Regenstein for the valuable suggestions they sent in re an earlier draft.
WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
The horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals videotaped at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse and the efforts of some Jewish groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If slaughterhouse procedures are not consistently monitored for strict adherence to the ideals of shechita, are we carrying out our mandate to be “rachmanim b’nei rachmanim” (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we failing to properly imitate G-d, Whose “tender mercies are over all His creatures” (Psalms 145:9)?
Even if shechita is carried out perfectly and pain and distress during slaughter are minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals as billions of animals on “factory farms” in the United States and worldwide experience pain, suffering, and agony for their entire lives? If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, “the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name,” can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise? If, “the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal” (Proverbs 12:10), how will be judged, based on our vicarious treatment of the animals raised, trucked and slaughtered for our tables?
Also, can we ignore the many other ways that animal-based diets and agriculture severely violate Jewish values:
* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have implicated the products of modern intensive livestock agriculture as significant risk factors for coronary heart disease, stroke, several forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture is widely recognized by independent scientists, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, as an environmentally unsustainable enterprise that grossly accelerates soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rainforests and other habitats, global climate change, and other forms of environmental damage.
* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, a diet based upon animal agriculture instead of plant agriculture (which provides protein from grains, beans, tubers, nuts and seeds) wastes many times more land, fresh water, fossil fuels, grain and other resources. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-raised beef.
While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, and nearly a billion are chronically malnourished. While the solution of widespread hunger is complex, it doesn't help that over 70 percent of the grain grown in the U.S. and almost 40 percent worldwide is produced to fatten food animals, not to feed the world's most impoverished human citizens, many of whom are displaced from
their land by animal feed growers.
* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets animal-centered diets help create more food security "haves" and "have nots," a precipitating factor in political instability and violent conflict.
If Judaism is to remain relevant to many of the great problems of today, it is my heartfelt belief that all Jews must very seriously consider adopting a sustainable vegan, vegetarian or plant-based diet. In my view, it is a moral, social and ecological imperative. While Jews are a small percent of the world’s people and thereby responsible for only a small part of the problems related to modern intensive livestock agriculture and other current practices, it is essential, in view of the many threats to humanity today, that we strive to fulfil our challenge to be a “light unto the nations,” and to work for “tikkun olam,” the healing, repair, and proper transformation of the world.
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3. Petition Drive to Have Rabbis and Other Jewish Leaders Support Proper Changes and Supervision at Postville and Other Slaughterhouses
Due to some wonderful work by Aaron Gross, we are planning to present a petition (not sponsored by JVNA or any other organization), signed by many rabbis, that seeks the OU and other kashrut organizations to mandate better standards and inspection for ritual slaughter. If you have suggestions re rabbis who might endorse such a petition, please let me know. Thanks.
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4. Article By the Jerusalem Post Editorial Page Editor/With My Comments
December 16, 2004
The Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103170789592
Interesting Times: Cutting-edge Kashrut
Saul Singer, Editorial Page Editor
[My comments are in brackets at a few points within the article.]
I am an increasingly observant Jew. I don't imagine becoming fully Orthodox, but I'm a great believer in the power of the two institutions that kept Jewish communities whole throughout the centuries: kashrut and Shabbat.
I became attracted to kashrut, in particular, for two reasons: its ethical foundations and the way it brings Judaism out of the synagogue, elevating a mundane aspect of daily life. The ethical impact of kashrut is found most broadly in the simple idea that people, unlike animals, should not eat anything they want to. Automatically, this raises consciousness toward animals, as shown by the general Jewish revulsion for hunting. But the most concrete sign of kashrut's ethical basis are the laws of shehita (kosher slaughter).
The idea that it matters how an animal is killed was itself a breathtaking ethical advance for its times. In the ancient world, it was not uncommon to eat from live animals - a practice so abhorrent that its abolition became one of just seven Noahide laws that the Torah applied also to non-Jews.
Shehita took this a step further, requiring that cattle be slaughtered in a way designed to eliminate pain - a single, swift stroke with a unblemished knife, severing the major arteries and airway and rendering the animal almost instantly unconscious.
Dr. Temple Grandin, perhaps the world's best-known academic expert on humane slaughtering, writes that in the hands of the best shohtim, the animal does not move, seems not to feel the cut, and drops dead in eight to 10 seconds. [This is the shechita that the JVNA has consistently supported when it was singled out for attack.]
This, I must admit, was my somewhat naive image of shehita until the recent controversy over the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa, broke. A video secretly taken in the kosher plant and posted on the Web (www.peta.org) showed cattle having their throats cut, their trachea ripped out, and surviving minutes longer as they struggled to their feet while slipping, panicked, in their own blood.
Numerous rabbis and experts have responded with horror to this plant's unique and nightmarish procedure, which seems to violate both Jewish and American law. The Orthodox Union, the most prominent of the organizations certifying the kashrut of the plant, has pledged that the ripping out of the trachea of sensate animals will be stopped.
But this is not enough.
IN THE modern world, shehita cannot be justified when, due to indifference or incompetence, it becomes less humane than the standard non-kosher slaughtering method, in which the animal is instantly killed by a bolt shot into its head. [As indicated before, the book “Slaughterhouse” by Gail Eisnitz discusses many horrors that occur at non-kosher slaughterhouses.] Jewish law prohibits any maiming of the animal before shehita, and so prohibits the standard procedure, called "stunning." But in many kosher slaughtering plants, particularly in South America, Europe and Israel, cattle are still slaughtered while hoisted into the air by a back leg or while wrestled or mechanically maneuvered onto their backs. [This method, which is not part of traditional shechita, has been strongly opposed by Temple Grandin and other animal welfare experts and has been condemned by the Conservative Rabbinical Alliance’s Committee on Law and Standards.]
The prohibitions on injuring animals before shehita, and against cruelty to animals in general, need to be reflected in modern application of Jewish law. This means that the restraining method used in shehita has to be as humane as the shehita itself. Kosher plants that use well-designed standing restraints follow this principle. But there is no excuse for treating the many plants that use other extremely painful and stressful restraining methods as kosher, when such methods render shehita less humane than stunning.
Ironically, the AgriProcessors plant was producing glatt kosher meat: "Glatt" refers to an extra stringency in the law, in which the lungs are held to a higher standard of blemishlessness. It makes little sense, as Chaim Milikowsky of Bar-Ilan University's Talmud department has pointed out, "to insist upon the most stringent requirements with regard to the ritual portion of the slaughtering process and yet, at the same time, flagrantly not insist upon stringent requirements with regard to the crucial moral aspect." To do so makes "the entire kashrut endeavor of that person both suspect and absurd."
Further, the clear implication that "God cares only about his ritual law and not about his moral law," Milikowsky argues "is to desecrate His Name."
I want to be proud of kashrut, not just in theory, but in practice. I don't want to have to choose between my Judaism and my ethics - I find the thought that the two could be in conflict unacceptably troubling. [this is why the JVNA, along with other groups and rabbis, is promoting an end to the horrible procedures videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse, and for the OU and other kashrut groups to mandate and strictly supervise the highest standards of ritual slaughter.] I, along with some Jewish thinkers, already believe the notion of "kosher veal" is a contradiction in terms, since veal calves are kept in tiny pens their whole lives to keep them from developing muscles. [This is great, but there are many other horrible conditions on factory farms.]
To me, if kashrut is not on the cutting edge of humanity toward animals, it's not kashrut. I would be happy to pay extra for "ethically glatt" meat. I have already stopped eating veal, and consider that decision part of my kashrut observance. Until I can be assured that shehita is being performed according to the full letter and spirit of Jewish law, I think I will have to avoid "kosher" beef as well. [I do not think that Saul Singer meant to imply that he would eat non-kosher meat. Of course, the JVNA advocates diets completely free of all types of meat. A wonderful book on the many negative effects of the production and consumption of beef is “Beyond Beef,” by Jeremy Rifkind.]
Please send a letter to the editor at letters@jpost.com or write the author at saul@jpost.com
Copyright 1995-2004 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
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5. Action Ideas
Please continue to monitor your local papers for articles and respond to them, as well as to some of the publications indicated in item 7. Please use material in this JVNA newsletter and previous issues, as well as material at the JVNA web site (www.JewishVeg.com) for background information. Thanks.
Please ask the Orthodox Union (OU), the world's largest kosher certifier, and the K'hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ) to adopt the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) guidelines for ritual slaughter and to take appropriate action to ensure that animals are no longer abused by AgriProcessors. For AgriProcessors, this must include unannounced audits by an inspector approved of by Dr. Temple Grandin. You can read the FMI guidelines for ritual slaughter at http://fmi.org/animal_welfare/january03rpt.pdf.
The FMI guidelines prohibit electric prods and ensure that animals are not turned upside-down before their throats are slit and that they are not moved until they are unconscious after throat-slitting. The OU and KAJ should explicitly recognize and train shochets (slaughterers) to recognize the physiological signs of consciousness in cattle-blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right the head-to ensure that no animals are touched or moved until they are unconscious. All equipment must be inspected to ensure that it is notharming animals (e.g., conveyor belts should not trap chickens and break their legs).
It is imperative that all correspondence be courteous, for best results.
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
execthw@ou.org
Please copy your letter or e-mail message to:
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrut Division
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
genackm@ou.org
Please also send your letter or e-mail message to representatives of the KAJ:
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Edelstein
Kashrus Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85-93 Bennet Ave.
New York, NY 10033
kajkashrus@hotmail.com
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85 Bennett Ave.
New York, NY 10033
Ask the USDA to Demand Standards for Religious Slaughter
In a recent investigation into the world's largest kosher slaughterhouse, PETA documented hideous cruelty to animals that meat-industry consultant Dr. Temple Grandin called "horrific," saying that the plant was "doing everything wrong they can do wrong." Click here http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors to learn more about the investigation, to watch the video, and to read statements from the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, current slaughterhouse inspectors, rabbis, and others.
Please also ask that the USDA develop explicit and publicly available guidelines for religious slaughter. The United States should follow the lead of Australia, Canada, and the European Union in developing guidelines for religious slaughter that require that animals not be touched or moved until they are unconscious, which should take no more than 30 seconds after throat-slitting. If they are not fully unconscious within 20 seconds, animals should be stunned via captive-bolt guns. All religious slaughterers should be trained in the physiological signs of consciousness in animals-blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right the head-to ensure that no conscious animals are touched or moved.
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Ann.Veneman@usda.gov
202-720-3631
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6. Sample Letter
Forwarded from Lewis Regenstein, long time environmental activist and author, and JVNA advisor.
Cruelty is not kosher
To the Editor:
Thank you for your fine editorial condemning cruel animal slaughter methods undertaken in the name of Jewish law.
Revelations of cruelty at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa have overlooked a fundamental fact: the Jewish religion has strict laws and teachings forbidding cruelty to animals. In fact, there is an entire code of law (“Tsa’ar ba’alei hayim”, the commandment to prevent the suffering of living creatures) mandating that other creatures be treated with compassion.
Indeed, the Jews invented the concept of kindness to animals some 4,000 years ago, and it is mandated throughout the Bible and Jewish law. Even the holiest of our laws, The Ten Commandments, requires that farm animals be allowed to enjoy a day of rest on the Sabbath. So the Almighty must have felt that kindness to animals was not a trivial matter.
Jews are not allowed to “pass by” an animal in distress or to ignore animals being mistreated, even on the Sabbath. Yet this is exactly what we do when we certify as “kosher” products from animals that are treated cruelly. It is truly a “shanda,” a shameful thing, that we endorse the massive abuse and suffering of billions of
factory farmed creatures, many of which spend their entire lives in misery, fear, and anguish, in addition to the cruel way they are killed.
[As indicated above, the JVNA believes that, properly carried out, shechita is a superior method of slaughter, and that the procedures videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse are not the typical way shechita is carried out in the US.]
It should also be mentioned that many Jews are working to change these practices and “relieve the suffering of these living creatures.” There is no tradition of our faith that is older or more revered.
Sincerely yours,
Lewis Regenstein
Atlanta, Ga.
The writer is the author of “Replenish the Earth: The Teachings of the World’s Religions on Protecting Animals and Nature”, and president of The Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature.
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7. Publications That Had Recent Articles re Postville/Please Write Letters to the Editors
“Complaint embroils kosher meat plant”
Baltimore Sun December 19
Letters to the Editor: letters@baltsun.com
Article: 003242.story">http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.slaughter19dec19,1,2>003242.story
“Town rallies around firm called inhumane”
Chicago Tribune December 19
Letters: http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/chilettertotheeditor.customform
Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0412190502dec19,1,7103113.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
-----------------------------------------------
"Kosher Slaughter Charges Hit Home"
(http://www.jewishjournal.org/news.htm#local1)
By Mark Arnold and Gary Band
----------------------
"Local Animal Rights Advocate Decries Slaughtering Practices"
(http://www.jewishjournal.org/news.htm#local1)
By Susan Jacobs
-----------------------
"How Humane are Kosher Slaughtering Practices?" (editorial,
http://www.jewishjournal.org
By Mark Arnold
All in: The Jewish Journal
December 17 - 31, 2004 issue
Send e-mails to editorial@jewishjournal.org .
"Ag Secretary Judge sees 'quick and humane' slaughter at Agri"
By Sharon Drahn
The Postville Herald-Leader
December 16, 2004
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13572637&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=510829&rfi=6
Send e-mails at
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=117700&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=510839&rfi=6 .
-------------------------
"Interesting Times: Cutting-edge kashrut"
"PETA protest gets 'Maude' squad boost"
The Omaha World-Herald
December 17, 2004
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=1287378
Send e-mails to pulse@owh.com .
Thanks again to Liz Abbott of PETA for compiling this and previous lists.
* Please limit your letter to 200 words or less and respond to this alert within 48 hours.
* Be sure to include the title and date of the piece, and your name, address, and phone numbers for letter verification.
* As most large newspapers demand exclusive letters, please vary the wording when submitting a letter to more than one publication and let us know if a publication prints your letter(s) so we can share your success with other writers.
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is the sixth follow-up to the JVNA newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. JVNA Objectives Re the Postville Controversy
2. My Opinion Article Aiming To Broaden The Discussion to Vegetarianism Issues/suggestions Welcome
3. Petition Drive to Have Rabbis and Other Jewish Leaders Support Proper Changes and Supervision at Postville and Other Slaughterhouses
4. Article By the Jerusalem Post Editorial Page Editor/With My Comments
5. Action Ideas
6. Sample Letter
7. Publications That Had Recent Articles re Postville/Please Write Letters to Editors
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
=========================
1. JVNA Objectives Re the Postville Controversy
Here is an expanded version of a previously sent outline of JVNA objectives re the Postville situation:
* Make sure that people are aware of Judaism’s strong teachings on compassion to animals, that shechita, if properly done, is a superior method of slaughter, and that the horrible scenes videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse are not typical of Jewish ritual slaughter practivces. PETA has kept its focus on the abuses at the Postville plant and has acknowledged that properly carried out slaughter is a superior method.
If anyone has any doubts re the horrors at non-kosher slaughterhouses, they should read the excellent book “Slaughterhouse” by Gail Eisnitz.
* Join others in advocating that the methods used in the Postville plant be changed immediately and that the OU and other groups set up rigorous standards that will be strictly enforced so that there never be another situation like the Postville case. [Please see items 3 and 5 below.] There have been recent positive moves by the OU and others toward improving conditions at the Postville plant and setting up better standards.
* Make people aware that the Postville case should awaken us to the many ways that animal-based diets and agriculture threaten human health and the planet’s sustainability, and violate basic Jewish mandates re preserving health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people. Once the Postville situation is resolved, it is essential that people think that everything is now fine and they can continue their consumption of animal products with a clear conscience. They have a choice re their diets, but they should make that choice based on a knowledge of the realities. The article below emphasizes this objective.
While Jews are a small percent of the world’s people and thereby responsible for only a small part of the problems related to modern intensive livestock agriculture and other current practices, it is essential, in view of the many threats to humanity today, that we strive to fulfil our challenge to be a “light unto the nations,” and to work for “tikkun olam,” the healing, repair, and proper transformation of the world.
As we continue our struggles, we should keep in mind that we are trying to end or at least reduce a system that treats 10 billion animals in the US and 50 billion animals worldwide with tremendous cruelty on factory farms, that is causing an epidemic of disease, and that is having devastating effects on the environment. The future of humanity may be involved in our efforts.
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2. My Opinion Article Aiming To Broaden The Discussion to Vegetarianism
I am planning to soon send the article below to the Jewish media. Suggestions very welcome. Thanks. And thanks to Syd Baumel, Dan Brook, and Lewis Regenstein for the valuable suggestions they sent in re an earlier draft.
WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
The horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals videotaped at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse and the efforts of some Jewish groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If slaughterhouse procedures are not consistently monitored for strict adherence to the ideals of shechita, are we carrying out our mandate to be “rachmanim b’nei rachmanim” (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we failing to properly imitate G-d, Whose “tender mercies are over all His creatures” (Psalms 145:9)?
Even if shechita is carried out perfectly and pain and distress during slaughter are minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals as billions of animals on “factory farms” in the United States and worldwide experience pain, suffering, and agony for their entire lives? If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, “the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name,” can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise? If, “the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal” (Proverbs 12:10), how will be judged, based on our vicarious treatment of the animals raised, trucked and slaughtered for our tables?
Also, can we ignore the many other ways that animal-based diets and agriculture severely violate Jewish values:
* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have implicated the products of modern intensive livestock agriculture as significant risk factors for coronary heart disease, stroke, several forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture is widely recognized by independent scientists, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, as an environmentally unsustainable enterprise that grossly accelerates soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rainforests and other habitats, global climate change, and other forms of environmental damage.
* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, a diet based upon animal agriculture instead of plant agriculture (which provides protein from grains, beans, tubers, nuts and seeds) wastes many times more land, fresh water, fossil fuels, grain and other resources. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-raised beef.
While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, and nearly a billion are chronically malnourished. While the solution of widespread hunger is complex, it doesn't help that over 70 percent of the grain grown in the U.S. and almost 40 percent worldwide is produced to fatten food animals, not to feed the world's most impoverished human citizens, many of whom are displaced from
their land by animal feed growers.
* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets animal-centered diets help create more food security "haves" and "have nots," a precipitating factor in political instability and violent conflict.
If Judaism is to remain relevant to many of the great problems of today, it is my heartfelt belief that all Jews must very seriously consider adopting a sustainable vegan, vegetarian or plant-based diet. In my view, it is a moral, social and ecological imperative. While Jews are a small percent of the world’s people and thereby responsible for only a small part of the problems related to modern intensive livestock agriculture and other current practices, it is essential, in view of the many threats to humanity today, that we strive to fulfil our challenge to be a “light unto the nations,” and to work for “tikkun olam,” the healing, repair, and proper transformation of the world.
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3. Petition Drive to Have Rabbis and Other Jewish Leaders Support Proper Changes and Supervision at Postville and Other Slaughterhouses
Due to some wonderful work by Aaron Gross, we are planning to present a petition (not sponsored by JVNA or any other organization), signed by many rabbis, that seeks the OU and other kashrut organizations to mandate better standards and inspection for ritual slaughter. If you have suggestions re rabbis who might endorse such a petition, please let me know. Thanks.
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4. Article By the Jerusalem Post Editorial Page Editor/With My Comments
December 16, 2004
The Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103170789592
Interesting Times: Cutting-edge Kashrut
Saul Singer, Editorial Page Editor
[My comments are in brackets at a few points within the article.]
I am an increasingly observant Jew. I don't imagine becoming fully Orthodox, but I'm a great believer in the power of the two institutions that kept Jewish communities whole throughout the centuries: kashrut and Shabbat.
I became attracted to kashrut, in particular, for two reasons: its ethical foundations and the way it brings Judaism out of the synagogue, elevating a mundane aspect of daily life. The ethical impact of kashrut is found most broadly in the simple idea that people, unlike animals, should not eat anything they want to. Automatically, this raises consciousness toward animals, as shown by the general Jewish revulsion for hunting. But the most concrete sign of kashrut's ethical basis are the laws of shehita (kosher slaughter).
The idea that it matters how an animal is killed was itself a breathtaking ethical advance for its times. In the ancient world, it was not uncommon to eat from live animals - a practice so abhorrent that its abolition became one of just seven Noahide laws that the Torah applied also to non-Jews.
Shehita took this a step further, requiring that cattle be slaughtered in a way designed to eliminate pain - a single, swift stroke with a unblemished knife, severing the major arteries and airway and rendering the animal almost instantly unconscious.
Dr. Temple Grandin, perhaps the world's best-known academic expert on humane slaughtering, writes that in the hands of the best shohtim, the animal does not move, seems not to feel the cut, and drops dead in eight to 10 seconds. [This is the shechita that the JVNA has consistently supported when it was singled out for attack.]
This, I must admit, was my somewhat naive image of shehita until the recent controversy over the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa, broke. A video secretly taken in the kosher plant and posted on the Web (www.peta.org) showed cattle having their throats cut, their trachea ripped out, and surviving minutes longer as they struggled to their feet while slipping, panicked, in their own blood.
Numerous rabbis and experts have responded with horror to this plant's unique and nightmarish procedure, which seems to violate both Jewish and American law. The Orthodox Union, the most prominent of the organizations certifying the kashrut of the plant, has pledged that the ripping out of the trachea of sensate animals will be stopped.
But this is not enough.
IN THE modern world, shehita cannot be justified when, due to indifference or incompetence, it becomes less humane than the standard non-kosher slaughtering method, in which the animal is instantly killed by a bolt shot into its head. [As indicated before, the book “Slaughterhouse” by Gail Eisnitz discusses many horrors that occur at non-kosher slaughterhouses.] Jewish law prohibits any maiming of the animal before shehita, and so prohibits the standard procedure, called "stunning." But in many kosher slaughtering plants, particularly in South America, Europe and Israel, cattle are still slaughtered while hoisted into the air by a back leg or while wrestled or mechanically maneuvered onto their backs. [This method, which is not part of traditional shechita, has been strongly opposed by Temple Grandin and other animal welfare experts and has been condemned by the Conservative Rabbinical Alliance’s Committee on Law and Standards.]
The prohibitions on injuring animals before shehita, and against cruelty to animals in general, need to be reflected in modern application of Jewish law. This means that the restraining method used in shehita has to be as humane as the shehita itself. Kosher plants that use well-designed standing restraints follow this principle. But there is no excuse for treating the many plants that use other extremely painful and stressful restraining methods as kosher, when such methods render shehita less humane than stunning.
Ironically, the AgriProcessors plant was producing glatt kosher meat: "Glatt" refers to an extra stringency in the law, in which the lungs are held to a higher standard of blemishlessness. It makes little sense, as Chaim Milikowsky of Bar-Ilan University's Talmud department has pointed out, "to insist upon the most stringent requirements with regard to the ritual portion of the slaughtering process and yet, at the same time, flagrantly not insist upon stringent requirements with regard to the crucial moral aspect." To do so makes "the entire kashrut endeavor of that person both suspect and absurd."
Further, the clear implication that "God cares only about his ritual law and not about his moral law," Milikowsky argues "is to desecrate His Name."
I want to be proud of kashrut, not just in theory, but in practice. I don't want to have to choose between my Judaism and my ethics - I find the thought that the two could be in conflict unacceptably troubling. [this is why the JVNA, along with other groups and rabbis, is promoting an end to the horrible procedures videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse, and for the OU and other kashrut groups to mandate and strictly supervise the highest standards of ritual slaughter.] I, along with some Jewish thinkers, already believe the notion of "kosher veal" is a contradiction in terms, since veal calves are kept in tiny pens their whole lives to keep them from developing muscles. [This is great, but there are many other horrible conditions on factory farms.]
To me, if kashrut is not on the cutting edge of humanity toward animals, it's not kashrut. I would be happy to pay extra for "ethically glatt" meat. I have already stopped eating veal, and consider that decision part of my kashrut observance. Until I can be assured that shehita is being performed according to the full letter and spirit of Jewish law, I think I will have to avoid "kosher" beef as well. [I do not think that Saul Singer meant to imply that he would eat non-kosher meat. Of course, the JVNA advocates diets completely free of all types of meat. A wonderful book on the many negative effects of the production and consumption of beef is “Beyond Beef,” by Jeremy Rifkind.]
Please send a letter to the editor at letters@jpost.com or write the author at saul@jpost.com
Copyright 1995-2004 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
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=========================
5. Action Ideas
Please continue to monitor your local papers for articles and respond to them, as well as to some of the publications indicated in item 7. Please use material in this JVNA newsletter and previous issues, as well as material at the JVNA web site (www.JewishVeg.com) for background information. Thanks.
Please ask the Orthodox Union (OU), the world's largest kosher certifier, and the K'hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ) to adopt the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) guidelines for ritual slaughter and to take appropriate action to ensure that animals are no longer abused by AgriProcessors. For AgriProcessors, this must include unannounced audits by an inspector approved of by Dr. Temple Grandin. You can read the FMI guidelines for ritual slaughter at http://fmi.org/animal_welfare/january03rpt.pdf.
The FMI guidelines prohibit electric prods and ensure that animals are not turned upside-down before their throats are slit and that they are not moved until they are unconscious after throat-slitting. The OU and KAJ should explicitly recognize and train shochets (slaughterers) to recognize the physiological signs of consciousness in cattle-blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right the head-to ensure that no animals are touched or moved until they are unconscious. All equipment must be inspected to ensure that it is notharming animals (e.g., conveyor belts should not trap chickens and break their legs).
It is imperative that all correspondence be courteous, for best results.
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
execthw@ou.org
Please copy your letter or e-mail message to:
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrut Division
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
genackm@ou.org
Please also send your letter or e-mail message to representatives of the KAJ:
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Edelstein
Kashrus Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85-93 Bennet Ave.
New York, NY 10033
kajkashrus@hotmail.com
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85 Bennett Ave.
New York, NY 10033
Ask the USDA to Demand Standards for Religious Slaughter
In a recent investigation into the world's largest kosher slaughterhouse, PETA documented hideous cruelty to animals that meat-industry consultant Dr. Temple Grandin called "horrific," saying that the plant was "doing everything wrong they can do wrong." Click here http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors to learn more about the investigation, to watch the video, and to read statements from the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, current slaughterhouse inspectors, rabbis, and others.
Please also ask that the USDA develop explicit and publicly available guidelines for religious slaughter. The United States should follow the lead of Australia, Canada, and the European Union in developing guidelines for religious slaughter that require that animals not be touched or moved until they are unconscious, which should take no more than 30 seconds after throat-slitting. If they are not fully unconscious within 20 seconds, animals should be stunned via captive-bolt guns. All religious slaughterers should be trained in the physiological signs of consciousness in animals-blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right the head-to ensure that no conscious animals are touched or moved.
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Ann.Veneman@usda.gov
202-720-3631
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=========================
6. Sample Letter
Forwarded from Lewis Regenstein, long time environmental activist and author, and JVNA advisor.
Cruelty is not kosher
To the Editor:
Thank you for your fine editorial condemning cruel animal slaughter methods undertaken in the name of Jewish law.
Revelations of cruelty at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa have overlooked a fundamental fact: the Jewish religion has strict laws and teachings forbidding cruelty to animals. In fact, there is an entire code of law (“Tsa’ar ba’alei hayim”, the commandment to prevent the suffering of living creatures) mandating that other creatures be treated with compassion.
Indeed, the Jews invented the concept of kindness to animals some 4,000 years ago, and it is mandated throughout the Bible and Jewish law. Even the holiest of our laws, The Ten Commandments, requires that farm animals be allowed to enjoy a day of rest on the Sabbath. So the Almighty must have felt that kindness to animals was not a trivial matter.
Jews are not allowed to “pass by” an animal in distress or to ignore animals being mistreated, even on the Sabbath. Yet this is exactly what we do when we certify as “kosher” products from animals that are treated cruelly. It is truly a “shanda,” a shameful thing, that we endorse the massive abuse and suffering of billions of
factory farmed creatures, many of which spend their entire lives in misery, fear, and anguish, in addition to the cruel way they are killed.
[As indicated above, the JVNA believes that, properly carried out, shechita is a superior method of slaughter, and that the procedures videotaped at the Postville slaughterhouse are not the typical way shechita is carried out in the US.]
It should also be mentioned that many Jews are working to change these practices and “relieve the suffering of these living creatures.” There is no tradition of our faith that is older or more revered.
Sincerely yours,
Lewis Regenstein
Atlanta, Ga.
The writer is the author of “Replenish the Earth: The Teachings of the World’s Religions on Protecting Animals and Nature”, and president of The Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature.
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7. Publications That Had Recent Articles re Postville/Please Write Letters to the Editors
“Complaint embroils kosher meat plant”
Baltimore Sun December 19
Letters to the Editor: letters@baltsun.com
Article: 003242.story">http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.slaughter19dec19,1,2>003242.story
“Town rallies around firm called inhumane”
Chicago Tribune December 19
Letters: http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/chilettertotheeditor.customform
Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0412190502dec19,1,7103113.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
-----------------------------------------------
"Kosher Slaughter Charges Hit Home"
(http://www.jewishjournal.org/news.htm#local1)
By Mark Arnold and Gary Band
----------------------
"Local Animal Rights Advocate Decries Slaughtering Practices"
(http://www.jewishjournal.org/news.htm#local1)
By Susan Jacobs
-----------------------
"How Humane are Kosher Slaughtering Practices?" (editorial,
http://www.jewishjournal.org
By Mark Arnold
All in: The Jewish Journal
December 17 - 31, 2004 issue
Send e-mails to editorial@jewishjournal.org .
"Ag Secretary Judge sees 'quick and humane' slaughter at Agri"
By Sharon Drahn
The Postville Herald-Leader
December 16, 2004
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13572637&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=510829&rfi=6
Send e-mails at
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=117700&BRD=1829&PAG=461&dept_id=510839&rfi=6 .
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"Interesting Times: Cutting-edge kashrut"
"PETA protest gets 'Maude' squad boost"
The Omaha World-Herald
December 17, 2004
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=1287378
Send e-mails to pulse@owh.com .
Thanks again to Liz Abbott of PETA for compiling this and previous lists.
* Please limit your letter to 200 words or less and respond to this alert within 48 hours.
* Be sure to include the title and date of the piece, and your name, address, and phone numbers for letter verification.
* As most large newspapers demand exclusive letters, please vary the wording when submitting a letter to more than one publication and let us know if a publication prints your letter(s) so we can share your success with other writers.
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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December 16, 2004
Special JVNA Newsletter - Postville Slaughterhouse Case #5
12/16/04
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is a fifth follow-up to the newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Great Article by World Renowned Shechita Expert Temple Grandin
2. My Letter To The Editor Re The Temple Grandin Article/Suggestions Welcome
3. My Letter to the Jewish Media/Suggestions Welcome
4. My Opinion Article Draft/Suggestions Welcome
5. Statement By a Conservative Rabbi on Postville
6. Corrections
7. Humane Society of the US Calls For Persecution of Animal Abusers at Postville Slaughterhouse
8. Keeping the Momentum Going/Letter From Rina
9. More Sample Letters (Including Five That appeared in the Jerusalem Post and Seven That Appeared in the Jewish Press)
10. Responding To Recent Published Articles
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Great Article by World Renowned Shechita Expert Temple Grandin
Kosher slaughter done rightJerusalem Post 12/16/04
By Temple Grandin
When operating new equipment that no longer caused the animal suffering, I felt the sacredness of the ancient ritual
I have worked in the beef industry for 30 years designing equipment to improve animal welfare. In North America half of the non-kosher cattle are handled in equipment I designed. I have also designed equipment for holding cattle and calves for shechitah. I have found that the ancient method of kosher slaughter can be the most humane, or terribly cruel, depending on the shochet's skill and the methods used.
The laws of kashrut dictate that the cattle be slaughtered with a sharp knife, causing almost instantaneous death with no pain. Unfortunately, these laws do not directly address modern restraining methods that they could hardly have envisioned.
The result is that some kosher slaughterhouses employ a shackle-and-hoist system in which a chain is wrapped around the animal's back leg, and shechitah is performed while the poor beast is suspended by one back leg. The terrified bellows of cattle can often be heard from outside the slaughterhouse.
In the US, this method is used only for religious slaughter, since all other cattle are rendered unconscious with a bolt stunner before hoisting.
In the US, many people mistakenly thought that the shackling and hoisting of live cattle was part of kosher slaughter. But during the mid-Eighties and early Nineties, I was hired by two companies to tear out these cruel machines and replace them with equipment that would hold cattle in a comfortable standing position for shechitah.
Where the shackle-and-hoist method was used, I had no way to study the animal's experience of shechitah since so much stress was caused by the restraining methods. For several weeks, I had the opportunity to operate the hydraulic controls on the new kosher restraint boxes.
When operating the restraining box that no longer caused suffering, I felt the sacredness of the ancient ritual. I wrote about it in detail in my book, Thinking in Pictures.
"As each animal entered, I concentrated on moving the apparatus slowly and gently so as not to scare him. I watched his reactions so that I applied only enough pressure to hold him snugly. Excessive pressure would cause discomfort. If his ears were laid back against his head or he struggled, I knew I had squeezed him too hard. Animals are very sensitive to hydraulic equipment. They feel the smallest movement of the control levers.
"Through the machine I reached out and held the animal. When I held his head in the yoke, I imagined placing my hands on his forehead and under his chin and gently easing him into position. Body boundaries seemed to disappear, and I had no awareness of pushing the levers. The rear pusher gate and head yoke became an extension of my hand."
NOW THAT I was able to hold the animal gently, it was possible to observe its reaction to shechitah. When shechitah was performed on each steer, I was amazed that the animal did not move. To find out if shechitah was really painless, I started holding the head of each animal with less and less pressure to see if it would move during shechitah. Even big bulls stayed still when the head holder was so loose they could have easily pulled their heads out.
I also observed that some shochets were better than others in their ability to cause rapid unconsciousness. All of the cuts were correct from a religious standpoint, but some shochets were more biologically effective. A swift cut was more effective than a slower one. In the hands of the best shochets, the animal does not make a sound or flinch, and drops unconscious in eight to 10 seconds.
My experiences in seeing how humane shechitah can be could not have prepared me for the video taken at the kosher meat plant AgriProcessors, which recently became the center of considerable controversy. The video showed cattle that were clearly conscious after their throats had been cut and their trachea had been ripped out and was hanging from their necks.
I have been in over 30 kosher plants, and I had never seen such a dreadful procedure. Obviously, yanking on the trachea would cause great pain and may have delayed the onset of unconsciousness.
AgriProcessors is not the only place that needs to improve its procedures.
Many plants that export beef from South America to Israel are dragging live cattle around with chains attached to the animal's rear leg. In the South American procedure, still used in 80% of the kosher plants there, live cattle are hoisted up, laid back down on their back, then held down by four or five people for shechitah.
These plants should replace the dragging of cattle with restraining pens. A pen that holds the animal standing is the most comfortable for the animal. Pens that rotate cattle onto their backs like the one at the AgriProcessors are much better than dragging and hoisting, but are probably more stressful than upright restraints.
In well-designed upright or rotating restraining pens, 95% or more of the cattle should remain calm and not bellow. In the worst shackle-and-hoist systems, more than half the cattle will bellow, a sure sign of pain and stress.
Ethical kosher slaughter also makes good business sense. Calm cattle bleed better, leading to greater efficiency and higher quality meat. Shackle-and-hoist, in addition to being cruel, is dangerous for people. Struggling animals have caused so many injuries that insurance companies have forced some plants to abandon this method. The reduction in insurance premiums alone can, in some cases, pay for new, more ethical, restraining equipment.
In a recent response to the AgriProcessors video, the Orthodox Union reiterated that "Judaism abjures cruelty to animals" and announced that "the trachea will no longer be removed following shechitah, and any animals that appear to have survived the procedure will be promptly stunned or shot [and their meat declared unkosher]."
I know that shechitah, done right, is the most humane slaughtering method. But it is very disturbing that the cruel AgriProcessors procedure was stopped only after being revealed by a pirate video, and that cases of incompetent shechitah are still being defended as aberrations. Meanwhile, in other plants, inhumane shackle-and-hoist methods are still receiving the kosher stamp of approval. This is a shame, not just for the animals but for a religious system that represents one of the great ethical advances in human history and which demonstrates the sacredness of all life.
The writer, the author of Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from My Life with Autism, is an associate professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103170787940&p=1006953079865
Copyright 1995-2004 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
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2. My Letter To The Editor Re The Temple Grandin Article/Suggestions Welcome
December 16, 2004
letters@jpost.com
Dear Editor:
Kol hakavod for including Temple Grandin’s wonderful article on proper shechita (“Kosher Slaughter Done Right,” December 16 issue). She has been highly respected internationally for many years for her expertise on all aspects of slaughter and her creative approaches to minimizing the pain of animals during the slaughtering process. I hope that her wise counsel will be widely heeded. However, even if shechita is carried out perfectly, can we ignore the severe cruelty that animals are subjected to daily on factory farms, and the other ways that the production and consumption of animal products violate basic Jewish teachings?
Since nutritionists have concluded that one can be properly nourished on a diet free of animal products, a fundamental question to be addressed is: since Judaism mandates that we should diligently guard our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people, and animal-based diets and agriculture have negative effects in each of these areas, shouldn’t Jews (and others) seriously consider a switch toward meatless diets?
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz
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3. My Letter to the Jewish Media/Suggestions Welcome
Dear Editor:
I believe that the horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse (http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/index.asp) and the efforts of some Orthodox groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If these procedures are acceptable, are we carrying out our mandate to be “rachmanim b’nei rachmanim” (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we properly carrying out the requirement to imitate G-d, Whose “tender mercies are over all his creatures” (Psalms 145:9)? If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, “the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name,” can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise? If, “the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal” (Proverbs 12:10), how will be judged, based on our treatment of animals?
More generally, even if shechita acts are carried out perfectly and pain during slaughter is minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals that occur daily to billions of animals daily in the United States and worldwide?
Finally, the most important question: since Judaism mandates that we should diligently guard our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people, and animal-based diets and agriculture have negative effects in each of these areas, shouldn’t Jews (and others) seriously consider a switch toward meatless diets?
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
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4. My Opinion Article Draft/Suggestions Welcome
WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
I believe that the horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse (http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/index.asp) and the efforts of some Orthodox groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If these procedures are acceptable, are we carrying out our mandate to be “rachmanim b’nei rachmanim” (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we not failing to properly imitate G-d, Whose “tender mercies are over all his creatures” (Psalms 145:9)? If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, “the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name,” can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise? If, “the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal” (Proverbs 12:10), how will be judged, based on our treatment of animals?
More generally, even if shechita acts are carried out perfectly and pain during slaughter is minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals that occur daily to billions of animals daily in the United States and worldwide?
Finally, can we ignore the many ways that animal-based diets and agriculture severely violate Jewish values:
* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, global climate change, and other environmental damages.
* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of land, water, fuel, grain, and other resources.
* While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, over 70% of the grain grown in the U.S. is fed to animals destined for slaughter. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-raosed beef.
* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by wasting valuable resources, perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that often lead to instability and war.
Clearly, Jewish values and meat consumption are in serious conflict. Jews should seriously consider shifting toward plant-based diets and promoting a switch toward vegetarianism as moral and ecological imperatives. Besides having great benefits for animals, such actions would greatly benefit the health of the Jewish people and others, move our precious, but imperiled planet to a more sustainable path, and show the relevance of Jewish teachings to the problems confronting the world today.
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5. Statement By a Conservative Rabbi on Postville
Rabbi Joel Rembaum
Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles
http://amechad.blogspot.com/
When Kosher Is Not
Haverim, shalom.
There are two principles that stand at the foundation of kosher
slaughtering:
1. removal of blood from the animal as quickly as possible;
2. minimizing the pain and suffering that the animal experiences.
Done properly, kosher slaughtering, shehitah, accomplishes both of these
aims.
The observant Jewish community was shocked last month by the revelation of videotapes shot by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) inside a kosher slaughtering plant in Postville, Iowa. The tapes, selections of which I have viewed, depict animals writhing and squirming for more than a few seconds after shehitah, and, in some instances, actually getting up and walking around and then continuing to flail about for more than a minute. The animals appear to be in agony, and were this to be the case, the meat from such animals would have to be declared unkosher.
The Orthodox Union (OU) kashrut authorities who supervise the plant have stated that such random movement is not evidence of the animals suffering and that the loss of blood to the brain resulting from the shehitah renders the animals insensate. They also state that the USDA supervisors at the plant affirm that the animals do not suffer. They report that the meat prepared at the plant is kosher because the principle of tza'ar ba'alei hayyim, causing pain to a living being, has not been violated. Nevertheless, to add an additional level of
caution and to quell the uproar that the tapes have generated, the OU has mandated that any animals that experience abnormal post-shehitah movement will be stunned or shot to ensure that the animal is in a state of total unconsciousness. Such animals would then be used for non-kosher meat. Also, removal of the trachea immediately after shehitah to enhance blood flow, which has been the practice at the plant, will be discontinued. It should be noted that the plant in question uses a pen in which the animal is turned upside down immediately prior to slaughtering, a procedure deemed acceptable by the OU. (The OU opinions cited above can be found at
In September, 2000, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), the Conservative Movement's most authoritative legal decision-making body, ruled that to avoid tza'ar ba'alei hayyim only pens that keep the animal upright may be used in shehitah. Laboratory tests have determined that the blood of animals killed in the upside down position show a 300% elevation in stress related chemicals. The published CJLS opinion, written by Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Joel Roth and approved by a vote of 21-0, reads: "To be clear, then, in this ruling we intend not only to ban shackling and hoisting animals, but also those pens that turn the animals upside down before slaughtering them. Only moving and killing the animals in an upright pen satisfies the requirements of Jewish law forbidding cruel treatment of animals." (See: Responsa 1991-2000, The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement, Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, eds.; p. 96.) In fact, in Many facilities in which kosher slaughtering is done, such upright pens that are also PETA approved are in use. The upshot of this last piece of information is that, according to CJLS standards, even with the new policies in force by the OU at the Postville plant, the meat that comes from there is not kosher.
Here are my recommendations to TBA members as to how to resolve this
matter:
1. Given the nature of Jewish law, specially in the area of Kashrut, it is not unusual that there are differing points of view. This is clearly the case with regard to the pens used at the Postville plant. The CJLS considers such pens to be unacceptable because they cause undue pain and suffering to the animal; the OU considers them to be acceptable because they do not cause undo pain and suffering. Therefore,
2. TBA members should not use the Aaron's Best/Rubashkin meats that are produced in that plant.
3. Those who do use such meat would not be "treifing up" their kitchens because they do have a legitimate halakhic authority (the OU) backing them up.
4. I will speak with our caterers and ascertain that Aaron's Best/Rubashkin meats are not served at the synagogue.
I hope you find this approach helpful. I look forward to hearing from
you on this matter.
B'shalom,
Rabbi Joel Rembaum
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6. Corrections
a. In the last special JVNA newsletter, the (corrected) statement below omitted the first “only.”
"Yosef Hakohen, a long time friend and JVNA advisor, pointed out that it is not proper for an interfaith group to only criticize a Jewish facility and that the letter should not have only discussed abuses at the Postville kosher slaughterhouse since there are also serious abuses at non-kosher slaughterhouses."
b. Previous JVNA newsletters have included statements from “Kosher Today.” I neglected to point out that this publication is not a normal media source, but an industry run and operated publication. In fact, they even note that they don't publish unless they have enough advertisers (almost all kosher companies).
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7. Humane Society of the US Calls For Persecution for Alleged Abuses at Kosher Slaughterhouse
December 8, 2004
In response to a recent investigation of a kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, The Humane Society of the United States has sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman not only pointing out alleged violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, but also urging the agency to take "the strongest possible action to prosecute those responsible for the abuses shown in that video and to ensure that they end immediately, and are not replicated elsewhere."
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) taped the undercover video at AgriProcessors, Inc. from July through September; it is available for viewing via the organization's web site. Following its investigation, PETA filed a complaint with the U.S. Agriculture Department, calling for the prosecution of the slaughterhouse for alleged violations of the HMSA.
The video is excruciating to watch. Drawn from PETA's three-month investigation, the nearly 40-minute video shows a number of cows being restrained, one at a time, in a squeeze chute. This is a common farming device designed to hold an animal in place with adjustable metal plates that press in, or "squeeze," the animal's sides, while the head is secured from the front end. Typically, a squeeze chute is used when farmers need to vaccinate an animal or monitor its health. When the procedure is done, the front opens up and the animal walks right out.
The chute seen in this video is different. It is a special, drum-like device that turns the cow upside down, his head held firmly in place so that the shochet, a person educated in kosher slaughter, can cut the animal's throat cleanly. The cows seen at AgriProcessors are placed in the chute one at a time; another worker promptly hoses off the animal's exposed throat, and the shochet cuts the neck with a long, sharp knife, immediately sending a jetstream of blood gushing from the cow's throat. A third worker then pulls out the cow's trachea and esophagus, and the giant drum spins again to unceremoniously dump the animal onto a blood-covered floor.
"In the video we see cattle having their tracheas ripped out, being turned upright, and being dumped from a height onto the floor within ten or 15 seconds of sticking. Both the removal of the trachea and the turning—which will cause the sides of the neck wound to contact each other—will cause extreme pain. This treatment of conscious cattle is shocking, categorically inhumane, and clearly contrary to the HMSA," wrote Michael Appleby, vice president of The HSUS's Farm Animals and Sustainable Agriculture section, to Secretary Veneman. The same letter was sent to Agriculture Secretary Designate Gov. Michael Johanns of Nebraska; Dr. Bonnie Buntain, chief veterinary public health officer with the USDA; and Michael Thomas, an AgriProcessors, Inc. spokesman.
"Furthermore," Appleby wrote, "the inversion is itself grossly inhumane – as can be seen in the video from the struggling and bellowing of the cattle – and inverted animals struggling to right themselves will aspirate blood after the neck is cut. It is our understanding that inversion forms no part of the requirements of any religious faith – and upright restraint alternatives are readily available. It is urgent that the practice of inverting animals for slaughter should be terminated as quickly as possible."
Once dumped from the machine, the animal is not dead. Nor even unconscious.
Almost every one of the cows, each with open, flapping wounds, thrashes about on the bloody cement floor, obviously trying to lift his or her head—a clear sign of consciousness. Some manage to stand up. At least one staggers through a small opening in the back of the slaughter area. Eventually, the animals fall again, and a worker loops a chain around one of their hind legs and hoists them up and away to the next part of processing.
Kosher slaughter is a process in which animals become unconscious by anemia of the brain, the result of severing the animal's carotid arteries. It differs from conventional slaughter practices because the animals are not stunned before their necks are cut. Kosher slaughter is used to process animals in accordance with the Jewish faith, and has been deemed humane by the HMSA. In fact, kosher slaughter has often been touted as more humane than typical slaughtering methods because of a rapid, arguably painless death.
"The animals in this video are not given near enough time to bleed out," says Dr. Jennifer Lanier of The HSUS. "Animals should be given approximately a minute to ensure anemia, but these cattle were subjected to other, painful procedures within ten or 15 seconds. Intense pain can prolong consciousness in farm animals. The only possible reason for taking shortcuts is speed—they want to clear out the chute for the next animal."
But as noted in the letter to Secretary Veneman, the problems at AgriProcessors go beyond alleged animal cruelty.
"It is also important to point out that there are major problems for both food safety and worker safety in these practices," Appleby wrote. "Cattle are dumped onto a floor awash with manure and blood, with the open neck wound directly in contact with these contaminants. Workers are required to handle these conscious animals, often still kicking, for shackling and hoisting. These working conditions are also inexcusably unhygienic, and dehumanizing in being conducive to cultivating cruelty to animals."
Incidentally, the Environmental Protection Agency is also suing AgriProcessors for repeatedly discharging more wastewater than permitted and for failing to file proper paperwork.
Copyright © 2004 The Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved.
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8. Keeping the Momentum Going/Letter From Rina
Dear Rabbi Rank, [He is the president of the Conservative Rabbls’ rabbinical assembly (RA) and his message re Postville was in the previous special JVNA newsletter,]
Thank you so much for your quick response! In fact, I have sent out your very eloquent statement far and wide and will continue to do so. I am well aware that the OU and other Orthodox organizations would very much like this issue to die down and be swept under the carpet. I suspect they fear that further publicizing this issue will trigger a wave of anti-Semitism. I think just the opposite would happen. I think we would stand out as a group who is attempting to "check" itself and become more humane and evolved.
I should probably mention that I, personally, am a vegetarian and have been for the past 20 years. But most of the people I know are not. Many people (even non-Jews) buy kosher meat because they feel it is more humane and cleaner. I think it is our obligation to begin to really assess and upgrade our practices internally so that we can be a model of compassion for others.
Now that the PETA footage has surfaced it is imperative that we react. In fact, NOT reacting could set off a campaign of rage and anti-Semitism.
Let us keep this issue - an issue that concerns the very fabric of the Jewish Neshama [soul] - alive and help it gain momentum.
Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Rina Deych
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9. More Sample Letters (Including Five That appeared in the Jerusalem Post and Seven That Appeared in the Jewish Press)
LETTER: AgriProcessors Inc. violates Jewish law
[These are presented to give you a sampling of opinions in response to the Postville scandal. From what I have seen, the vast majority of letters have expressed outrage and/or strongly supported changes at the Postville slaughterhouse. Some have discussed the need to switch toward vegetarian diets.]
Dear Editor:
In response to your news article about the animal rights activists in Postville, as a person of Jewish faith, I am writing to express the disbelief and outrage I felt after viewing the footage captured by a PETA investigator inside AgriProcessors Inc.
The AgriProcessors slaughterhouse is the largest producer of glatt kosher meat in the world, so its managers and employees should be striving to strictly uphold the humane slaughter methods prescribed in both Jewish and federal law. The undercover video shows that nothing could be further from the truth.
Kosher slaughter is supposed to be fast and painless, rendering the animals insensible with a quick cut to the neck. The footage, available on PETA's Web site, shows animals being dumped into a pool of blood after their necks are cut and then standing, thrashing around, and slamming into walls.
AgriProcessors Inc. is an embarrassment to the Jewish people and an abomination under Jewish law. And while I am heartened that the Orthodox Union has urged AgriProcessors, Inc. to change some of its crueler practices, I hope the authorities are working quickly to shut this ghastly slaughterhouse down.
Stephen GoldsmithSalt Lake City
Copyright © 2004, Iowa State Daily
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Concerning "Rabbis unite against wider anti-'shehita' campaign" by Mati Wagner, December 12th, 2004.
The only way to prevent further inroads by PETA is to be extremely scrupulous about adhering to kashrut standards and the intent of these laws. Judaism teaches compassion. No profit motive should let us lose sight of that.
It is not the practice that needs to be protected, but the principle. The most humane way of eating is what's important.
PETA is incontrovertibly right about one thing. The MOST compassionate and humane way to eat is to only consume plant-based foods. Not only is it the best for the animals, it is best for our health and for the health of the planet.
Maida Waldner Genser
Tamarac, FL, USA
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Dear Rabbi,
I was raised in a Jewish home and many aunts and uncles were "kosher."
Had I learned then what I know now about the meat centered diet and how horrific it is for our health, for the earth, how it takes precious grain and water to use for cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, whatever humans choose to reduce to body parts for their plates, and first and foremost, the most egregious and needless agony ALL animals suffer in confinement, transport, being led to slaughter, during the entire process, and slowly(fast to you, slow to them)bleeding to death, I would have become vegan much sooner. After spending three years viewing tapes of animal suffering, seeing the degradation animal agriculture is resulting in, seeing the sheer, unfathomable violence workers use to vent their own frustration, I know it is a sin to eat animals and to remain silent about the most heinous of all human practices, the slaughter of helpless beings. I strongly believe the true spirit of Jewish law commands mercy and kindness to innocent, helpless animals. Since there is absolutely NO need for anything that comes from animals in the human diet, and in 2004, degenerative diseases in adults and children have caused a health and health care crisis, eating animals , in my opinion, can never be considered a proper practice and is opposite to Tsa'Ar Ba'Alei Chayim.
I have heard every justification, every personal self-centered argument, every rationalization from Rabbi's and other leaders in religious groups. It is most troubling that the bloodshed and violence, might makes right attitudes we see rampant in the world, and all other abuses of power can be traced to our license to do with animals what we can, not what is right. Co-existing with nature and respecting diversity, along with a reverence for ALL living beings and the ecological balance, while feeding humanity as Genesis 1:29 offers, would have far better outcomes than what we are experiencing in todays world, a giant slaughterhouse.
The brave people who expose these atrocities are to be commended, and the Rabbi's who defend the tapes or the needless slaughter of animals to satisfy taste and habit, should be ashamed. We are teaching children to be predators, carnivores, mean, cruel and numb to the most unspeakable agony we would never wish upon ourselves.
I hope this situation in Iowa is the beginning of a new paradigm to shift to reducing or eliminating animal "products," from the diet, before there is no life left on earth because the water, air, land, forests are destroyed, and competition for food brings far more human violence. The diseases looming from animals passed to humans should be a wake-up call that plagues are not just for Pharoah's.
If my father, Aaron, were alive, and I showed him the Iowa tapes, and he read Rabbi's defended them, he would drive to the Orthodox Union with me and express his outrage, as I will do as soon as time allows.
Respectfully,
Laura Beth Slitt
Bartlett,NH
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Below are five letters in today's Jerusalem Post regarding PETA's investigation of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa.
...shirk their duty
Sir, - One would hope that the united rabbis would be most concerned about animal torture, but Mati Wagner's "Rabbis unite to stave off feared wider anti-'shehita' campaign" (December 12) shows this is not the case.
Where is their compassion for these living beings who have done nothing to harm anyone?
These animals are being tortured to death. The rabbis need to examine their souls and widen their circle of compassion.
SHERRILL DURBIN
Mounds, Oklahoma
Sir, - I urge those rabbis who feel they need to present a united front against PETA to reconsider. What concerns that organization is only the cruelty at the slaughterhouse and not the fact that it is a kosher slaughterhouse.
To me only the unfortunate discrepancy between the intent and practice of shehita is of concern.
The only way to treat animals with compassion in the 21st century is to shun the industrialized factory-like farms that breed, raise, and kill the animals in unspeakable conditions.
If most consumers saw what went on inside feedlots and slaughterhouses most people would choose a vegan diet. Until that day it is incumbent upon Jews to work toward more humane conditions for animals raised for food.
We ought to be applauding PETA's spotlight on the problem, not fearing it. It points us toward the work we have to do. It gives us direction for tikkun olam (mending the world).
PATTI BREITMAN
Fairfax, California
---------------------------------
Sir, - I suggest very respectfully that the rabbis consider the many violations of Jewish teachings related to animal-based diets and agriculture. When Judaism mandates that we treat animals with compassion, can we ignore the cruel treatment of animals on factory farms?
When Judaism stresses we must diligently protect our health, can we ignore that animal-based diets are major contributors to heart disease, cancer, and other killer diseases?
When Judaism mandates that we be partners with God in protecting the environment, can we ignore the significant contribution of animal-centered agriculture to many environmental threats?
For the sake of our health, the sustainability of our imperiled planet, Jewish values - and the animals themselves - it is essential that we consider shifting toward plant-based diets.
RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ
President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America
Staten Island
The writer is author of Judaism and Vegetarianism.
-----------------------------
Sir, - When I was 12 my rabbi, the late Abraham E. Halpern, taught me that to be a good Jew one must first be a good human being.
-I look forward to shehita being modernized so that, every step of the way, every Jew who still eats meat can say to him or herself that none of the Almighty's creatures suffered before or during the killing.
-The slaughterers will sleep better, too.
C.J. KINGSLEY
San Francisco
------------------
...PETA comments
Sir, - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals agrees that shehita is generally kinder than standard slaughter methods but, as PETA's documentation shows, shehita is clearly not performed properly at AgriProcessors.
As Temple Grandin, an associate professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University, said: "The problem is not kosher slaughter, but a badly managed plant. I've observed 30 different kosher plants in the United States, Canada and Europe, and never seen anything like it in any kosher or nonkosher plant.
"What I saw in the video was unbelievable."
PETA is only asking the Orthodox Union and AgriProcessors to do the barest of bare minimums to ensure that animals are respected, as Jewish law and basic compassion for animals requires.
AgriProcessors needs to stop dragging terrified animals, with their throats slit open, across the floor while they are still conscious.
Visit www.GoVeg.com to watch the video and read other expert testimony.
BENJAMIN GOLDSMITH
Campaign Coordinator
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Norfolk, Virginia
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103080751035&apage=2
Seven Letters in the Jewish Press
http://www.jewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4478
PETA Editorials Hit A Nerve
Orthodox And Horrified
I am an Orthodox Jew who is horrified by the reporting of what goes on at the AgriProcessors meat processing plant (PETA Is At It Again,"editorial, Dec. 3). Though I am well aware that PETA has a double agenda of promoting vegetarianism as well as stopping the inhumane treatment of animals - and I only identify with the second (though my daughter is a vegetarian) - I wholeheartedly support PETA's campaign against inhumane killing of animals masquerading as the most kosher type of shechita.
Dr. Chaim Milikowsky
Ramat Gan, Israel
[Chair of Talmud Department at Bar Ilan University]
Jews Must Exemplify Humaneness
My grandfather was a kosher butcher who loved animals (and, interestingly, became a vegetarian in the last year of his life).
Through the years I have seen disturbing footage taken in kosher slaughterhouses, but when I've tried to tell rabbis and other Orthodox people, they dismiss it and refuse to watch, stating "Oh, but that is not done anymore."
Many Jews are afraid to speak up for fear of being labeled "self-hating." If a non-Jew says something, he risks being called an anti-Semite. Aren’t we, as Jews, supposed to be more compassionate and evolved? Aren’t we supposed to exemplify gentleness and humaneness toward our fellow creatures - human and non-human?
Rina Deych
Brooklyn, NY
Avoiding Needless Suffering
Jewish law instructs us to feed our animals first at meals. It is not that the animals are necessarily hungrier than we are; but, while in our care, it is our duty to alleviate anxiety and unnecessary distress, to demonstrate the principle of tzaar baalei chayim - not causing needless
suffering to living beings.
David Perle
(Via E-Mail)
----------------------
Our `Ludicrous Suggestion`
Your editorial suggesting that PETA should be sued for exposing cruelty at a kosher slaughterhouse is ludicrous. Do you find cruelty acceptable as long as it is done in the name of Judaism?
As a Jew, I'm ashamed that such sickening animal abuse is done in the name of Judaism. As a human being, I'm ashamed that any member of my species could take part in such reprehensible behavior.
I applaud the compassionate people at PETA for their chutzpah and willingness to speak up for those who cannot. Shame on you for condoning these atrocities.
Stewart David
(Via E-Mail)
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What Halacha Says
In your Dec. 10 editorial "The PETA Controversy Continues," you wrote:
"Under the humane slaughter laws, rendering an animal insensitive prior to the throat cut is required except when Jewish ritual slaughter is involved, which requires the simultaneous severance of the carotid arteries by the sharpest knives of a fully conscious animal."
From our holy seforim it is obvious that not a single sage takes the position that cutting the carotid arteries in a cow is obligatory. While it's true that Rabbi Yehuda, in the first Mishna of the second perek of Chulin, holds that one must cut the carotid arteries, the sages, who are
the majority, take issue with him. Also, the Talmud (Chulin 28 b) makes it very clear that even Rabbi Yehuda is only talking about the carotid arteries of a chicken, not a cow.
Furthermore, the Levush, in Yoreh Deah, Siman 22, writes explicitly that cutting the carotid arteries in a chicken is not betoras shechita, meaning that their cutting is not required to validate the shechita ritual. The true reason for the cutting of the carotid arteries is to
insure the release of the animal's blood, which is a separate concern, wholly unrelated to the actual shechita process.
As far as shechita is concerned, we have a tradition, halacha l'Moshe miSinai, that the kanah and veshet, the food and windpipe, must be severed, and that's all.
Trying to fend off the likes of PETA does not give one license to misrepresent what halacha actually says.
Yossie Newfield
Brooklyn, NY
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Veggie Diet Looking Better
Israel has more religious vegetarians per capita than any other country except India because Judaism has always taught kindness to animals. For all of us who think cruelty to animals is wrong, a vegetarian diet suddenly looks like the right choice.
Dorit Rogan
Evanston, IL
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Five Requirements
True: PETA`s extremist declarations do not help its cause.
False: Your insinuation that the animal slaughtered in PETA`s clandestine video was killed properly. Please, watch the video snippets again, refresh your memory regarding the Law, and then honestly tell me, tell all of us, if you think the slaughter conformed to halacha.
There are five halachic requirements that the shochet is obliged to ensure in the performance of shechita (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De`ah 23):
a) There should be no interruption of the incision (shehiya);
b) there should be no pressing of the chalaf (sharp knife used by the shochet) against the neck (derasa) - this would exclude use of a guillotine;
c) the chalaf should not be covered by the hide of cattle, wool of sheep or feathers of birds (chalada), and therefore the chalaf has to be ofadequate length;
d) the incision must be at the appropriate site to sever the major structures and vessels at the neck (hagrama) - the frontal structures at the neck including the trachea, esophagus, the carotid arteries and jugular veins are severed in a rapid and uninterrupted action causing an instant drop in blood pressure in the brain, resulting in the immediate and irreversible cessation of consciousness and sensibility to pain;
e) there must be no tearing of the vessels before or during the shechita process (ikkur). The ability to be honest enough with oneself to admit that one did something wrong and that one is to be held responsible for it is a prerequisite for a Jew`s relationship with Hashem (Seforno on
Bereshis 3:12).
Although the wild accusations of the activists reveal their irrationality and destroy their credibility, we must show more courage than deflecting the real issue onto PETA.
Jonathan Wildman
Pittsburgh, PA
=========================
10. Responding To Recent Published Articles
Please respond to the following articles using material in this and previous newsletters. Thanks.
* Please limit your letters to 200 words or less and respond to
this alert within 48 hours.
* Be sure to include the titles and dates of the pieces, and your
name, address, and phone numbers for letter verification.
Once again, we thank Liz Abbott of PETA for compiling this information.
"The Assault On Shechita"
By Nathan Lewin
The Jewish Press (New York)
December 15, 2004
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4494
Send e-mails to letters@jewishpress.com .
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"Video viewed as an unkind cut on kosher meats controversy"
By Molly Shaffer
The Jewish Advocate (New England - Boston)
December 10-16, 2004 issue
http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/
Send e-mails to editorial@thejewishadvocate.com .
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"Reforms promised at glatt kosher slaughterhouse"
The Jewish Chronicle (Pittsburgh)
December 8, 2004
http://pittsburgh.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pittchron.com
Send e-mails at
http://pittsburgh.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pittchron.com .
--------------------
"Dispute Over Kosher Meat Plant Raises Alarms"
The Jewish Journal (Boston)
December 3-16, 2004 issue
http://www.jewishjournal.org/news.htm#national1
Send e-mails to editorial@jewishjournal.org .
----------------------
"Kosher slaughterhouse vows to clean up practices"
The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
December 10, 2004
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/24390/format/html/displaystory.html
Send e-mails to letters@jweekly.com.
------------------------
"Tour of kosher plant reveals company's view of events"
The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
December 14, 2004
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/12/14/news/regional/a67f6ee74a234ea486256f6a00476894.txt
Send e-mails at https://secure.lee.net/wcfcourier.com/letters/ .
---------------------
"Ag secretary changes opinion after touring kosher plant"
The Mason City Globe Gazette
December 12, 2004
http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2004/12/12/business/doc41bd1f9e76f9a289840890.txt
Send e-mails at http://www.globegazette.com/sitepages/letter_to_editor/index.php .
----------------------------
"Judge changes opinion after touring Postville plant"
The Rochester Agri News
December 14, 2004
http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/240531292707992.bsp
Send e-mails at http://www.agrinews.com/letters.html
--------------
"Judge changes opinion on alleged abuse at kosher plant"
The Des Moines Register
December 13, 2004
Link
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041213/BUSINESS01/412130342/1029/BUSINESS
Send e-mails to letters@dmreg.com .
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead
===================
** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
December 14, 2004
Special JVNA Newsletter - Postville Slaughterhouse Case #4
12/14/04
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is a fourth follow-up to the newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Bottom Line Concerns
2. What We Should Be Doing
3. JVNA Recent Press Release
4. Statement by the President of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Conservative Judaism’s Rabbinic Group
5. Corrections
6. Jerusalem Post Article
7. Kosher Today Reports Defend Postville Procedures
8. NY Times News Item 12/9/04
9. Statement From an Orthodox Rabbi to His Congregation Re Kosher Status of Postville Slaughterhouse Meat.
10. Article Claims Charges Against AgriProcessors Refuted
11. Baltimore Jewish Times Article
12. PETA’s Responses to Claims of Refutations
13. Another Sample Letter and a Letter Requesting Permission
14. Letter to Editor of the JVNA Newsletter from Yosef Hakohen
15. Publications With Recent Articles Re the Postville Controversy
16. Key People and Groups to Contact
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Bottom Line Concerns
JVNA objectives re the Postville controversy have been given in the two previous JVNA special newsletters on the topic. They can be summed us as (1) make people aware of and defend Jewish teachings on compassion to animals, kosher slaughter, and related issues, (2) support changes that will end the mistreatment of animals at the Postville slaughterhouse, while stressing that procedures at that plant were not typical shechita practices, and (3) urge that the Jewish community see the Postville horrors as a wake up call to the need for Jews and others to work to end all abuses of animals in slaughterhouses and factory farms and to end 9or at least reduce) the violations of Jewish mandates that are involved in the production and consumption of meat and other animals products.
The statement below by JVNA founder and first president Jonathan Wolf is a very good statement of our position and concerns: "JVNA believes that properly carried out ritual slaughter is a ‘humane’ method of slaughter, which aims to minimize animal pain, and that Jews who continue to eat meat should eat kosher, organic, humane-certified meat. JVNA has also consistently opposed efforts to single out shechita for criticism. However, JVNA believes that the graphic depictions of the horrifying mistreatment of the animals at the slaughterhouse should cause the entire Jewish community to examine the ways animals are currently being raised, treated, prepared, and slaughtered, to see if the laws and principles of the Torah are actually being properly practiced. And we hope that closer study of the values in Jewish tradition-- concern for the pain of fellow creatures, maintaining health, protecting G-d's world, conserving resources, feeding the hungry -- will ultimately lead Jews and others to adopt a diet that is more humane, healthier, more environmentally sustainable, and more capable of feeding hungry people -- vegetarianism."
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2. What We Should Be Doing
a. Please check your local publications and write letters to editors. Please be respectful and give praise for positive developments before making your case. It is generally best to keep your letters short, less than 200 words, although I do not always meet this goal. Please also send letters to the publications listed later that have recently had articles on the slaughterhouse issue.
b. Here is a letter that I recently sent out (another sample letter is below):
December 12, 2004
Dear Editor:
The Orthodox Union is to be commended for initiating an end to the horrible treatment of animals at the Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse that were revealed on the PETA videotapes. But what about the many other violations of Jewish teachings related to animal-based diets and agriculture?
When Judaism mandates that we treat animals with compassion, can we ignore the cruel treatment of animals on factory farms, where they are raised in cramped, confined spaces without sunlight, fresh air, or opportunities to fulfil their natural instincts? When Judaism stresses that we must diligently protect our health, can we ignore that animal-based diets are major contributors to the epidemic of heart disease, many forms of cancer, and other killer diseases and ailments afflicting the Jewish community and others? When Judaism mandates that we be partners with God in protecting the environment, can we ignore the significant contributions of animal-centered agriculture to air, water, and land pollution, species extinction, deforestation, global climate change, water shortages, and many other environmental threats?
For the sake of our health, the sustainability of our imperiled planet, Jewish values, as well as for the animals, it is essential that we consider shifting toward plant-based diets.
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz
[Please use this letter, the recent JVNA press release below, and other information in this and other JVNSA newsletters as background information for your letters. Thanks.]
c. Please write to leaders of the Orthodox Union (OU), the USDA, and others involved in the Postville scandal. Contact information is given below. Thanks.
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3. JVNA Recent Press Release
http://JewishVeg.com/media10.html
PRESS RELEASE
December 10. 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact person: Richard H. Schwartz, President of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) (rschw12345@aol.com; Phone (718) 761-5876; Fax: (718) 982-3631; web site: http://JewishVeg.com).
JEWISH VEGETARIAN GROUP SEES ABUSES AT IOWA SLAUGHTERHOUSE AS A WAKE UP CALL
The Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) stated today that it is essential that the widespread publicity over the cruel abuse of animals at the kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa lead to much needed changes throughout the entire industry and a reevaluation by Jews of their dietary habits.
JVNA commends the Orthodox Union (OU) for its initial steps toward ending the abuses of animals revealed by videos at the Postville slaughterhouse, but it is urging the Jewish community to recognize that the horrors at the facility are part of a much wider pattern of animal abuse in today's meat industry
"We should consider the current controversy as a wake up call to end the many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products," asserted Richard Schwartz, President of the JVNA. "We can no longer ignore the suffering and abuse that many farmed animals experience for their entire lives on factory farms, It was the Jews who invented the concept of kindness to animals and formulated an entire code of laws forbidding cruelty to other living creatures. Many Torah verses stress compassion to animals.
JVNA is beginning a campaign to respectfully urge Jews to apply Jewish values to the foods that we eat. The group argues that the harsh realities of animal-based diets and agriculture contradict fundamental Jewish teachings and laws. These include mandates to take care of our health, treat animals compassionately, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people. Also, the group asserts, rabbis (and other religious leaders) should make their congregations and students aware of the many benefits of a shift toward plant-based diets. These include:
· reducing the epidemic of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases currently afflicting the Jewish community and other communities;
· reducing current environmental threats, including global climate change; species extinction; pollution of land, air, and water; destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and other valuable habitats; and shortages of water and other resources;
· demonstrating the relevance of Judaism to some of the most critical issues of our time, helping to revitalize our ancient faith;
"There is an epidemic of diseases and ailments in the Jewish community and other communities and the natural world is imperiled as perhaps never before by many environmental threats," asserted Schwartz, "and our rabbis would do a tremendous kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God’s name) by helping to put the many benefits of plant-based diets on the Jewish agenda."
JVNA is offering rabbis and other congregational and educational leaders extensive background information on the many connections between Judaism and vegetarianism. The nonprofit organization will send a complimentary copy of "Judaism and Vegetarianism" by Richard Schwartz and an associated CD to any Jewish leader who wishes to use them as background educational material for possible vegetarian activities. Much additional information can be found at the group’s web site (JewishVeg.com; mail@JewishVeg,com).
The group is eager to engage with rabbis and other Jewish leaders in a respectful public or private discussion of the issue, "Should Jews Be Vegetarians Today?" Noam Mohr, a JVNA Coordinator, stated, "Many Jews are surprised to learn how strongly vegetarianism is in the spirit of Judaism."
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4. Statement by the President of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Conservative Judaism’s Rabbinic Group
http://amechad.blogspot.com/2004/12/on-agriprocessers-kosher-controversy.html
[Please send letters to Rabbi Rank at rabassembly@jtsa.edu .]
The disturbing video that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) produced of incidents during shehitah (Jewish ritual animal slaughter) at the AgriProcessors' plant in Postville, Iowa should be regarded as a welcome, though unfortunate service to the Jewish community.
It is a service precisely because the scenes recorded are not what shehitah should be, nor does it correspond to the Jewish way of treating animals, even at the time of their slaughter. The uproar within the Jewish community over the videos is proof that those who observe kashrut are serious about the humane treatment of animals. When a company purporting to be kosher violates the prohibition against tza'ar ba'alei hayyim, causing pain to one of God's living creatures, that company must answer to the Jewish community, and ultimately, to God.
There are a variety of means used to prepare an animal for shehitah, and our Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) has criticized a number of them. In 2000, the CJLS unanimously approved a teshuvah (response to a question of Jewish law), written by Rabbis Elliot N. Dorff and Joel Roth, in which the shackling and hoisting of animals in preparation for shehitah was ruled a violation of tza'ar ba'alei hayyim. The teshuvah encourages all kosher processing plants to abandon that procedure and upgrade to more humane pens to secure an animal for slaughter. Such humane pens do not include the Facomia Pen or the Weinberg Pen, both of which are inconsistent with our understanding of what it means to humanely treat an animal.
The AgriProcessor plant of Postville, Iowa uses the Facomia pen and the PETA video captures exactly what the teshuvah of 2000 indicates, that this pen violates the prohibition against tza'ar ba'alei hayyim.
The Rabbinical Assembly applauds the Orthodox Union (OU) for its quick response to the video and its allegations. According to Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the OU, a review of shehitah procedures at AgriProcessors is now taking place and an OU supervisor has been placed on duty to assure that procedures assuring kashrut and the humane treatment of animals are followed. We hope that with this review, the OU will demand that the facilities it supervises install pens that meet modern scientific animal welfare/humane handling requirements such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) pen which we regard as a humane animal securing device, but not excluding other equally humane technological options.
Those who are charged with supervising the production of kosher meat are engaged in a sacred task. We are certain that they agree with us that the humane treatment of the animal is key to the Jewish approach toward life.
In keeping with our CJLS teshuvah of 2000, we urge all those involved in shehitah to invest in and install those technologies that assure that the animal's life is terminated speedily and with the humanity that Jewish law demands.
Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank
President, The Rabbinical Assembly
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Response from Rina Deych, a JVNA Newsletter reader:
Dear Rabbi Rank,
I was raised in an orthodox Jewish home in Boro Park, Brooklyn. My grandfather was a kosher butcher who loved animals and rescued many dogs, cats, and birds. He was also a humanitarian and a true Tzadik who helped everyone and even gave free meat to people who could not afford it. At the age of 8 I was just beginning to get curious about where meat came from. My grandfather assured me that the holy books promote compassion and respect for the animals. He assured me that the cows were free to graze the fields and the chickens to spread their wings on the Sabbath (which we now know doesn't happen in factory farms) and that the animals are killed by the swiftest cut from the sharpest blade to minimize pain and distress and cause the quickest death.
After the seeing the PETA footage (the short version - a five minutes I could barely get through) I was sickened and horrified. I began to write everyone from the Board of Rabbis to the USDA to the Humane Society.
Today I was fortunate enough to come across your statement that was sent out to Rabbi Weintraub's congregation denouncing the horrific practices at AgriProcessors and I must say I feel rejuvenated! I would like to commend you for caring and for taking a stand against this horrific situation.I urge you to (please) send your statement to the NY Times. Even though AgriProcessors is claiming they will make revisions, we must NOT let this issue rest. This is a good time to bring this issue out into the open so that maybe Jews and non-Jews alike can begin to re-examine how we treat food animals. Continuing the discussion would raise consciousness and hopefully put pressure on slaughterhouses to adopt more humane, compassionate methods.
In addition to the humane issue, there is also the issue of sanitation. The animals, after having their throats slit, were thrown out of the drums with their tracheas dangling onto a filthy blood and feces-covered concrete floor, contaminating the meat directly through the open wounds. Thank you in advance for anything else you do to keep this issue in the press.
Yours,
Rina Deych
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5. Corrections
a. The paragraph below in the last special JVNA newsletter omitted the word "not.":
“Once the Postville situation is resolved, it is essential that people NOT think that everything is now fine and they can continue their consumption of animal products with a clear conscience.”
b. The statement, “One person in the right makes a majority of one,” is from Thoreau, NOT Emerson, as originally indicated.
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6. Jerusalem Post Article
Dec. 12, 2004
Rabbis unite against wider anti-'shehita' campaign
By MATI WAGNER
www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=11
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7. Kosher Today Reports Defend Postville Procedures
http://www.koshertoday.com/newsletter/index.htm#2
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8. NY Times News Item 12/9/04
IOWA: SLAUGHTERHOUSE TO CHANGE ITS PROCESS
Owners of the world's biggest kosher slaughterhouse say they will make changes to their slaughtering process after being accused of inhumane treatment. The owners, Agriprocessors Inc., of Postville, agreed to the changes after consulting with federal regulators and the Orthodox Union, the group that certifies the company's products as kosher, officials said. The changes include giving rabbis who perform the slaughtering ritual a stun gun to knock steers unconscious if they thrash about after their throats have been slit, a company spokesman said. In such cases, the animal will be removed from the processing line as not kosher, he said. Last week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals made public a videotape showing steers walking or bellowing up to three minutes after their throats were slit. (AP)
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11. Baltimore Jewish Times Article
PETA, Kosher Groups Dispute Rolls On
Joel N. Shurkin, Staff Reporter
http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/4378.stm
Letters: http://www.jewishtimes.com/Opinion/messages.stm#form
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12. PETA’s Responses To Claims of Refutations
Response to AgriProcessors’ claim of a reversal on the part of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041210/nyf081_1.html
The only actual change in position that Rubashkin attributes to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate is the retraction of the idea that a cow takes 30 to 60 seconds to lose consciousness, which we thought was just a miscommunication, since it’s the only place we’ve seen anyone say that it takes more than 20 seconds.
Looked at more closely, the Rabbinate’s statement sinks AgriProcessors more deeply into the hole that it keeps digging for itself: Raful said, "2-3 seconds following schechita ... the animal is absolutely dead" if it is done properly.
The cattle killed at AgriProcessors are clearly very much alive and in agony, for two to three minutes after their throats are slit. So, according to Rabbi Raful, shechitah is not being done properly at AgriProcessors.
Thus far, AgriProcessors has relied on a PR person and rabbis on its own payroll to defend the plant. It has not found a single veterinarian, unbiased kosher slaughter expert, or any other sort of expert_not one_to defend the processes at AgriProcessors.
http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita2-65.htm
"Statement of Rabbis and Certifying Agencies on Recent Publicity on Kosher Slaughter":
PETA’s Response
It would have been interesting to watch as this statement was put together.
It is Nixonian doublespeak. Read closely -- there is no defense of AgriProcessors and only a general defense of shechitah -- there is literally not one thing that PETA disagrees with. The general impression offered, however, is that AgriProcessors is doing no wrong, and that is indefensible.
Following are some examples:
"After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain ..."
There is no question that this can happen, but it will never involve blinking, head righting, reaction to stimuli, or attempting to stand. Fully one-quarter of the animals in our sample, over seven weeks, were still conscious -- these are not just the animals who showed mechanical kicking; these are animals who are unquestionably conscious.
This has not been denied by the OU and cannot be denied tenably because it is physiologically true. Neither the OU nor Rubashkin can find a single veterinarian or other expert to defend the plant: The only defenders are on Rubashkin’s payroll and have no veterinary or physiological credentials.
"There may be exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and walk around."
"Signs of life"? They are alive and fully conscious and in the same amount of physical agony that a human being would be in under the same circumstances. A steer, just like any mammal with the same pain mechanism as ours, feels having his throat cut open. Beyond that, this is a routine occurrence at AgriProcessors, going back at least nine years and probably longer.
"[E]ven such an event would not invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in the shechita cut."
True, but at AgriProcessors, to quote the Chief Rabbinate of Israel: "[H]e did not cut one of the jugular veins, so blood is still flowing. That’s another reason for not accepting that shehita. It looks as though the animal wasn’t slaughtered properly." Our very contention is that so many animals are still conscious more than 30 seconds after shechitah because the shochets are not slaughtering them correctly. If they were, 25 percent of the animals would not still be conscious when they hit the concrete. It’s hard to imagine that these rabbis are going to suggest that properly performed shechitah allows a quarter of animals to continue to be conscious for more than 30 seconds.
"With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common practice."
Rabbi Edelstein told me that he’d never seen anything like it. So did Drs. Grandin, Friedlander, and Cheever. So did everyone else we could find. Sholom Rubashkin, on the other hand, says it is "the Shechita process in its full glory." So it may be "not common," and it’s certainly "especially inhumane" (Rabbi Weinreb), but it also happened to every single animal at AgriProcessors for years and years -- hundreds of thousands of animals had their tracheas and esophagi ripped out while they were still fully conscious, all on the OU’s watch.
"We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding ‘tzaar baalei chayim,’ unnecessary pain to any creature. We reiterate that the shechita process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves to the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with all religious and federal laws governing kosher slaughter."
This is a little hard to take when coupled with the defense of the meat from AgriProcessors as kosher and the early defense of this plant (the claim that animals who are walking are not conscious) by Rabbis Belsky, Kohn, and Genack.
http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita65.htm
"Message From Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kashrut Rabbinic Administrator":
PETA’s Response
The Good
If the OU, as it says, "will strive to the best of our ability to see to it that animals are treated humanely and to see that, at all the plants we supervise, any halachically unnecessary practices which may be seen to be objectionable, are ceased," then it will agree to make the changes that we’re requesting, which are the barest of bare minimums, where humane treatment is concerned, and will mean the following:
1) Electric prods will be prohibited.
2) All shochets will be trained in humane handling, in order to create a calmer atmosphere for the animals. The cacophonic din in this place is unacceptable and terrifying.
3) The OU should explicitly recognize and train shochets (slaughterers) in the physiological signs of consciousness in cattle -- blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right one’s head -- to ensure that no conscious animals are touched or moved until they are unconscious. Note that this means that animals must be kept in the restraint until they are unconscious.
4) Animals should not be turned upside-down before their throats are slit -- Rabbi Weinreb has stated to The New York Times that the OU prefers the ASPCA kosher slaughter pen. Based on the OU’s statement (prohibition of "any halachically unnecessary practices which may be seen to be objectionable"), the ASPCA pen must be required and the upside-down pen eliminated.
5) All equipment must be inspected to ensure that it is not harming animals (e.g., conveyor belts should not trap chickens and break their legs).
6) The horrific practices of the Rubashkin plant in Uruguay that supplies the Postville plant should be immediately subjected to identical requirements.
7) All OU-approved plants should be supplied with these precise regulations and all certifying rabbis trained in these strictures.
8) To ensure compliance, considering Mr. Rubashin’s intransigence, it is essential that Dr. Temple Grandin (or someone of her impeccable credentials) be granted access (paid by the OU or AgriProcessors) to the plant, for periodic unannounced audits.
Also, there is a discrepancy that must be addressed. The OU says, "[A]ny animals that appear to have survived the procedure will be promptly stunned or shot," and, "From now on, however, when this occurs at AgriProcessors, Inc., the animal will be promptly stunned or shot, so as not to prolong its suffering. Such animals will not be sold as kosher."
However, AgriProcessors’ PR person, Mike Thomas, told the AP and other media that "changes include giving rabbis who perform the kosher slaughtering ritual a stun gun to knock steers unconscious if they continue to thrash about after their throats have been slit." This is not possible, of course, as any USDA inspector or other expert can attest. If the animals are thrashing, they cannot be properly stunned -- both because the stun gun must be placed precisely on the central forehead and because anyone trying to get near a thrashing steer could be seriously injured. The only way to do this would be to keep the steers restrained until they are unconscious. If still conscious after 20 seconds, they must be, at that point, stunned with a captive-bolt gun, as legally required in the European Union and Australia. If the OU stands by its statement, this must be what was intended, and Mike Thomas must have been incorrect in his presentation to the media.
The Bad
The OU’s statement is rife with contradictions that are clear to anyone who takes a close look. This is not a case of "he said, she said." This is a case of making pronouncements that the OU cannot defend, perhaps imagining that most people will accept its statements without checking its claims.
1) In discussing the seven weeks that our investigator worked at AgriProcessors, the OU suggests that what we captured was "a tiny percentage."
In fact, we have made our entire video available to the USDA. Extrapolated as a representative sample, our video indicates that of 18,000 animals slaughtered, more than 4,000 were still conscious when they hit the concrete floor, more than 30 seconds after shechitah, and thousands struggled to stand. This is a routine and horrific problem, not an exception. Further, we have documented that this has been going on for a minimum of nine years, representing hundreds of thousands of cattle tortured in the plant.
2) The OU argues that AgriProcessors is not unique in having a failure rate in rendering animals insensible. This is a misleading statement: One animal who stands up 30 seconds after his throat has been slit, in any plant -- conventional or kosher -- would warrant shutting the line down to correct the problem. Although a first-stun success rate of 95 percent is considered acceptable in conventional plants, animals who are missed are required to be immediately stunned again. Drs. Grandin and Friedlander, both experts in kosher slaughter, say they’ve never seen anything like what’s happening at AgriProcessors.
3) The implication that the USDA "has found nothing amiss" is categorically false. The USDA dispatched five investigators, and its investigation is active. We are calling for Dr. Lawson’s censure and prosecution, in addition to that of AgriProcessors, precisely because he allowed this horrific cruelty to continue, and we feel that he has no place overseeing slaughter at all.
4) The OU states that "several rabbis, in Israel and Europe as well as in the United States, at first commented negatively on the kashrut of this shechita. Almost all of them, including the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, have now said that their initial statements were based on misinformation, and have retracted them." To our knowledge, not one of them has claimed "misinformation." None that we’re aware of has retracted. Certainly Rabbi Cohen and Shechita UK have not. The Jerusalem Post continues to report on the story but has not indicated any retraction from the Chief Rabbinate. Certainly the Rabbinate’s most recent statement that shechitah is supposed to render an animal unconscious in two seconds is not a retraction (quite the opposite, as discussed above). Rabbi Rosen, in Israel, also continues to stand by his statement. No one in the media has been able to find any retractions or claims of misinformation -- in fact, just the opposite.
Conclusion
The OU argued for days, in defiance of the physiological fact that a dead animal will not walk, that these walking cattle were dead. They had to know that they were not telling the truth, since these animals walk around, attempt to escape, and respond to stimuli. It is disturbing to see this pattern continued with the OU’s statements about the USDA, rabbis who are opposing the flagrant cruelty at AgriProcessors, and the extent of the cruelty at AgriProcessors.
All this notwithstanding, PETA’s concern is not that the OU present honest or accurate statements on its Web site to the media or the public -- that concern is for others to pursue; our concern is that animals stop being tortured. The OU cannot mollify people who oppose cruelty to animals, without explaining, explicitly, what steps are being taken to end the horrific cruelty to animals at AgriProcessors, and those steps will have to include the eight points that we mention above, which are the barest of bare minimums for an organization that presents kosher slaughter in such terms as "painless ritual fashion" and "instantaneous death with no pain to the animal" (The Kosher Advantage and The Kosher Primer, respectively).
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13. Another Sample Letter and a Letter Requesting Permission To Use JVNA Material to Compose a Letter
Maida’s letter
I am pleased to see that a number of rabbinical authorities in both Israel and the USA have reacted against the initial OU stance on questionable kosher processing at the largest Glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world. AgriProcessors Inc. is based in Postville, Iowa and markets meat under the Rubashkin and Aaron's Best label. Their products are also found in America's biggest supermarket chains.
The OU originally denied allegations of animal abuse at the Postville plant. They have reversed their decision and now will enforce changes to make the slaughter as humane as possible, which is the intent of kashrut laws.
Jews who are concerned about conscious eating and want to do the least harm do have another option, one that is also better for their health and the health of the planet - go vegetarian. I strongly recommend that those who are interested read more about Jewish vegetarianism at http://www.jewishveg.com or read books by Richard H. Schwartz, Roberta Kalechofsky, and Rabbi Dovid Sears. For an introduction to Jewish vegetarian cooking, I suggest books by Debra Wasserman, Roberta Kalechofsky, and Rose Friedman.
Submitted by Maida Waldner Genser, Tamarac, FL (formerly of Royal Oak, MI)
Dear Richard
I wanted to write a letter to "The Spark," the Jewish magazine of Iowa which is put out by the Lubavitch. I wanted to basically use mostly things from your web site, giving you full credit, to make my points about a vegetarian view of the Torah and vegetarianism for the Messianic age, which is what I am responding to in an article in the last issue of The Spark magazine.
I just feel that the this whole Postville thing--such a large industry devoted to the slaughter of animals for food--is not in tune with the intent of G-d. The Lubavitch have such pure ideals and view of life, but their continuance in this pre-messianic age to rationalize eating meat has got to go.
Anyway, would it be ok to take quotes from your web site to make my points and as I said I would give you credit and refer to your website?
Thank you so much for you have done and continue to do to promote Judaism and Vegetarianism.
Happy Chanukah
[Anyone should feel free (and is encouraged) to use material from the JVNA web site (http://JewishVeg.com) and my articles (http://JewishVeg.com/schwartz) in preparing letters, articles, talking points, etc.]
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14. Letter to Editor of the JVNA Newsletter from Yosef Hakohen
One of the sample letters in the last issue of the special JVNA Newsletter on the slaughterhouse controversy was from Debra Berger, a representative of the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature. Yosef Hakohen, a long time friend and JVNA advisor, pointed out that it is not proper for an interfaith group to criticize a Jewish facility and that the letter should not have only discussed abuses at the Postville kosher slaughterhouse since there are also serious abuses at non-kosher slaughterhouses. Debra very carefully considered Yosef’s valuable suggestions and changed her letter and eliminated indicating her affiliation with the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature, before submitting it to the Atlanta Jewish Times. Debra’s revised letter is below, followed by some additional comments from Yosef:
Dear editor:
Thank you for your article in last week’s edition, "Is It Kosher?”, concerning the cruel slaughtering methods at a Kosher plant in Iowa.
The AgriProcessors case is only one example of the many cruelties suffered by animals destined to become dinner. The video footage of this plant (which you can view @ www.PETA.org) shows overt violations of Kashrut laws; the cows are clearly still alive and in and distress and pain, following Shechita. It is quite unbelievable that this meat can even be considered as Kosher. Why did it take PETA to expose this obvious violation?
What is not addressed in your article are the numerous violations of Tsa’ar Baa’lei Chayim ("you shall not cause suffering to a living being") that are common throughout the entire meat industry, Kosher and non-Kosher; separating calves from their mothers, branding; use of electric cattle prods; terrifying shipping conditions, and a general disregard for the welfare of animals. Not only do these animals suffer a horrible death, they spend their entire lives in terrible conditions that cause intense suffering. (Additionally, the ‘Factory Farming’ industry often shows disregard for the welfare of the human beings that it employs.)
Following a Kosher diet is about eating consciously. For each of us, eating consciously has a different meaning. Maybe your article will inspire people to find out more about the source of the food that they are eating, and make a choice that is consistent with their spiritual beliefs. The sources of information are numerous; a good place to start is with the writings of the highly respected Professor Richard Schwartz, head of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, at http://JewishVeg.com/schwartz .
Finally, the attacks by Orthodox organizations on PETA are akin to shooting the messenger. There is nothing anti-Semitic about the desire to reduce suffering of animals. Indeed, it was the Jews who first practiced kindness to animals, and codified it in numerous Jewish laws. It is distressing that this issue must be brought up in the media, rather then being called to account by our own religious authorities.
Sincerely,
Debra Berger
Comments from Yosef:
I and some of my Jewish friends who are concerned about the modern treatment of animals are also concerned why Peta chose to make this video "exclusively" about a kosher plant. Given that their own website admits that conditions are worse at many non-kosher plants which receive less regulation, Peta should have - at the very least - also included a non-kosher plant in this video.
Coming right after their "Holocaust on a Plate" exhibit which offended many Jews of diverse beliefs, Peta's decision to focus exclusively on a plant run by Jews gives the impression that Peta is once again insensitive and unfair to Jews. Yes, they were careful not to attack Judaism; nevertheless, there is concern among some Jews, including myself, that Peta chose to focus on the kosher plant in their video, because they know that anything involving the Jews gets much publicity in most of the western media. And since Peta loves to get publicity for the cause, they may have cynically decided to focus exclusively on a plant run by Orthodox Jews, rather than include a plant run by people who are not Jewish.
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
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15. Publications With Recent Articles Re the Postville Controversy
The publications listed below printed articles about the latest developments of PETA's investigation into AgriProcessors, Inc. Please write letters using the material in this and previous JVNA newsletters. Thanks. Be sure to include the titles and dates of the pieces in your letters.
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"Iowa: Slaughterhouse to Change Its Process"
The New York Times
December 9, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/national/09brfs.html?oref=login
Send e-mails to letters@nytimes.com .
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"The PETA Controversy Continues"
The Jewish Press
December 10, 2004
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4461
Send e-mails to letters@jewishpress.com
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"The Kosher Way"
The Jerusalem Post
December 9, 2004
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1102563043179
Send e-mails at http://info.jpost.com/C002/Services/Feedback/editors.html .
You can also post letters at http://www.jpost.com/Letters/input.html .
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"O.U. Reverses Stance on Slaughterhouse"
By Gabriel Sanders
The Forward
December 10, 2004
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=sanders200412081124
Send e-mails to letters@forward.com .
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"Kosher meatpacker making changes after activists cry cruelty"
Haaretz
December 9, 2004
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/512216.html
Send e-mails to feedback@haaretz.co.il .
---------------------------
"Disputed slaughter is kosher"
By Marilyn Karfeld
The Cleveland Jewish News
December 10, 2004
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2004/12/09/news/local/bcover1210.txt
Send e-mails to letters@cjn.org .
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"In One Fell Swoop: Controversial video leaves cows and humans reeling"
By Rachel Zuckerman
The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia)
December 9, 2004
http://www.jewishexponent.com/Zoom.asp?uid=&storyID=23560&show=Zoom&pubID=292&subact=Cover
Send e-mails at http://www.jewishexponent.com/contact.asp .
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"PETA, Kosher Groups Dispute Rolls On"
By Joel Shurkin
The Jewish Times (Baltimore)
December 10, 2004
http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/4378.stm
Send e-mails at http://www.jewishtimes.com/Opinion/messages.stm#form .
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"The Kindest Cut"
By Rob Eshman
The Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)
December 10, 2004
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=13363
Send e-mails to letters@jewishjournal.com .
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"Across the Country: Iowa"
The Myrtle Beach Sun-News
December 9, 2004
No hyperlink available.
Send e-mails to opinions@thesunnews.com .
"Iowa ag secretary changes opinion after touring kosher plant"
The Omaha World-Herald
December 12, 2004
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=46&u_sid=1283591
Send e-mails to pulse@owh.com .
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"Judge changes opinion after touring kosher plant"
The Sioux City Journal
December 13, 2004
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/12/13/news/regional/b5539db08b3631e686256f690018bcc9.txt Send e-mails to mikegors@siouxcityjournal.com .
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"Rabbis unite against wider anti-'shehita' campaign"
By Mati Wagner
The Jerusalem Post
December 12, 2004
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1102821620003 (requires free registration)
Send e-mails at http://info.jpost.com/C002/Services/Feedback/editors.html .
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"Judge: Slaughter quick, humane"
By Orlan Love
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)
December 13, 2004
http://www.gazetteonline.com/article.aspx?art_id=93890&cat_id=1
Send e-mails to editorial@gazettecommunications.com. You can also post comments below the article.
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16. Key People and Groups to Contact
[Thanks to Rina Deych for sending me this information.]
Dr. Elsa A. Murano
Under Secretary for Food Safety
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W., Rm. 227-E
Washington, DC 20250
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Ann.Veneman@usda.gov
you can see a letter PETA wrote to them at:
http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/pdfs/Muranopdf.pdf
it is also important to write to the Orthodox Union (the organization that certifies food as kosher):
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
The Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
execthw@ou.org
Please copy letter to:
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrut Division
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
sallyg@ou.org
And to the following:
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Edelstein
Kashrus Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85-93 Bennet Ave.
New York, NY 10033
kajkashrus@hotmail.com
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85 Bennett Ave.
New York, NY 10033
I have been informed that the AVAR (Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights) after hounding from PETA and others will be distributing a newsletter encouraging the 475 vets in their organization to write to the USDA.
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Shalom everyone,
This special Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter is a fourth follow-up to the newsletter on the Postville slaughterhouse issue sent out on December 1. It includes much material from various perspectives to give you an idea of some of the latest developments. For additional information, please do an Internet search for recent articles and/or check web sites of PETA, the OU, and other involved groups.
This newsletter has the following items:
1. Bottom Line Concerns
2. What We Should Be Doing
3. JVNA Recent Press Release
4. Statement by the President of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Conservative Judaism’s Rabbinic Group
5. Corrections
6. Jerusalem Post Article
7. Kosher Today Reports Defend Postville Procedures
8. NY Times News Item 12/9/04
9. Statement From an Orthodox Rabbi to His Congregation Re Kosher Status of Postville Slaughterhouse Meat.
10. Article Claims Charges Against AgriProcessors Refuted
11. Baltimore Jewish Times Article
12. PETA’s Responses to Claims of Refutations
13. Another Sample Letter and a Letter Requesting Permission
14. Letter to Editor of the JVNA Newsletter from Yosef Hakohen
15. Publications With Recent Articles Re the Postville Controversy
16. Key People and Groups to Contact
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, information re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsements by JVNA, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Bottom Line Concerns
JVNA objectives re the Postville controversy have been given in the two previous JVNA special newsletters on the topic. They can be summed us as (1) make people aware of and defend Jewish teachings on compassion to animals, kosher slaughter, and related issues, (2) support changes that will end the mistreatment of animals at the Postville slaughterhouse, while stressing that procedures at that plant were not typical shechita practices, and (3) urge that the Jewish community see the Postville horrors as a wake up call to the need for Jews and others to work to end all abuses of animals in slaughterhouses and factory farms and to end 9or at least reduce) the violations of Jewish mandates that are involved in the production and consumption of meat and other animals products.
The statement below by JVNA founder and first president Jonathan Wolf is a very good statement of our position and concerns: "JVNA believes that properly carried out ritual slaughter is a ‘humane’ method of slaughter, which aims to minimize animal pain, and that Jews who continue to eat meat should eat kosher, organic, humane-certified meat. JVNA has also consistently opposed efforts to single out shechita for criticism. However, JVNA believes that the graphic depictions of the horrifying mistreatment of the animals at the slaughterhouse should cause the entire Jewish community to examine the ways animals are currently being raised, treated, prepared, and slaughtered, to see if the laws and principles of the Torah are actually being properly practiced. And we hope that closer study of the values in Jewish tradition-- concern for the pain of fellow creatures, maintaining health, protecting G-d's world, conserving resources, feeding the hungry -- will ultimately lead Jews and others to adopt a diet that is more humane, healthier, more environmentally sustainable, and more capable of feeding hungry people -- vegetarianism."
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2. What We Should Be Doing
a. Please check your local publications and write letters to editors. Please be respectful and give praise for positive developments before making your case. It is generally best to keep your letters short, less than 200 words, although I do not always meet this goal. Please also send letters to the publications listed later that have recently had articles on the slaughterhouse issue.
b. Here is a letter that I recently sent out (another sample letter is below):
December 12, 2004
Dear Editor:
The Orthodox Union is to be commended for initiating an end to the horrible treatment of animals at the Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse that were revealed on the PETA videotapes. But what about the many other violations of Jewish teachings related to animal-based diets and agriculture?
When Judaism mandates that we treat animals with compassion, can we ignore the cruel treatment of animals on factory farms, where they are raised in cramped, confined spaces without sunlight, fresh air, or opportunities to fulfil their natural instincts? When Judaism stresses that we must diligently protect our health, can we ignore that animal-based diets are major contributors to the epidemic of heart disease, many forms of cancer, and other killer diseases and ailments afflicting the Jewish community and others? When Judaism mandates that we be partners with God in protecting the environment, can we ignore the significant contributions of animal-centered agriculture to air, water, and land pollution, species extinction, deforestation, global climate change, water shortages, and many other environmental threats?
For the sake of our health, the sustainability of our imperiled planet, Jewish values, as well as for the animals, it is essential that we consider shifting toward plant-based diets.
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz
[Please use this letter, the recent JVNA press release below, and other information in this and other JVNSA newsletters as background information for your letters. Thanks.]
c. Please write to leaders of the Orthodox Union (OU), the USDA, and others involved in the Postville scandal. Contact information is given below. Thanks.
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3. JVNA Recent Press Release
http://JewishVeg.com/media10.html
PRESS RELEASE
December 10. 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact person: Richard H. Schwartz, President of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) (rschw12345@aol.com; Phone (718) 761-5876; Fax: (718) 982-3631; web site: http://JewishVeg.com).
JEWISH VEGETARIAN GROUP SEES ABUSES AT IOWA SLAUGHTERHOUSE AS A WAKE UP CALL
The Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) stated today that it is essential that the widespread publicity over the cruel abuse of animals at the kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa lead to much needed changes throughout the entire industry and a reevaluation by Jews of their dietary habits.
JVNA commends the Orthodox Union (OU) for its initial steps toward ending the abuses of animals revealed by videos at the Postville slaughterhouse, but it is urging the Jewish community to recognize that the horrors at the facility are part of a much wider pattern of animal abuse in today's meat industry
"We should consider the current controversy as a wake up call to end the many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products," asserted Richard Schwartz, President of the JVNA. "We can no longer ignore the suffering and abuse that many farmed animals experience for their entire lives on factory farms, It was the Jews who invented the concept of kindness to animals and formulated an entire code of laws forbidding cruelty to other living creatures. Many Torah verses stress compassion to animals.
JVNA is beginning a campaign to respectfully urge Jews to apply Jewish values to the foods that we eat. The group argues that the harsh realities of animal-based diets and agriculture contradict fundamental Jewish teachings and laws. These include mandates to take care of our health, treat animals compassionately, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people. Also, the group asserts, rabbis (and other religious leaders) should make their congregations and students aware of the many benefits of a shift toward plant-based diets. These include:
· reducing the epidemic of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases currently afflicting the Jewish community and other communities;
· reducing current environmental threats, including global climate change; species extinction; pollution of land, air, and water; destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and other valuable habitats; and shortages of water and other resources;
· demonstrating the relevance of Judaism to some of the most critical issues of our time, helping to revitalize our ancient faith;
"There is an epidemic of diseases and ailments in the Jewish community and other communities and the natural world is imperiled as perhaps never before by many environmental threats," asserted Schwartz, "and our rabbis would do a tremendous kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God’s name) by helping to put the many benefits of plant-based diets on the Jewish agenda."
JVNA is offering rabbis and other congregational and educational leaders extensive background information on the many connections between Judaism and vegetarianism. The nonprofit organization will send a complimentary copy of "Judaism and Vegetarianism" by Richard Schwartz and an associated CD to any Jewish leader who wishes to use them as background educational material for possible vegetarian activities. Much additional information can be found at the group’s web site (JewishVeg.com; mail@JewishVeg,com).
The group is eager to engage with rabbis and other Jewish leaders in a respectful public or private discussion of the issue, "Should Jews Be Vegetarians Today?" Noam Mohr, a JVNA Coordinator, stated, "Many Jews are surprised to learn how strongly vegetarianism is in the spirit of Judaism."
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4. Statement by the President of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Conservative Judaism’s Rabbinic Group
http://amechad.blogspot.com/2004/12/on-agriprocessers-kosher-controversy.html
[Please send letters to Rabbi Rank at rabassembly@jtsa.edu .]
The disturbing video that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) produced of incidents during shehitah (Jewish ritual animal slaughter) at the AgriProcessors' plant in Postville, Iowa should be regarded as a welcome, though unfortunate service to the Jewish community.
It is a service precisely because the scenes recorded are not what shehitah should be, nor does it correspond to the Jewish way of treating animals, even at the time of their slaughter. The uproar within the Jewish community over the videos is proof that those who observe kashrut are serious about the humane treatment of animals. When a company purporting to be kosher violates the prohibition against tza'ar ba'alei hayyim, causing pain to one of God's living creatures, that company must answer to the Jewish community, and ultimately, to God.
There are a variety of means used to prepare an animal for shehitah, and our Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) has criticized a number of them. In 2000, the CJLS unanimously approved a teshuvah (response to a question of Jewish law), written by Rabbis Elliot N. Dorff and Joel Roth, in which the shackling and hoisting of animals in preparation for shehitah was ruled a violation of tza'ar ba'alei hayyim. The teshuvah encourages all kosher processing plants to abandon that procedure and upgrade to more humane pens to secure an animal for slaughter. Such humane pens do not include the Facomia Pen or the Weinberg Pen, both of which are inconsistent with our understanding of what it means to humanely treat an animal.
The AgriProcessor plant of Postville, Iowa uses the Facomia pen and the PETA video captures exactly what the teshuvah of 2000 indicates, that this pen violates the prohibition against tza'ar ba'alei hayyim.
The Rabbinical Assembly applauds the Orthodox Union (OU) for its quick response to the video and its allegations. According to Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the OU, a review of shehitah procedures at AgriProcessors is now taking place and an OU supervisor has been placed on duty to assure that procedures assuring kashrut and the humane treatment of animals are followed. We hope that with this review, the OU will demand that the facilities it supervises install pens that meet modern scientific animal welfare/humane handling requirements such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) pen which we regard as a humane animal securing device, but not excluding other equally humane technological options.
Those who are charged with supervising the production of kosher meat are engaged in a sacred task. We are certain that they agree with us that the humane treatment of the animal is key to the Jewish approach toward life.
In keeping with our CJLS teshuvah of 2000, we urge all those involved in shehitah to invest in and install those technologies that assure that the animal's life is terminated speedily and with the humanity that Jewish law demands.
Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank
President, The Rabbinical Assembly
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Response from Rina Deych, a JVNA Newsletter reader:
Dear Rabbi Rank,
I was raised in an orthodox Jewish home in Boro Park, Brooklyn. My grandfather was a kosher butcher who loved animals and rescued many dogs, cats, and birds. He was also a humanitarian and a true Tzadik who helped everyone and even gave free meat to people who could not afford it. At the age of 8 I was just beginning to get curious about where meat came from. My grandfather assured me that the holy books promote compassion and respect for the animals. He assured me that the cows were free to graze the fields and the chickens to spread their wings on the Sabbath (which we now know doesn't happen in factory farms) and that the animals are killed by the swiftest cut from the sharpest blade to minimize pain and distress and cause the quickest death.
After the seeing the PETA footage (the short version - a five minutes I could barely get through) I was sickened and horrified. I began to write everyone from the Board of Rabbis to the USDA to the Humane Society.
Today I was fortunate enough to come across your statement that was sent out to Rabbi Weintraub's congregation denouncing the horrific practices at AgriProcessors and I must say I feel rejuvenated! I would like to commend you for caring and for taking a stand against this horrific situation.I urge you to (please) send your statement to the NY Times. Even though AgriProcessors is claiming they will make revisions, we must NOT let this issue rest. This is a good time to bring this issue out into the open so that maybe Jews and non-Jews alike can begin to re-examine how we treat food animals. Continuing the discussion would raise consciousness and hopefully put pressure on slaughterhouses to adopt more humane, compassionate methods.
In addition to the humane issue, there is also the issue of sanitation. The animals, after having their throats slit, were thrown out of the drums with their tracheas dangling onto a filthy blood and feces-covered concrete floor, contaminating the meat directly through the open wounds. Thank you in advance for anything else you do to keep this issue in the press.
Yours,
Rina Deych
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5. Corrections
a. The paragraph below in the last special JVNA newsletter omitted the word "not.":
“Once the Postville situation is resolved, it is essential that people NOT think that everything is now fine and they can continue their consumption of animal products with a clear conscience.”
b. The statement, “One person in the right makes a majority of one,” is from Thoreau, NOT Emerson, as originally indicated.
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6. Jerusalem Post Article
Dec. 12, 2004
Rabbis unite against wider anti-'shehita' campaign
By MATI WAGNER
www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=11
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7. Kosher Today Reports Defend Postville Procedures
http://www.koshertoday.com/newsletter/index.htm#2
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8. NY Times News Item 12/9/04
IOWA: SLAUGHTERHOUSE TO CHANGE ITS PROCESS
Owners of the world's biggest kosher slaughterhouse say they will make changes to their slaughtering process after being accused of inhumane treatment. The owners, Agriprocessors Inc., of Postville, agreed to the changes after consulting with federal regulators and the Orthodox Union, the group that certifies the company's products as kosher, officials said. The changes include giving rabbis who perform the slaughtering ritual a stun gun to knock steers unconscious if they thrash about after their throats have been slit, a company spokesman said. In such cases, the animal will be removed from the processing line as not kosher, he said. Last week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals made public a videotape showing steers walking or bellowing up to three minutes after their throats were slit. (AP)
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11. Baltimore Jewish Times Article
PETA, Kosher Groups Dispute Rolls On
Joel N. Shurkin, Staff Reporter
http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/4378.stm
Letters: http://www.jewishtimes.com/Opinion/messages.stm#form
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12. PETA’s Responses To Claims of Refutations
Response to AgriProcessors’ claim of a reversal on the part of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041210/nyf081_1.html
The only actual change in position that Rubashkin attributes to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate is the retraction of the idea that a cow takes 30 to 60 seconds to lose consciousness, which we thought was just a miscommunication, since it’s the only place we’ve seen anyone say that it takes more than 20 seconds.
Looked at more closely, the Rabbinate’s statement sinks AgriProcessors more deeply into the hole that it keeps digging for itself: Raful said, "2-3 seconds following schechita ... the animal is absolutely dead" if it is done properly.
The cattle killed at AgriProcessors are clearly very much alive and in agony, for two to three minutes after their throats are slit. So, according to Rabbi Raful, shechitah is not being done properly at AgriProcessors.
Thus far, AgriProcessors has relied on a PR person and rabbis on its own payroll to defend the plant. It has not found a single veterinarian, unbiased kosher slaughter expert, or any other sort of expert_not one_to defend the processes at AgriProcessors.
http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita2-65.htm
"Statement of Rabbis and Certifying Agencies on Recent Publicity on Kosher Slaughter":
PETA’s Response
It would have been interesting to watch as this statement was put together.
It is Nixonian doublespeak. Read closely -- there is no defense of AgriProcessors and only a general defense of shechitah -- there is literally not one thing that PETA disagrees with. The general impression offered, however, is that AgriProcessors is doing no wrong, and that is indefensible.
Following are some examples:
"After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain ..."
There is no question that this can happen, but it will never involve blinking, head righting, reaction to stimuli, or attempting to stand. Fully one-quarter of the animals in our sample, over seven weeks, were still conscious -- these are not just the animals who showed mechanical kicking; these are animals who are unquestionably conscious.
This has not been denied by the OU and cannot be denied tenably because it is physiologically true. Neither the OU nor Rubashkin can find a single veterinarian or other expert to defend the plant: The only defenders are on Rubashkin’s payroll and have no veterinary or physiological credentials.
"There may be exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and walk around."
"Signs of life"? They are alive and fully conscious and in the same amount of physical agony that a human being would be in under the same circumstances. A steer, just like any mammal with the same pain mechanism as ours, feels having his throat cut open. Beyond that, this is a routine occurrence at AgriProcessors, going back at least nine years and probably longer.
"[E]ven such an event would not invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in the shechita cut."
True, but at AgriProcessors, to quote the Chief Rabbinate of Israel: "[H]e did not cut one of the jugular veins, so blood is still flowing. That’s another reason for not accepting that shehita. It looks as though the animal wasn’t slaughtered properly." Our very contention is that so many animals are still conscious more than 30 seconds after shechitah because the shochets are not slaughtering them correctly. If they were, 25 percent of the animals would not still be conscious when they hit the concrete. It’s hard to imagine that these rabbis are going to suggest that properly performed shechitah allows a quarter of animals to continue to be conscious for more than 30 seconds.
"With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common practice."
Rabbi Edelstein told me that he’d never seen anything like it. So did Drs. Grandin, Friedlander, and Cheever. So did everyone else we could find. Sholom Rubashkin, on the other hand, says it is "the Shechita process in its full glory." So it may be "not common," and it’s certainly "especially inhumane" (Rabbi Weinreb), but it also happened to every single animal at AgriProcessors for years and years -- hundreds of thousands of animals had their tracheas and esophagi ripped out while they were still fully conscious, all on the OU’s watch.
"We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding ‘tzaar baalei chayim,’ unnecessary pain to any creature. We reiterate that the shechita process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves to the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with all religious and federal laws governing kosher slaughter."
This is a little hard to take when coupled with the defense of the meat from AgriProcessors as kosher and the early defense of this plant (the claim that animals who are walking are not conscious) by Rabbis Belsky, Kohn, and Genack.
http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita65.htm
"Message From Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kashrut Rabbinic Administrator":
PETA’s Response
The Good
If the OU, as it says, "will strive to the best of our ability to see to it that animals are treated humanely and to see that, at all the plants we supervise, any halachically unnecessary practices which may be seen to be objectionable, are ceased," then it will agree to make the changes that we’re requesting, which are the barest of bare minimums, where humane treatment is concerned, and will mean the following:
1) Electric prods will be prohibited.
2) All shochets will be trained in humane handling, in order to create a calmer atmosphere for the animals. The cacophonic din in this place is unacceptable and terrifying.
3) The OU should explicitly recognize and train shochets (slaughterers) in the physiological signs of consciousness in cattle -- blinking, bellowing, standing, rhythmic breathing, and attempting to right one’s head -- to ensure that no conscious animals are touched or moved until they are unconscious. Note that this means that animals must be kept in the restraint until they are unconscious.
4) Animals should not be turned upside-down before their throats are slit -- Rabbi Weinreb has stated to The New York Times that the OU prefers the ASPCA kosher slaughter pen. Based on the OU’s statement (prohibition of "any halachically unnecessary practices which may be seen to be objectionable"), the ASPCA pen must be required and the upside-down pen eliminated.
5) All equipment must be inspected to ensure that it is not harming animals (e.g., conveyor belts should not trap chickens and break their legs).
6) The horrific practices of the Rubashkin plant in Uruguay that supplies the Postville plant should be immediately subjected to identical requirements.
7) All OU-approved plants should be supplied with these precise regulations and all certifying rabbis trained in these strictures.
8) To ensure compliance, considering Mr. Rubashin’s intransigence, it is essential that Dr. Temple Grandin (or someone of her impeccable credentials) be granted access (paid by the OU or AgriProcessors) to the plant, for periodic unannounced audits.
Also, there is a discrepancy that must be addressed. The OU says, "[A]ny animals that appear to have survived the procedure will be promptly stunned or shot," and, "From now on, however, when this occurs at AgriProcessors, Inc., the animal will be promptly stunned or shot, so as not to prolong its suffering. Such animals will not be sold as kosher."
However, AgriProcessors’ PR person, Mike Thomas, told the AP and other media that "changes include giving rabbis who perform the kosher slaughtering ritual a stun gun to knock steers unconscious if they continue to thrash about after their throats have been slit." This is not possible, of course, as any USDA inspector or other expert can attest. If the animals are thrashing, they cannot be properly stunned -- both because the stun gun must be placed precisely on the central forehead and because anyone trying to get near a thrashing steer could be seriously injured. The only way to do this would be to keep the steers restrained until they are unconscious. If still conscious after 20 seconds, they must be, at that point, stunned with a captive-bolt gun, as legally required in the European Union and Australia. If the OU stands by its statement, this must be what was intended, and Mike Thomas must have been incorrect in his presentation to the media.
The Bad
The OU’s statement is rife with contradictions that are clear to anyone who takes a close look. This is not a case of "he said, she said." This is a case of making pronouncements that the OU cannot defend, perhaps imagining that most people will accept its statements without checking its claims.
1) In discussing the seven weeks that our investigator worked at AgriProcessors, the OU suggests that what we captured was "a tiny percentage."
In fact, we have made our entire video available to the USDA. Extrapolated as a representative sample, our video indicates that of 18,000 animals slaughtered, more than 4,000 were still conscious when they hit the concrete floor, more than 30 seconds after shechitah, and thousands struggled to stand. This is a routine and horrific problem, not an exception. Further, we have documented that this has been going on for a minimum of nine years, representing hundreds of thousands of cattle tortured in the plant.
2) The OU argues that AgriProcessors is not unique in having a failure rate in rendering animals insensible. This is a misleading statement: One animal who stands up 30 seconds after his throat has been slit, in any plant -- conventional or kosher -- would warrant shutting the line down to correct the problem. Although a first-stun success rate of 95 percent is considered acceptable in conventional plants, animals who are missed are required to be immediately stunned again. Drs. Grandin and Friedlander, both experts in kosher slaughter, say they’ve never seen anything like what’s happening at AgriProcessors.
3) The implication that the USDA "has found nothing amiss" is categorically false. The USDA dispatched five investigators, and its investigation is active. We are calling for Dr. Lawson’s censure and prosecution, in addition to that of AgriProcessors, precisely because he allowed this horrific cruelty to continue, and we feel that he has no place overseeing slaughter at all.
4) The OU states that "several rabbis, in Israel and Europe as well as in the United States, at first commented negatively on the kashrut of this shechita. Almost all of them, including the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, have now said that their initial statements were based on misinformation, and have retracted them." To our knowledge, not one of them has claimed "misinformation." None that we’re aware of has retracted. Certainly Rabbi Cohen and Shechita UK have not. The Jerusalem Post continues to report on the story but has not indicated any retraction from the Chief Rabbinate. Certainly the Rabbinate’s most recent statement that shechitah is supposed to render an animal unconscious in two seconds is not a retraction (quite the opposite, as discussed above). Rabbi Rosen, in Israel, also continues to stand by his statement. No one in the media has been able to find any retractions or claims of misinformation -- in fact, just the opposite.
Conclusion
The OU argued for days, in defiance of the physiological fact that a dead animal will not walk, that these walking cattle were dead. They had to know that they were not telling the truth, since these animals walk around, attempt to escape, and respond to stimuli. It is disturbing to see this pattern continued with the OU’s statements about the USDA, rabbis who are opposing the flagrant cruelty at AgriProcessors, and the extent of the cruelty at AgriProcessors.
All this notwithstanding, PETA’s concern is not that the OU present honest or accurate statements on its Web site to the media or the public -- that concern is for others to pursue; our concern is that animals stop being tortured. The OU cannot mollify people who oppose cruelty to animals, without explaining, explicitly, what steps are being taken to end the horrific cruelty to animals at AgriProcessors, and those steps will have to include the eight points that we mention above, which are the barest of bare minimums for an organization that presents kosher slaughter in such terms as "painless ritual fashion" and "instantaneous death with no pain to the animal" (The Kosher Advantage and The Kosher Primer, respectively).
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13. Another Sample Letter and a Letter Requesting Permission To Use JVNA Material to Compose a Letter
Maida’s letter
I am pleased to see that a number of rabbinical authorities in both Israel and the USA have reacted against the initial OU stance on questionable kosher processing at the largest Glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world. AgriProcessors Inc. is based in Postville, Iowa and markets meat under the Rubashkin and Aaron's Best label. Their products are also found in America's biggest supermarket chains.
The OU originally denied allegations of animal abuse at the Postville plant. They have reversed their decision and now will enforce changes to make the slaughter as humane as possible, which is the intent of kashrut laws.
Jews who are concerned about conscious eating and want to do the least harm do have another option, one that is also better for their health and the health of the planet - go vegetarian. I strongly recommend that those who are interested read more about Jewish vegetarianism at http://www.jewishveg.com or read books by Richard H. Schwartz, Roberta Kalechofsky, and Rabbi Dovid Sears. For an introduction to Jewish vegetarian cooking, I suggest books by Debra Wasserman, Roberta Kalechofsky, and Rose Friedman.
Submitted by Maida Waldner Genser, Tamarac, FL (formerly of Royal Oak, MI)
Dear Richard
I wanted to write a letter to "The Spark," the Jewish magazine of Iowa which is put out by the Lubavitch. I wanted to basically use mostly things from your web site, giving you full credit, to make my points about a vegetarian view of the Torah and vegetarianism for the Messianic age, which is what I am responding to in an article in the last issue of The Spark magazine.
I just feel that the this whole Postville thing--such a large industry devoted to the slaughter of animals for food--is not in tune with the intent of G-d. The Lubavitch have such pure ideals and view of life, but their continuance in this pre-messianic age to rationalize eating meat has got to go.
Anyway, would it be ok to take quotes from your web site to make my points and as I said I would give you credit and refer to your website?
Thank you so much for you have done and continue to do to promote Judaism and Vegetarianism.
Happy Chanukah
[Anyone should feel free (and is encouraged) to use material from the JVNA web site (http://JewishVeg.com) and my articles (http://JewishVeg.com/schwartz) in preparing letters, articles, talking points, etc.]
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14. Letter to Editor of the JVNA Newsletter from Yosef Hakohen
One of the sample letters in the last issue of the special JVNA Newsletter on the slaughterhouse controversy was from Debra Berger, a representative of the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature. Yosef Hakohen, a long time friend and JVNA advisor, pointed out that it is not proper for an interfaith group to criticize a Jewish facility and that the letter should not have only discussed abuses at the Postville kosher slaughterhouse since there are also serious abuses at non-kosher slaughterhouses. Debra very carefully considered Yosef’s valuable suggestions and changed her letter and eliminated indicating her affiliation with the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature, before submitting it to the Atlanta Jewish Times. Debra’s revised letter is below, followed by some additional comments from Yosef:
Dear editor:
Thank you for your article in last week’s edition, "Is It Kosher?”, concerning the cruel slaughtering methods at a Kosher plant in Iowa.
The AgriProcessors case is only one example of the many cruelties suffered by animals destined to become dinner. The video footage of this plant (which you can view @ www.PETA.org) shows overt violations of Kashrut laws; the cows are clearly still alive and in and distress and pain, following Shechita. It is quite unbelievable that this meat can even be considered as Kosher. Why did it take PETA to expose this obvious violation?
What is not addressed in your article are the numerous violations of Tsa’ar Baa’lei Chayim ("you shall not cause suffering to a living being") that are common throughout the entire meat industry, Kosher and non-Kosher; separating calves from their mothers, branding; use of electric cattle prods; terrifying shipping conditions, and a general disregard for the welfare of animals. Not only do these animals suffer a horrible death, they spend their entire lives in terrible conditions that cause intense suffering. (Additionally, the ‘Factory Farming’ industry often shows disregard for the welfare of the human beings that it employs.)
Following a Kosher diet is about eating consciously. For each of us, eating consciously has a different meaning. Maybe your article will inspire people to find out more about the source of the food that they are eating, and make a choice that is consistent with their spiritual beliefs. The sources of information are numerous; a good place to start is with the writings of the highly respected Professor Richard Schwartz, head of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, at http://JewishVeg.com/schwartz .
Finally, the attacks by Orthodox organizations on PETA are akin to shooting the messenger. There is nothing anti-Semitic about the desire to reduce suffering of animals. Indeed, it was the Jews who first practiced kindness to animals, and codified it in numerous Jewish laws. It is distressing that this issue must be brought up in the media, rather then being called to account by our own religious authorities.
Sincerely,
Debra Berger
Comments from Yosef:
I and some of my Jewish friends who are concerned about the modern treatment of animals are also concerned why Peta chose to make this video "exclusively" about a kosher plant. Given that their own website admits that conditions are worse at many non-kosher plants which receive less regulation, Peta should have - at the very least - also included a non-kosher plant in this video.
Coming right after their "Holocaust on a Plate" exhibit which offended many Jews of diverse beliefs, Peta's decision to focus exclusively on a plant run by Jews gives the impression that Peta is once again insensitive and unfair to Jews. Yes, they were careful not to attack Judaism; nevertheless, there is concern among some Jews, including myself, that Peta chose to focus on the kosher plant in their video, because they know that anything involving the Jews gets much publicity in most of the western media. And since Peta loves to get publicity for the cause, they may have cynically decided to focus exclusively on a plant run by Orthodox Jews, rather than include a plant run by people who are not Jewish.
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
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15. Publications With Recent Articles Re the Postville Controversy
The publications listed below printed articles about the latest developments of PETA's investigation into AgriProcessors, Inc. Please write letters using the material in this and previous JVNA newsletters. Thanks. Be sure to include the titles and dates of the pieces in your letters.
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"Iowa: Slaughterhouse to Change Its Process"
The New York Times
December 9, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/national/09brfs.html?oref=login
Send e-mails to letters@nytimes.com .
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"The PETA Controversy Continues"
The Jewish Press
December 10, 2004
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4461
Send e-mails to letters@jewishpress.com
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"The Kosher Way"
The Jerusalem Post
December 9, 2004
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1102563043179
Send e-mails at http://info.jpost.com/C002/Services/Feedback/editors.html .
You can also post letters at http://www.jpost.com/Letters/input.html .
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"O.U. Reverses Stance on Slaughterhouse"
By Gabriel Sanders
The Forward
December 10, 2004
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=sanders200412081124
Send e-mails to letters@forward.com .
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"Kosher meatpacker making changes after activists cry cruelty"
Haaretz
December 9, 2004
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/512216.html
Send e-mails to feedback@haaretz.co.il .
---------------------------
"Disputed slaughter is kosher"
By Marilyn Karfeld
The Cleveland Jewish News
December 10, 2004
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2004/12/09/news/local/bcover1210.txt
Send e-mails to letters@cjn.org .
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"In One Fell Swoop: Controversial video leaves cows and humans reeling"
By Rachel Zuckerman
The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia)
December 9, 2004
http://www.jewishexponent.com/Zoom.asp?uid=&storyID=23560&show=Zoom&pubID=292&subact=Cover
Send e-mails at http://www.jewishexponent.com/contact.asp .
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"PETA, Kosher Groups Dispute Rolls On"
By Joel Shurkin
The Jewish Times (Baltimore)
December 10, 2004
http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/4378.stm
Send e-mails at http://www.jewishtimes.com/Opinion/messages.stm#form .
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"The Kindest Cut"
By Rob Eshman
The Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)
December 10, 2004
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=13363
Send e-mails to letters@jewishjournal.com .
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"Across the Country: Iowa"
The Myrtle Beach Sun-News
December 9, 2004
No hyperlink available.
Send e-mails to opinions@thesunnews.com .
"Iowa ag secretary changes opinion after touring kosher plant"
The Omaha World-Herald
December 12, 2004
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=46&u_sid=1283591
Send e-mails to pulse@owh.com .
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"Judge changes opinion after touring kosher plant"
The Sioux City Journal
December 13, 2004
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/12/13/news/regional/b5539db08b3631e686256f690018bcc9.txt Send e-mails to mikegors@siouxcityjournal.com .
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"Rabbis unite against wider anti-'shehita' campaign"
By Mati Wagner
The Jerusalem Post
December 12, 2004
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1102821620003 (requires free registration)
Send e-mails at http://info.jpost.com/C002/Services/Feedback/editors.html .
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"Judge: Slaughter quick, humane"
By Orlan Love
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)
December 13, 2004
http://www.gazetteonline.com/article.aspx?art_id=93890&cat_id=1
Send e-mails to editorial@gazettecommunications.com. You can also post comments below the article.
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16. Key People and Groups to Contact
[Thanks to Rina Deych for sending me this information.]
Dr. Elsa A. Murano
Under Secretary for Food Safety
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W., Rm. 227-E
Washington, DC 20250
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Ann.Veneman@usda.gov
you can see a letter PETA wrote to them at:
http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/pdfs/Muranopdf.pdf
it is also important to write to the Orthodox Union (the organization that certifies food as kosher):
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
The Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
execthw@ou.org
Please copy letter to:
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrut Division
Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10004
sallyg@ou.org
And to the following:
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Edelstein
Kashrus Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85-93 Bennet Ave.
New York, NY 10033
kajkashrus@hotmail.com
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
K'hal Adath Jeshurun
85 Bennett Ave.
New York, NY 10033
I have been informed that the AVAR (Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights) after hounding from PETA and others will be distributing a newsletter encouraging the 475 vets in their organization to write to the USDA.
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
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