Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Happy Purim/My Article and Two Sample Letters
2. Israeli Chief Rabbi Rules Against (Some) Fur/Implications
4. PETA Investigation Finds Abuses of Chickens at Monastery Factory Farm
5. More Re Dispute Over Inspecting Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses/Plus My Response
6. Radio Announcement by Dan Brook Re Global Warming
7. Climate Crisis Action Day to be Held in Washington, DC
8. Debate Over? Time For Action By the Jewish Community For a Greener World?
9. Christian Scientist Article Links Beef Consumption to Global Climate Change
10. Movie Opens About Early Animal Rights Activist
11. The 2007 Global Warming Globie Awards
12. Nobel Prize Winner Criticizes Factory Farming
13. Hindu Organization Seeks Meat-Free Zone on Airplane
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, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observance, 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. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Happy Purim/My Article and Two Sample Letters
Best wishes for a very happy Purim to everyone. The holiday starts right after Shabbat next week. For vegan Purim recipes, including hamantaschen, visit JewishVeg.com/recipes. Below is my article, “Purim and Vegetarianism” and two sample letters. Please use the material for your own letters and talking points, and please fell free to forward the article and/or letters to others who might be interested. Many thanks.
Purim and Vegetarianism
Richard H. Schwartz
There are many connections between vegetarianism and the Jewish festival of Purim:
1) According to the Talmud, Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, was a vegetarian while she lived in the palace of King Achashverus. She was thus able to avoid violating the kosher dietary laws while keeping her Jewish identity secret.
2) During Purim it is a mitzvah to give "mat'not evyonim" (added charity to poor and hungry people). In contrast to these acts of sharing and compassion, animal-based diets involve the feeding of over 70 percent of the grain in the United States to animals, while an estimated 20 million people die of hunger and its effects annually.
3) During the afternoon of Purim, Jews have a "seudah" (special festive meal), when family and friends gather to rejoice in the Purim spirit. Serving only vegetarian food at this occasion would enable all who partake to be consistent with Jewish mandates to preserve health, protect the environment, share with hungry people, conserve resources, and treat animals with compassion (as well as the vegetarian practices of Queen Esther).
4) Jews make noise with "groggers" and other noisemakers, to drown out the infamous name of Haman when it appears during the reading of the Megillah (Book of Esther). Today, vegetarians are "making noise" in attempting to educate people and drown out the very well-funded propaganda of the beef and dairy industries.
5) On Purim, Jews emphasize unity and friendship by sending gifts of food ("shalach manot") to friends. Vegetarians act in the spirit of unity and concern for humanity by having a diet that best shares the earth's abundant resources.
6) Because Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people, it is the most joyous Jewish holiday. By contrast, animals on factory farms never have a pleasant day, and millions of people throughout the world are too involved in trying to obtain their next meal to be able to experience many joyous moments.
7) Mordecai, one of the heroes of the Purim story, was a nonconformist. As the book of Esther states, ". . . And all of the king's servants . . . bowed down and prostrated themselves before Haman . . . But Mordecai would not bow down nor prostrate himself before him" (Esther 3:2). Today, vegetarians represent non-conformity. At a time when most people in the wealthier countries think of animal products as the main part of their meals, when McDonald's and similar fast food establishments are still popular, vegetarians are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more humane diet.
8) Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the wicked Haman. Today, vegetarianism can be a step toward deliverance from modern problems such as hunger, pollution, and resource scarcities.
9) Purim commemorates the time when conditions for the Jews changed from sorrow to gladness and from mourning to festival. Today, a switch to vegetarianism could result in similar changes for many people, since plant- based diets would reduce health problems, pollution, water scarcities, and hunger.
10) Jews hear the reading of the Megillah twice during Purim, in order to reeducate themselves about the terrible threats to the Jewish people and their deliverance. Jewish vegetarians believe that if Jews were educated about the horrible realities of factory farming and the powerful Jewish mandates about taking care of our health, showing compassion to animals, protecting the environment, conserving resources, and helping hungry people, they would seriously consider switching to vegetarian diets.
11) Hamantashen, the primary food associated with Purim, is a vegetarian food.
In view of these and other connections, I hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of the beautiful and spiritually meaningful holiday of Purim by making it a time to begin striving even harder to live up to Judaism’s highest moral values and teachings by moving toward a vegetarian diet.
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Dear editor,
According to the Talmud, Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, was a vegetarian while she lived in the palace of King Achashverus, to avoid violating the kosher dietary laws while keeping her Jewish identity secret. Therefore, Purim is an ideal time for Jews to shift toward vegetarian diets.
This dietary change would be consistent with important Jewish mandates to preserve our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people, and pursue a more peaceful, less violent world.
While Purim commemorates the triumph of the Jews in ancient Persia over an oppressor who threatened them, a shift to plant-based diets would enable contemporary Jews to reverse current threats from an epidemic of disease and the many environmental problems related to modern intensive animal-based agriculture.
Very truly yours,
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Dear editor,
According to the Talmud, Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, was a vegetarian while she lived in the palace of King Achashverus, to avoid violating the kosher dietary laws while keeping her Jewish identity secret. This put her in a position where she was able to save the Jewish people during a time of great danger.
In November, 2006, a UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report indicated that animal-based agriculture causes 18% of all greenhouse emissions, more than all forms of transportation and that this is expected to increase greatly as the consumption of meat and other animal products doubles by 2050. Hence, today a shift by Jews (and others) toward vegetarianism can help save the entire world from the projected catastrophic effects of global warning.
Very truly yours,
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2. Israeli Chief Rabbi Rules Against (Some) Fur/Implications
a. Article in Maariv
New Halachic Ruling Prohibits Jews from Wearing Fur Coats
[Unfortunately, this article from Ma/ariv does not present the full story, as the article following it does.]
Ma’ariv (p. 13) by Dalia Mazori -- A new Halachic ruling that was handed down by Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger prohibits Jews from wearing coats that are made out of animal fur. Consequently, animal fur pelts are not to be imported to Israel. [As indicated in the next article (from the San Diego Union Tribune), the ruling relates only to the importing of fur that is skinned alive.]
Rabbi Yona Metzger established his position on the matter in response to a query from MK Zvulun Orlev. MK Orlev asked the rabbi what Halacha’s position was regarding products whose manufacturing process involved cruelty to animals. MK Orlev would like to promote legislation banning imports of animal fur.
[Perhaps we should contact MK Orlav and ask if he (and perhaps other MKs) would raise other shaylas (questions) for Rabbi Metzger. Since there is a Knesset Animal Rights Caucus, perhaps they might raise such questions.]
Rabbi Metzger noted in his Halachic ruling that the quality of mercy was embedded in the Jewish people and that it was one of the telltale signs of the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: to have pity on every created being as such and to prevent it from sorrow and suffering. Killing animals for no reason other than to strip them of their skins in order to make wearable fur, said Rabbi Metzger, entailed a degree of cruelty that was inappropriate for Jews. [While Rabbi Metzger’s decision was not as broad as we would like, his analysis above provides an opportunity to seek broader rulings re the mistreatment of animals. It should be recalled that the former Sephardit Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Rabbi Chaim Dovid HaLevy issued a rabbinic ruling against the manufacturing and wearing of furs ]
Rabbi Metzger further said that while the cruel acts of killing the animals for their fur were carried out by gentiles, Jews must not strengthen the hands of these transgressors and help them.
“The Jews are duty-bound to prevent the horrible phenomenon of cruelty to animals, and to be a light unto the nations by refraining from purchasing items whose production involved such needless and horrifying cruelty,” said Rabbi Metzger.
[Once again, Rabbi Metzger’s statements provide us with valuable opportunities to make progress re reducing animal abuses in Israel and perhaps in the broader Jewish community. If you have any suggestions re this, please let me know. Anyone have any contacts within the Knesset Animal rights Caucus? Thanks.]
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b. Article in the San Diego Union Tribune
6:27 a.m. February 20, 2007
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070220-0627-israel-fur.html
JERUSALEM – Jews must not wear fur skinned from live animals, Israel's chief rabbi said in a religious ruling on Tuesday. [Note how this article, unlike the one above from Ma’ariv, indicates limits in Rabbi Metzger’s decision.]
'All Jews are obliged to prevent the horrible phenomenon of cruelty to animals and be a 'light onto nations' by refusing to use products that originate from acts which cause such suffering,' Rabbi Yona Metzger said.
Animal rights campaigners in Israel and abroad say that animals are skinned alive at fur farms in China.
Metzger issued the edict in response to an appeal by an Israeli legislator who looked into the reports of animal cruelty in China at the request of a constituent.
The ruling stopped short of banning the use of fur from animals skinned after they were slaughtered.
Mati Korinio of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, which oversees fur imports, said much of the fur sold in the Jewish state did not originate in China.
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[As indicated above, while the rabbinic decision is not s broad as we would like, Rabbi Metzger’s reliance on Jewish teachings on compassion to animals provides an opening for additional positive decisions that can reduce or eliminate further animal abuses. As indicated above, I hope that we can make contacts with the Knesset Animal rights Caucus and ask them to raise additional questions re animal abuses.]
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4. PETA Investigation Finds Abuses of Chickens at Monastery Factory Farm
Web link and video: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/mepkin
Press Release:
PETA INVESTIGATION INSIDE MONASTERY REVEALS HELLISH CONDITIONS ON CHICKEN FACTORY FARM
Charleston-Area Monks Abuse, Neglect, and Intensively Confine 38,000 Hens in Egg Factory for Profit
Charleston, S.C. - A PETA undercover investigation of an egg factory owned and operated by a Trappist Monastery, Mepkin Abbey outside Charleston, S.C., has revealed shocking cruelty to chickens. Tens of thousands of hens at the monastery are painfully debeaked, crammed into tiny cages, and periodically starved. PETA has released its findings-which include video footage and photos-this morning on its Web site, at www.PETA.org.
Mepkin Abbey Egg Farm produces 9 million eggs per year from more than 38,000 hens whose sensitive beaks are partially cut off-without painkillers-and who are housed in filthy sheds containing row upon row of tiny, multi-tiered wire "battery" cages. Each cage contains up to four birds packed so tightly that their bodies are pressed firmly against each other. The chickens live in this deplorable state-unable to so much as lift a wing-for up to two years, during which the abbey periodically starves them in order to shock their bodies into an additional laying cycle. PETA's investigator witnessed several severely
injured birds lying nearly motionless on the floor. A monk working in the factory told them that the animals would be killed, but the hens were simply left to suffer. Despite these abuses, printing on the Abbey's egg cartons claims "a deep respect for the environment ... through the caring cultivation of the earth and its creatures" and are marked "Animal Care Certified."
The Abbey's practices violate the Catholic Catechism, Bible principles, and the teachings of the Pope. When asked about the rights of animals in a 2002 interview, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger-now Pope Benedict XVI-said, "Animals, too, are God's creatures ... Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that ... hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible."
"The Mepkin Abbey egg factory is hell-on-Earth for chickens," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, a devout Roman Catholic. "If these monks
abused dogs or cats in the ways they're abusing chickens, they could be put in prison on felony cruelty to animals charges. We're asking the
monastery to stop causing birds to suffer for money's sake, and to switch to making marmalade, bread, beer, or some other product that does not cause animals such unmitigated misery."
For more information, please visit PETA's Web site PETA.org.
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Forwarded article:
NATIONAL | February 21, 2007
PETA Criticizes Egg Farm at South Carolina Monastery
By BRENDA GOODMAN
Published: February 21, 2007
ATLANTA, Feb. 20 — An egg farm operated by Trappist monks at a monastery in South Carolina is an “ugly stain” on an otherwise blessed community, an animal rights group said Tuesday as it released the results of an undercover investigation into egg production practices there.
“This hurts so much,” said the Right Rev. Stanislaus Gumula, the abbot of Mepkin Abbey, after he learned about the accusations made against his community, in Moncks Corner, S.C. “They’re happy chickens. They’re being treated nicely.”
A video produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and posted on its Web site shows rows of chickens, three or four to a cage.
Several monks, who were videotaped without their knowledge, are shown discussing their practices, including “forced molting,” which puts chickens under stress to cause them to lay more eggs. The practice was banned last year by United Egg Producers, the country’s largest trade group for commercial egg producers.
“We’re going to have to investigate, because if this is true, they aren’t following the requirements of our certification program,” said Diane E. Storey, a spokeswoman for the egg producers group. Father Gumula, who became the abbot a few months ago, called the accusations “unfactual” and said the chickens had last been molted in 2006, during a grace period the trade group allowed to comply with new regulations.
“It’s like a fast,” one of the monks explains on camera. “Like a long fast when the chickens stop laying eggs for a while because they’re not eating and they cycle them back in.”
Ms. Storey said that Mepkin Abbey was certified under her group’s animal welfare program, and that it was last inspected by the Department of Agriculture in October 2006.
Father Gumula said he would switch to a new molting technique in 2007 that did not require complete removal of food.
He also took issue with the film’s criticism of the abbey for a common practice called debeaking, in which a hot blade is used to slice the tip of the beak off a chick before it is 10 days old. He said the abbey got its hens when they were 18 weeks old, long after their beaks had been trimmed by the supplier.
PETA says that the tip of a chicken’s beak is incredibly sensitive and that birds in the wild use it to peck the ground more than 15,000 times day as they forage for food.
Animal welfare experts say beak trimming prevents chickens from tearing one other to pieces.
“I guess, in this case, beak trimming is the best of two devils,” said Inma Estevez, an associate professor in the department of animal and avian science at the University of Maryland. “I’ve seen the alternative, and, believe me, it’s much worse.”
Father Gumula said the monks raised 21,000 birds in three barns, not 38,000 as PETA asserted.
And he said he kept the birds caged because it kept them cleaner and healthier. “When they are on the floor, they are subjected to all sorts of parasites and bacteria that are around,” Father Gumula said. “They walk in their own manure. They walk in their troughs.”
He said the monks gathered 17,000 eggs daily and had been known to sing to the birds.
Animal rights advocates said that although those methods might seem quaint, the chickens were suffering.
“To put it bluntly, this is animal abuse,” said Paul Shapiro, director of the Factory Farming Campaign at the Humane Society of America, who said he had received complaints about the abbey. “People are being misled to believe these birds are receiving a higher level of care than they actually are.”
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5. More Re Dispute Over Inspecting Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses/Plus My Response
Kosher Today
2/18/2007 9:56 AM
New York…
“Tzedek Hechsher” Not a Kosher Issue, Many Rabbis Assert
By Kosher Cooking(Kosher Cooking)
The Conservative position followed an earlier article in the Forward that reported on alleged unsafe working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, a fact that was later disputed by Rabbi Asher Zeilingold of Kosher News - http://koshernews.blogspot.com/index.html
Reacting to an article in the weekly Forward, “Orthodox Slam Effort To Monitor Conditions at Kosher Factories” (February 9, 2007), many rabbis reached by KosherToday did not consider the new proposed Conservative “Tzedek Hekhsher” to be an issue for kashrus. The Forward piece turned the issue of a proposed new certification on the basis of social issues to be the latest spat between Conservative and Orthodox rabbis. But even the Conservatives said that their proposed new hechsher would not deal with kashrus but rather with working conditions at plants producing kosher. The Conservative position followed an earlier article in the Forward that reported on alleged unsafe working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, a fact that was later disputed by Rabbi Asher Zeilingold of Minneapolis who traveled to the plant with a Spanish speaking congregant of his. Rabbi Zeilingold certifies the non-glatt kosher meats at the plant.
"It's not that we don't care about those issues, but we rely on the federal government," said Rabbi Menachem Genack, who heads the kashrus division at the Orthodox Union (OU). He noted that agencies such as the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety & Health Administration already keep watch on workers' pay and working conditions. “We don't want to impose more on those companies than is required by law," Genack said. Other rabbis also saw the new certification as more of an oversight on the already considerable protection offered to workers by government.
Many of the kashrus officials felt that a new certification that broadened the definition of kashrus would only lead to more confusion in the marketplace. Rabbi Yosef Wikler, publisher of Kashrus Magazine, told Kosher Today that the Tzedek Hekhsher “has nothing to do with kosher certification and standards,” which is why he would not include the certification on his widely heralded annual list of kosher symbols and certification that numbered nearly 750 in 2006. Rabbi Wikler, who lists Conservative and Reform certifications on his list, agreed that the Tzedek Hekhsher would only lead to more confusion for consumers. One rabbi complimented the concern of the Conservatives but suggested that they “first should have visited non-kosher plants “which are basically no different than kosher ones” and in any event should be issuing their hekhsher for any Jewish businessman who employs workers, and not just a meat plant in Iowa.”
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In an attempt to shift attention to broader issues, I posted the following to the section after the article at the web site:
I believe that the Jewish community should start addressing the most important issues re typical Jewish (and other) diets; that animal-based diets have been conclusively linked to heart disease, several forms of cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases, and that animal-based agriculture is contributing significantly to global warming, destruction of tropical rain forests and other valuable habitats, land erosion and depletion, loss of biological diversity and many additional environmental threats, as well as shortages of water and energy.
In addition, the production and consumption of meat and other animal products seriously violate Jewish mandates to preserve our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources and help hungry people.
So, for our health and for environmental sustainability, it is essential that Jews reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products. Such a change would also help revitalize Judaism by showing the relevance of our eternal teachings to current critical issues.
More information on Jewish teachings related to vegetarianism can be found at JewishVeg.com, which includes my over 130 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz.
Richard (Schwartz)
President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America
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6. Radio Announcement by Dan Brook Re Global Warming
Another Inconvenient Truth: Meat is a Global Warming Issue
Dan Brook
Global warming goes beyond “an inconvenient truth”. We are overheating our planet with catastrophic consequences. Think about an overheated car or an overcooked dinner. Now imagine that on a planetary scale.
The effects of global warming are not hypothetical: weather spasms, melting ice, rising seas, endangered species, refugees. We’re standing at a precipice.
Our over-consumption of oil fuels the crisis, but it might surprise you to learn that something else we consume also significantly contributes to our problem: meat. Cow farms annually produce millions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane, two major greenhouse gases. “Belching, flatulent livestock emit 16% of the world’s... methane.” “The animals we eat emit 21% of all the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity.”
Yes, the U.S. should ratify Kyoto and make other major policy changes. But we also need to make personal changes.
Recent studies conclude that changing from the Standard American Diet to a vegetarian or, better yet, vegan diet does more to fight global warming than switching from a gas-guzzling Hummer to a Camry or from a Camry to a Prius. “Eating meat is like driving an... SUV... a vegetarian diet is like driving a [hybrid], and... a vegan diet is like riding a bicycle.” Shifting away from SUVs, SUV lifestyles, and SUV diets, to energy-efficient, life-affirming alternatives, is essential to fight global warming.
As Paul McCartney says, “If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat.” Eco-Eating fights global warming with our forks, knives, and chopsticks! In the words of another vegetarian, Gandhi, “We must be the change we wish to see in this world.”
The fact that meat substantially increases global warming is another inconvenient truth, but another opportunity for positive change.
With a Perspective, I’m Dan Brook.
Dan Brook teaches sociology at San Jose State University and maintains the Eco-Eating web site at www.brook.com/veg and The Vegetarian Mitzvah at www.brook.com/jveg. He welcomes comments via Brook@california.com. [He is also a JVNA advisor and a frequent contributor of material for the JVNA newsletter.]
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7. Climate Crisis Action Day to be Held in Washington, DC
Forwarded message:
Polar bears are already feeling the heat...
...so let’s turn up the heat on Congress!
Take part in the Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington, DC on March 20!
RSVP Now
Did you know? Polar bears are insulated from the cold so well, that they overheat easily. They avoid excessive running and must rest often to avoid getting hot under the collar.
Tell others to attend! Forward this message on to at least 5 others who care about wildlife and want to see real action on global warming!
Dear Richard,
The clock is ticking on climate change -- and our wildlife is already feeling the heat. We must act now, before it’s too late.
Be a part of the solution! Join Defenders of Wildlife for the Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington, DC on March 20, and tell your elected officials we can't wait any longer.
Polar bears are being pushed to the brink of extinction as increased temperatures deprive them of needed food and habitat. Survival rates are already plummeting and these iconic arctic hunters are starving to death -- even resorting to cannibalism.
The danger is so great that federal officials now plan to list these creatures as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
On Tuesday, March 20, thousands of concerned citizens will gather at the U.S. Capitol to tell Congress to tackle global warming head-on, with responsible energy decisions and protections for special places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- one of the most important denning habitats for our remaining polar bears.
Visit our partners at ClimateCrisisAction.org to secure your place at this historic event -- or to find out other ways to take action right now even if you can’t make it to DC.
Come listen to politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, and activists from across the country. You’ll even have the chance to speak with your legislators personally, to make sure addressing global warming is at the top of their "to do" list.
Sign up for the March 20th Climate Crisis Action Day!
Global warming is happening -- and we need to do something now.
Our polar bears can’t afford to let the clock tick any longer. Come to the Climate Crisis Action Day, and help make global warming a priority by moving toward a smarter, cleaner energy future!
Hope to see you there!
Rodger Schlickeisen, President (c)Daniel J. Cox/www.naturalexpos Sincerely,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
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9. Christian Scientist Article Links Beef Consumption to Global Climate Change
Stop Global Warming by Banning Beef Not Cars
Posted by Noel Sheppard on February 19, 2007 - 20:47.
CS Monitor: (Christian Science Monitor)
http://newsbusters.org/node/10930
This is way too funny and definitely requires all potables, combustibles, and sharp objects to be properly stowed.
The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that if man wants to halt global warming, he should forget about the fuel efficiency of his SUV and just stop eating meat:
As Congress begins to tackle the causes and cures of global warming, the action focuses on gas-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants, not on lowly bovines.
Yet livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive.
How delicious. The article marvelously continued:
It's not just the well-known and frequently joked-about flatulence and manure of grass-chewing cattle that's the problem, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Land-use changes, especially deforestation to expand pastures and to create arable land for feed crops, is a big part. So is the use of energy to produce fertilizers, to run the slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants, and to pump water.
Here’s something Al Gore and Ellen Goodman won’t tell you:
"Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report, said when the FAO findings were released in November.
Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.
Another thing the media elites ignore is the likelihood that CO2 really isn’t the problem at all:
The latter two gases are particularly troubling – even though they represent far smaller concentrations in atmosphere than CO2, which remains the main global warming culprit. But methane has 23 times the global warming potential (GWP) of CO2 and nitrous oxide has 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
All you hear about is CO2, right? Why not methane and nitrous oxide?
Methane could become a greater problem if the permafrost in northern latitudes thaws with increasing temperatures, releasing the gas now trapped below decaying vegetation. What's more certain is that emissions of these gases can spike as humans consume more livestock products.
And, the future of meat consumption looks quite ominous in this context:
As prosperity increased around the world in recent decades, the number of people eating meat (and the amount one eats every year) has risen steadily. Between 1970 and 2002, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries rose from 11 kilograms (24 lbs.) to 29 kilograms (64 lbs.), according to the FAO. (In developed countries, the comparable figures were 65 kilos and 80 kilos.) As population increased, total meat consumption in the developing world grew nearly five-fold over that period.
Beyond that, annual global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons at the beginning of the decade to 465 million tons in 2050. This makes livestock the fastest growing sector of global agriculture.
As you might imagine, animal rights groups love this kind of talk:
"Arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products," writes Noam Mohr in a report for EarthSave International.
Changing one's diet can lower greenhouse gas emissions quicker than shifts away from fossil fuel burning technologies, Mr. Mohr writes, because the turnover rate for farm animals is shorter than that for cars and power plants.
"Even if cheap, zero-emission fuel sources were available today, they would take many years to build and slowly replace the massive infrastructure our economy depends upon today," he writes. "Similarly, unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth."
The numbers are actually quite compelling:
Researchers at the University of Chicago compared the global warming impact of meat eaters with that of vegetarians and found that the average American diet – including all food processing steps – results in the annual production of an extra 1.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (in the form of all greenhouse gases) compared to a no-meat diet. Researchers Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin concluded that dietary changes could make more difference than trading in a standard sedan for a more efficient hybrid car, which reduces annual CO2 emissions by roughly one ton a year.
"It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan," says Dr. Eshel, whose family raised beef cattle in Israel. "If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference.”
Count me in. I don’t like hamburgers anyway.
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10. Movie Opens About Early Animal Rights Activist
As I have been overwhelmed with other projects, DawnWatch took an inordinately long President's Day weekend. I will be playing a little catch-up today. The highlight of that weekend was an HSUS advance screening of Amazing Grace, directed by Michael Apted, which opens tomorrow, Friday February 23.
Amazing Grace is the story of William Wilberforce's parliamentary battle to end the British slave trade. What I had not known before seeing the film, but was not surprised to find out, is that Wilberforce was also one of the founding members of the original Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The film opens with a scene in which Wilberforce intervenes as a horse is being beaten. There are many references to his passion for animals throughout the movie.
Even without the animal friendly theme, I would fervently recommend Amazing Grace to all activists. It shows what can be achieved against what appear to be insurmountable odds. It is inspiring. It is also beautifully acted and directed -- a pleasure to watch.
DawnWatch generally encourages animal friendly media by asking people to respond to it favorably with emails to media outlets. The best possible way to show support for an animal friendly film is to go see it -- not to wait for it on DVD. Box office sales the opening weekend are the most important, influencing the length of the movie's run and its distribution to other theatres. Big sales on opening weekend also let the production company know that the public is eager for movies that matter.
So if you are thinking about a movie this weekend (even if you weren't) -- why not show support for messages about making the world a better place, by going to see Amazing Grace? And please forward this recommendation to anybody you know who cares.
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. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
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11. The 2007 Global Warming Globie Awards
Forwarded message from Environmental Defense:
The votes have been counted and the winners are...
Posted on: 02/22/2007
More than 20,000 of you voted in our first ever Global Warming Globie Awards and the totals are in.
We had some close votes, some landslides and a bunch of suggestions. And, based on emails we received, we've even added a new "Honorable Mention" award for two California state legislators who helped make the historic California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) possible (see below).
Thanks to all our online supporters for voting and making the first-ever Global Warming Globie Awards a great success. We had a lot of fun tallying the votes and reading through your comments. We hope you had fun, too.
So, without further ado, here are this year's winners:
In the category of Best Performance by a State or Local Official, the winner by a nose is…
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for spearheading a national effort to organize America's cities to cut carbon dioxide pollution 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. The "U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement" has been signed by 393 mayors representing over 57 million Americans.
This one was a real squeaker with Mayor Nickels edging California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger out by fewer than 30 votes out of roughly 20,000 cast in that category.
Congratulations Mayor Nickels and thanks for your leadership.
In the category of Best Performance in the Corporate World, the clear winner is…
US-CAP, our new partnership with 10 Fortune 500 companies and 3 other national environmental organizations, earned nearly 50% of the votes cast in this category. This new partnership launched to jointly call for immediate, effective global warming legislation in Congress represents a real game changer in our global warming campaign.
With the rest of the vote split between the other three nominees, this was a clear win.
In the category of Best Film, Documentary, or Website Focusing on Global Warming, the winner in a landslide is…
Inconvenient Truth, the blockbuster global warming documentary by former Vice President Al Gore. No real surprise. With 82% of the vote in this category, this was the single biggest vote-getter of this year's Globie Awards.
No need for a recount here!
In the category of Worst Performance by a Corporation or Corporate Official, the winner is…
ExxonMobil, earning 55% of the vote in this category, making the oil giant the second biggest vote-getter of this year's Globie Awards. In spite of recent softening in its corporate rhetoric against global warming action, ExxonMobil wasn't able to obscure its decade-long and multi-million dollar public relations campaign to undermine the scientific consensus on global warming.
In the category of Most Egregious Contribution to Public Ignorance and Denial, the winner is…
The senior senator from the state of Oklahoma, Senator James Inhofe. This was a narrow four-way split, but with 38% of the vote, Senator Inhofe bested former Bush Administration official Philip Cooney by more than 2,000 votes.
By calling global warming the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on humankind, Senator Inhofe has solidified his legacy as one of the leading global warming deniers of our time.
And, in the newly created "Honorable Mention" category, based on numerous emails we received from our online supporters…
We would like to highlight the leadership of both California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and former state Assemblywoman Fran Pavley for jointly authoring and helping to pass AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act.
We couldn't agree more with these sentiments. Speaker Nunez and Assemblywoman Pavley were determined, tenacious and unwavering in their efforts to pass this historic bill and send it to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk before last year's legislative calendar expired. Put simply, it wouldn't have happened without these legislative champions.
For their role in helping make California a leader in the fight against global warming, we'd like to award California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and former California State Assemblywoman Fran Pavley an honorable mention in this year's Globie Awards.
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12. Nobel Prize Winner Criticizes Factory Farming
Thanks to author and JVNA advisor Charles Patterson for forwarding the following article to us:
Exposing the Beast: Factory Farming Must be Called to the Slaughterhouse
by J.M. Coetzee
To any thinking person, it must be obvious there is something terribly wrong with relations between human beings and the animals they rely on for food. It must also be obvious that in the past 100 or 150 years, whatever is wrong has become wrong on a huge scale, as traditional animal husbandry has been turned into an industry using industrial methods of production.
There are many other ways in which our relationship with animals is wrong (to name two: the fur trade and experimentation on animals in laboratories), but the food industry, which turns living animals into what it euphemistically calls animal products and by-products, dwarfs all others in the number of individual animal lives it affects.
The vast majority of the public has an equivocal attitude to the industrial use of animals: they make use of the products of that industry, but are nevertheless a little sickened, a little queasy, when they think of what happens on factory farms and abattoirs. Therefore they arrange their lives in such a way that they need be reminded of farms and abattoirs as little as possible, and they do their best to ensure their children are kept in the dark too, because children have tender hearts and are easily moved.
The transformation of animals into production units dates back to the late 19th century, and since that time we have already had one warning on the grandest scale that there is something deeply, cosmically wrong with regarding and treating fellow beings as mere units of any kind.
This warning came so loud and clear that one would have thought it impossible to ignore. It came when, in the 20th century, a group of
powerful and bloody-minded men in Germany hit on the idea of adapting the methods of the industrial stockyard, as pioneered and perfected in Chicago, to the slaughter - or what they preferred to call the processing - of human beings.
Of course we cried out in horror when we found out what they had been up to. What a terrible crime to treat human beings like cattle - if we had only known beforehand. But our cry should more accurately have been: what a terrible crime to treat human beings like units in an industrial process. And that cry should have had a postscript: what a terrible crime come to think of it, a crime against nature – to treat any living being like a unit in an industrial process.
It would be a mistake to idealise traditional animal husbandry as the standard by which the animal products industry falls short. Traditional animal husbandry is brutal enough, just on a smaller scale. A better standard by which to judge both practices would be the simple standard of humanity: is this truly the best that humans are capable of?
The efforts of the animal rights movement - the broad movement that situates itself on the spectrum somewhere between the meliorism of the animal welfare bodies and the radicalism of animal liberation - are rightly directed at decent people who both know and don't know that there is something going on that stinks to high heaven.
These are people who will say: "Yes, it's terrible what lives brood sows live; it's terrible what lives veal calves live," but who will add, with a helpless shrug of the shoulders - "what can I do about it?"
The task of the movement is to offer such people imaginative but practical options for what to do next after they have been revolted by a glimpse of the lives factory animals live and the deaths they die. People need to see that there are alternatives to supporting the animal products industry.
These alternatives need not involve any sacrifice in health or nutrition, and there is no reason why these alternatives need be costly. Furthermore, what are commonly called sacrifices are not sacrifices at all. The only sacrifices in the whole picture, in fact, are being made by non-human animals.
n this respect, children provide the brightest hope. Children have tender hearts - that is to say children have hearts that have not yet been hardened by years of cruel and unnatural battering. Given half a chance, children see through the lies with which advertisers bombard them (the happy chooks that are transformed painlessly into succulent nuggets, the smiling moo-cow that donates to us the bounty of her milk). It takes but one glance into a slaughterhouse to turn a child into a lifelong vegetarian.
Factory farming is a new phenomenon - very new indeed in the history of animal husbandry. The good news is that after a couple of decades of what the businessmen behind it must have regarded as free and unlimited expansion, the industry has been forced onto the defensive.
The activities of animals-rights organizations have shifted the onus onto the industry to justify its practices, and because they are indefensible and unjustifiable except on the most narrow economic grounds ("Do you want to pay $1.50 more for a dozen eggs?"), the industry is battening down hatches and hoping the storm will blow itself out. Insofar as there was a public relations war, the industry has already lost that war.
A final note. The campaign of human beings for animal rights is curious in one respect: the creatures on whose behalf human beings are acting are unaware of what their benefactors are up to and, if they succeed, are unlikely to thank them. There is even a sense in which animals do not know what is wrong - they do certainly not know what is wrong in the same way that humans do.
Thus, however close the well-meaning benefactor may feel to animals, the animal rights campaign remains a human project from beginning to
end.
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J.M. Coetzee won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2003. This is an edited version of a speech to be given this evening to open the exhibition Voiceless: I feel therefore I am. It will be at the Sherman Galleries until March 10.
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13. Hindu Organization Seeks Meat-Free Zone on Airplane
Forwarded item:
Plea for vegetarian zone in aircraft
“The Hindu”
News Update Service
Sunday, February 18, 2007 : 1730 Hrs
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200702181715.htm
Chennai, Feb. 18 (PTI): Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation, a city-based organization, has demanded a separate "vegetarian zone" in aircraft on the lines of non-smoking zones.
In a letter to all airlines, the Foundation's Managing Trustee, N Sugalchand Jain, said it was "a distasteful experience" to vegetarians when airhostesses asked them if they were vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
Vegetarians suffered from nausea and loss of appetite when other passengers ate non-vegetarian food.
Passengers should be asked about their food habits while boarding passes are issued, he said.
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February 25, 2007
February 18, 2007
2/18/07 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Press Release About the JVNA Movie
2. Chance to Do Three Positives Through One Act
3. Great Global Warming Web Site
4. Roberta Kalechofsky to Speak at NYU on “Inadmissible Comparisons”
5. Rabbi’s Article on Vegetarianism/My Comments After the Article
6. More Suggestions Re a Vegetarian Slogan
7. Another Great Article Re Diet and Global Climate Change
8. Summary of Recent Global Warming Reports
9. Israeli Vegetarian Rabbi Connects Judaism and Veganism
12. Animal Rights Groups Can Impact Congressional Debates
13. Looking For a Special Passover Seder Plate?
17. More Re the Controversy Re Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses
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, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observance, 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. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Press Release About the JVNA Movie
PRESS RELEASE
[Suggestions very welcome. Please help spread the message in the press release about the movie. Thanks.]
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Richard H. Schwartz, President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
President@JewishVeg.com
718-761-5876 Cell: (917) 576-0344
Vegetarian group and award-winning filmmaker team up for film on healing the planet, Jewish-style
February 20, 2007 (New York) Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) is collaborating with multi-award winning filmmaker Lionel Friedberg to produce a documentary on how Jewish religious teachings can promote a healthier, more humane and sustainable world.
'A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World' [working title]
makes a very strong case for vegetarianism from a Jewish perspective as a major component of efforts to reduce diseases and to move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path," said Richard Schwartz, President of JVNA. "By dramatically showing that animal-based diets and agriculture violate basic Jewish mandates to preserve our health and the environment, treat animals with compassion and feed the hungry, we hope to push some hot buttons - including meat-eating's contribution to global warming - to persuade Jews and people of all faiths to choose a more compassionate and sustainable diet."
JVNA will distribute the film free of charge to religious groups, educational institutions, the media and others to get the movie's important message to the widest possible audience.
'A Sacred Duty' will remind Jews that it is our responsibility to apply the teachings of the Torah to how we obtain our food, tap into the resources of the environment, and live among the many creatures that God created alongside us," said Friedberg. "Since this is really a universal duty for all human beings, 'A Sacred Duty' will challenge and inspire non-Jews as well."
With the film near final production, JVNA - a registered charity - is raising funds from private donors to complete and distribute the film. "We're almost there," said Schwartz, "but we need to raise another $45,000."
"A Sacred Duty" includes interviews with leading environmentalists, health professionals, vegetarians and animal rights activists in the United States and Israel.
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Much more information about the movie is below.
Among the many interview subjects in the movie are:
Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen -- Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa
Rabbi David Rosen -- Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and President of IJCIC (the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, that represents world Jewry to other world Religions.)
Rabbi David Golinkin - President of the Schechter Institute in
Jerusalem
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom - A Breslov Chassid and author
Jonathan Wolf - Founder and first president of Jewish Vegetarians of
North America (JVNA)
Roberta Kalechofsky - Founder and director of Jews for Animal
Rights (JAR) and Micah Publications; author, editor and
publisher.
Nina Natelson - Founder and director of Concern for Helping
Animals in Israel (CHAI)
Richard H. Schwartz - Author of “Judaism and Vegetarianism' and
president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
Rabbi Michael Cohen - Director of the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA)
and a teacher at the Arava Institute in Israel
Rabbi Adam Frank - Rabbi of the largest Conservative synagogue in
Israel
Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D. - A leading author and physician who
specializes in natural healing
Israeli Environmentalists
Alon Tal - Leading Israeli environmentalist; founder of the Israel
Union for Environmental defense: author of “Pollution in a
Promised Land.
Jeremy Benstein - Co-founder and co-director of the Heschel Center for
Environmental Studies in Tel Aviv
Gidon Bromberg - Director of Jerusalem branch of Friends of the Earth/Middle East
Raanan Boral - Environmental expert for the Society of Protection of
Nature in Israel (SPNI)
Michelle Levine - Public relations person for SPNI
Yael Cohen Paran - A leader of Green Course, an Israeli student-based environmental group.
Jewish and Muslim (Jordanian and Palestinian) students at the Arava Institue for Environmental Studies were also interviewed, to help show the importance of multilateral efforts to solve Israel’s environmental problems..
Unlike many documentaries, “A Sacred Duty” will not be just a series of talking heads. Friedberg has videotaped much background material in both the United States and Israel, and he has received additional background material from many sources. This rich visual content will enliven the interviews and make for a compelling film.
While all the arguments for vegetarianism are fully presented, “A Sacred Duty” includes especially extensive coverage of the mistreatment of animals on factory farms, thanks to the powerful footage provided to us by animal rights groups. Again, these are "buttons" that can transform (and save) lives.
Although it is primarily intended for a Jewish audience, “A Sacred Duty” speaks to people everywhere about the ethics of our relationship to the natural world in which we live. The movie's universal message will appeal to anyone interested in such topics as vegetarianism, the environment, health, nutrition, hunger and resource usage, as well as Judaism and Israel.
The movie spells out how contemporary diets, lifestyles and agricultural practices are playing havoc with the environment, contributing to problems like global warming, endangering human health, and adversely affecting the myriad creatures that share our planet. Needless to say, this is a subject that resonates with many, many people today.
As a model of what is wrong with planet Earth due to human activities, A Sacred Duty hones in on the land of the Bible, on Eretz Yisrael itself. Israel is fraught with environmental problems that never make the headlines. Rivers are dirty; the Dead Sea is drying up; air pollution in metropolitan areas kill thousands every year. There is progress in these fields, but that too never makes the headlines. The movie will shed light on many of these issues while considering the environmental threats faced by the planet as a whole. Again, there is much interest by Jews and non-Jews alike in "the Holy Land" and its future.
JVNA president Richard Schwartz stated: “Recent reports about the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other groups and additional reports from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on the major contributions that 'livestock' agriculture has on global warming and other environmental threats demonstrate the great importance of the movie. Regrettably, in spite of the severity of the global environmental crisis and Judaism's powerful teachings on environmental stewardship, the Jewish establishment largely continues to ignore the issue. 'A Sacred Duty' aims to help end this state of denial.”
There are many quotations in the movie from the Torah and other Jewish sacred texts, including the Talmud, since these texts are full of lessons and laws prescribing how we should live mercifully, efficiently, compassionately, and remain responsible custodians of this magnificent, yet highly imperiled world that God has bequeathed to us.
Though powerful and challenging, “A Sacred Duty” does not issue decrees or lecture its audience. It offers information on a wide variety of sensitive issues and food for thought. The net effect is a very positive message for all age groups.
For more information about the movie, including donation opportunities, contact Schwartz at President@JewishVeg.com.
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SNIP [If interested in Lionel Friedberg’s bio, awards and letters of recommendation, please let me know. These were presented in several previous newsletters and other messages.]
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2. Chance to Do Three Positives Through One Act
By making a tax deductible donation toward our movie, you can:
1. perform the important mitzvah of giving tzedakah (charity);
2. play an important role in helping move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path;
3. provide yourself with a good response when your children and grandchildren ask what you did to try to prevent a catastrophe from global warming and other current environmental threats. In view of the very dire predictions of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and similar reports, and projections by some climate scientists of a possible “tipping point” when global warming spirals out of control in a decade unless major changes are soon made, can we continue with “business as usual” at this time?
Tax deductible donations to JVNA can be made by credit card via Paypal at the bottom of http://JewishVeg.com/action, or by sending a check made out to Jewish Vegetarians of North America or JVNA to our treasurer:
Israel Mossman
6938 Reliance Road
Federalsburg, MD 21632
Thanks.
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3. Great Global Warming Web Site
Here's what Farm USA has on their website re global warming http://www.farmusa.org/environment/
There is much valuable information that can be very helpful for letters to editors, articles and talking points.
Congratulations Alex Hershaft and everyone at FARM.
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4. Roberta Kalechofsky to Speak at NYU on “Inadmissible Comparisons”
Forwarded message from Roberta:
On March 24-25, Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D. will give a talk on the inappropriate comparison between animal suffering and the Holocaust at the conference at the NYU Law school on "Inadmissible Comparisons." The conference will be held at Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, Rm. 210.
This conference arose out Ms. Kalechofsky's objection to PETA's exhibit, Holocaust on Your Plate," about which she wrote a short book, "Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem With Comparisons." She has been asked to be a participant in this conference and to defend her position. Below is a short abstract of her talk and a short autobiography. If you wish more information about this conference, inquire from karen@upc-online.org
If you wish more information about Ms. Kalechofsky's part in this conference, email micah@micahbooks.com.
Below is a brief abstract ;
Talk for Conference on Inadmissible Comparisons
Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D.
Title: Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem with Comparisons
Comparisons can be made among any thing or event, nails and screws, horses and zebras, but comparisons should be appropriate to scale, cause, and consequences.
The roots of the Holocaust lay in the Christian doctrine of the deicide charge. Hitler’s purpose was the extermination of every Jew. He considered his mission historical, but the consequence of his policy has been intense religious reflection by Christians of Christianity’s role in the Holocaust.
Animal suffering is horrific, but its causes and consequences share little with the Holocaust.
Roberta Kalechofsky is the author of seven works of fiction, a monograph on George Orwell, poetry and two collections of essays. She was the recipient of Literary Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and some of her fiction has been published in Italy.
She has been an animal rights activist for twenty-five years, and runs Micah Publications which publishes vegetarian and animal rights books, in addition to fiction and poetry. Her publications can be viewed at www.micahbooks.com
Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D., fiction writer, speaker, essayist, publisher. Micah Publications (www.micahbooks.com) is the source for Jewish vegetarian and animal rights books. See website for these and other titles.
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5. Rabbi’s Article on Vegetarianism/My Comments After the Article
Carbs
by Professor Benjamin Blech
Millions of Americans are embracing the dietary laws.
Okay, maybe not the same dietary laws found in the Bible, but the eating habits of the whole country have changed almost overnight. Forget Pepsi, we’re the No-Carb Generation. Stick to the meat part of meat-and-potatoes, and you’re golden. Have steak every day, even for breakfast if you’re so inclined, and America’s most popular diet promises you’ll live close to the proverbial 120. Dr. Atkins spread the gospel: Thou shalt not eat carbs.
Beef prices have skyrocketed, so that non-Jewish consumers are starting to pay the kind of money for meat that used to distinguish Kosher food. This is the Wimpy Age—Popeye’s friend Wimpy, that is—the meat-crazed mooch who famously offered to “pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Vegetarians, obviously, aren’t very happy with this trend. (A clever ad for one prominent chain of steakhouses used to boast, “Horrifying Vegetarians Since 19__.”) Many vegetarians believe that it is a sin to take an animal’s life in order to lengthen our own. All of G-d’s creatures, they contend, have the same right to live out their years. A noble thought, ethically motivated, and yet—supremely un-Jewish!
Jews do eat meat. In fact, the Talmud teaches, that’s what transforms an ordinary meal into a Sabbath or holiday feast. Simchah, true joy, can be attained only with bassar v’yayin, meat and wine. Animals, says the Midrash, were created before Adam so that they would be available for his table, just as a king prepares food in advance for his most favored guest.
The eating habits of the whole country have changed almost overnight. Forget Pepsi, we’re the No-Carb Generation. But before you tear into that rib-eye, there’s something else you should know. Judaism agrees with the meat of the vegetarian argument: Life, whether human or animal, shouldn’t be taken lightly; we don’t have the right to kill other life forms simply because we have the power to do so.
Perhaps the most profound dietary law is one that’s relatively unknown. In fact, if it were put into practice it’s quite conceivable that a lot of us would no longer know the delight of devouring a steak or polishing off a couple of burgers. You see, Judaism doesn’t really give us carte blanche to kill animals for food. It allows us to eat meat only on one condition: that the animal whose life is taken serves to feed someone whose life has more meaning than simple bestial existence.
“Am ha’aretz assur le’echol bassar.” A boor, whose life is devoid of Torah, is forbidden to eat meat! That’s the Talmud’s conclusion based on a simple equation: For any life ended to support another, there must be a qualitative difference between the life that is taken and the life that will be sustained. Animals live, as Sigmund Freud put it, to get and to beget. They eat and they procreate. They simply exist. Human beings are meant to strive for more. Our years are supposed to be imbued with a spiritual quest for holiness. Life is not merely getting and begetting, but being and becoming. Created in the image of G-d, we have an obligation to imitate our Divine Maker. It is only our efforts in pursuit of this goal that permit us to turn animal flesh into the food that fuels us.
This adds a whole new dimension to the Atkins Diet. Piling on meat may keep you thin—but it might be a sin. It all depends on whether you deserve the meat.
So here’s the new diet plan that gives equal weight (no pun intended) to both your body’s need to be slim and your soul’s longing for spiritual fulfillment: Live your life with the constant awareness that you are meant to be much more than an animal, and in that way you’ll earn the right to enjoy as many prime cuts of meat as your heart desires.
Republished with permission from www.chabadstanford.org.
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Editor’s comments:
This article shows why it is so important to have a respectful dialogue. Like many other articles (and talks) of this type, the author fails to address many issues, Including:
* the very negative effects of animal-based diets on human health;
* the major contributions of animal-based agriculture to global climate change and many other environmental problems;
* the fact that the production and consumption of meat and other animal products contradict basic Jewish teachings on treating animals with compassion, preserving human health, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, helping hungry people and pursuing peace and justice.
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6. More Suggestions Re a Vegetarian Slogan
a. From JVNA advisor Rabbi Hillel Norry:
slogan suggestions:
Pass the flame not the meat.
Eatin' eden.
Eden was a garden, not a slaughter house.
"Thou shalt eat your veggies!" God.
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b. Long-time vegetarian activist Patti Breitman suggestion:
Eat Plants, not Meat
Comments on these suggestions and further suggestions are very welcome. Thanks.
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7. Another Great Article Re Diet and Global Climate Change Connections
A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths'
February 2, 2007
The Huffington Post
Kathy Freston
02.02.2007
The report released today by the world's leading climate scientists made no bones about it: global warming is happening in a big way and it is very likely man-made. So, if we are indeed the bulk of the problem, we ought to step up and start doing things differently. Now.
My last post ("Vegetarian Is the New Prius") got a lot of traction, and I think it's because there is a realization that being "part of the solution" can be a whole lot simpler -and cheaper - than going out and buying a new car.
We can make a huge difference in the environment by eating a plant based diet instead of an animal based one. Factory farming pollutes our air and water, reduces the rainforests, and goes a long way to create global warming. And although the vast majority of responses to the piece were positive, there were some environmentalists for whom the idea of giving up those chicken nuggets was impossible to swallow.
My favorite movie of last year was Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize!), but I have to admit that when I speak with environmentalists about the obvious waste and pollution involved in the totally unnecessary activity of meat consumption, I feel a lot like Mr. Gore trying to convince the U.S. Congress to take the issue of global warming seriously during his first term in the Congress. I thought I might discuss a few of the key concerns that were posted to the blog and that my meat-eating friends offer in defense of their continued meat consumption. So here we go:
Some were worried about thriving, physically, on a vegetarian diet.
Now this just does not make sense. Half of all Americans die of heart disease or cancer and two-thirds of us are overweight. The American Dietetic Association says that vegetarians have "lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; ... lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer." Vegetarians, on average, are about one-third as likely to be overweight as meat-eaters.
And I've just learned from the brilliant Dr. Andrew Weil that there is something called arachidonic acid, or AA, in animal flesh which causes inflammation. AA is a pro-inflammatory fatty acid. He explains that "heart disease and Alzheimer's - among many other diseases - begin as inflammatory processes. The same hormonal imbalance that increases inflammation increases cell proliferation and the risk of malignant transformation." They are finding out that inflammation is key in so many of the diseases that plague us. So when you eat meat, you ingest AA, which causes inflammation, which fires up the disease process. It doesn't matter if the chicken is free range or the beef is grass-fed because the fatty acid is natural and inherent in the meat.
As for having strength and energy on a vegetarian diet, some of the world's top athletes are vegetarian. A few examples: Carl Lewis (perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time), Robert Parish (one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History"), Desmond Howard (Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl MVP), Bill Pearl (professional bodybuilder and four-time "Mr. Universe"), Jack La Lanne (Mr. Fitness himself) and Chris Evert (tennis champion). Vegetarian athletes have the advantage of getting all the plant protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber they need without all the artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated animal fats found in meat that would slow them down. In fact, Carl Lewis says that "my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet."
One response pointed out that the rain forest is being cut down to grow soy, not meat.
Actually, much of the rain forest is being chopped down for grazing, but also yes, the rain forest is being chopped down to grow soy--but not for human consumption. Americans and Europeans can't raise all the feed domestically that is needed to sustain their meat addictions, so agribusiness has started cutting down the rain forest. Ask Greenpeace or any other environmental group and they'll tell you that the overwhelming majority of soy (or corn or wheat, for that matter) is used to feed animals in factory farms. In fact, Greenpeace recently unveiled a massive banner over an Amazon soy field that read, "KFC-Amazon Criminal," to accentuate the point that large chicken and other meat companies like KFC are responsible for the destruction of the Amazon. It takes many pounds of soy or other plant foods to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh--so if you're worried about the rain forests being chopped down for grazing or to grow soy, your best move is to stop eating chickens, pigs, and other animals. If more people went vegetarian, we would need far less land to feed people, and we wouldn't have to destroy the few natural places that this world has left.
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8. Summary of Recent Global Warming Reports
Food for Thought on Global Warming
Despite the wave of frigid air that swept in with the new year, 2006 was the warmest year on record in the United States. The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scien tific panel that met recently to discuss global warming, reported that climate change is "very likely" caused by human activities, including burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.
The IPCC predicts that temperatures might increase by as much as 7.2°F and sea levels may rise by 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century.
It's a stark message. We've obviously messed up our planet:¯scientists foresee floods, melting ice caps, devastating droughts, and stronger hurricanes and tropical storms. Wildlife will struggle to survive. It's not something to be proud of. But then, just when it seems like the best option would be to leap off the nearest melting iceberg, the panel reassures us that global warming could be substantially blunted if people would take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gases.
Here's what they didn't explain: Switching to a vegan diet is a simple, effective way to shrink greenhouse gas emissions .
The digestive processes of the billions of animals raised to become sandwiches and snacks each year, as well as the 87,000 pounds of excrement that they produce every second, release enormous amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
A November 2006 report published by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions¯18 percent¯than transportation. The FAO also reported that the livestock industry is responsible for 37 percent of anthropogenic (generated by human activity) methane and 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, both of which have a higher "global warming potential" than carbon dioxide. The FAO also blamed the livestock sector for heavy deforestation, and according to the World Resources Institute , deforestation is responsible for approximately 20 percent of all global warming emissions.
The FAO report http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/06/060413.diet.shtml
followed an April 2006 study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, who compared the amount of fossil fuel necessary to produce various foods, taking into account the fuel needed to run machinery, provide food for animals and irrigate crops. They found that the typical U.S. meat-eater is responsible for nearly 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan (pure vegetarian), simply because of the difference in food choices. An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report by David Pimentel and Marcia Pimentel indicated that i t takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make a calorie of animal protein as it does to make a calorie of plant protein.
What is the "payoff" for polluting the planet and using fossil fuels like there's no tomorrow? Greasy chicken nuggets and hamburgers. In other words, cholesterol medication, doctor visits and Weight Watchers meetings.
I may not be a scientist, but I think the answer is obvious: Having meat to eat is not worth changing the world's climate, killing animals¯both pigs and polar bears¯and ourselves.
Check out PETA's 30-day VegPledge, with recipes and transitional information, at www.GoVeg.com.
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9. Israeli Vegetarian Rabbi Connects Judaism and Veganism
What's Jewish about a Vegan Diet?
By Rabbi Adam Frank
[Rabbi Frank is a JVNA advisor and spiritual leader of the largest Conservative synagogue in Israel. He participated in many of my lecture tour events several years ago, by showing videos about and discussing the mistreatment of animals in Israel.]
Again I was asked:
"Rabbi, why are you vegan (abstinence from eating foods that contain animal products)?"
I grew up non-religious, but I had a strong Jewish identity founded on an appreciation for the dignified history of our people and for the religion's value-driven contributions to humanity. Long before my acquisition of a serious Jewish education, I took great comfort and pride in the knowledge that Judaism pioneered the idea of respectful responsibility of interaction between humans and the animal world. At an early age I was taught that the laws of Jewish slaughter reflect the concern for minimizing an animal's pain at the end of life. In my adult studies toward rabbinic ordination, the Jewish texts and sources affirmed the teachings of my childhood. Then, BAM!!! In 2003, the realities of the entire food industry hit me like as closed fist.
Two years ago, I attended my first animal rights conference. Like the seeming majority of Americans, I considered myself an animal lover. This conference was the single most sobering and important wake-up-call to my nearsighted understanding of what it means to have concern for animals. My eyes and mind were exposed to the realities of modern animal husbandry, and I received an invaluable education. As a Jew, I was particularly impacted by my evaluation that the treatment of animals to fulfill human food desires is an appalling violation of the Jewish law prohibiting the unnecessary infliction of pain on an animal. Additionally, though the animal rights industry is disproportionately represented by a large number of Jewish activists, with the exception of one speaker I was the only observant Jew participating in the conference.
At the conference, I was able to meet with folks who were at one time on the front lines of animal agriculture. That is, many animal welfare activists are people who previously worked in the animal-food based industry and whose experiences led them to work to alleviate/eliminate the abuses they witnessed. These abuses are documented by hours of films, scientific data and research, and hundreds of testimonials. Critical thinking can help the reader better understand the issues: in the U.S., over 9 billion animals are killed each year for our food supply – the number equates to over 25 million animals a day. It is not possible to breed, raise, handle, transport and slaughter this number of animals in a non-abusive way. Cruelty to animals is the industrial norm and not the exception.
How was I to reconcile Jewish teachings of human responsibility toward animals with the reality of modern factory farming? As an observant Jew, I believe that Jewish law which governs Jewish life is intended to shape a character of sensitivity, kindness, passion and compassion. Not only does my observance of Jewish law craft my character, it constructs my vehicle of relationship with Gd. To ignore the religiously unlawful atrocities inflicted by humans onto the co-inhabitant animals of the world would be devastating to the integrity with which I approach my observance of Jewish obligations. It would also taint the relationship of sincerity that I desire to have with Gd.
The wealth of knowledge we have about the realities of modern animal husbandry forces the critically-thinking, compassionate person to conclude that modern society's appetite for personal pleasures and comforts through food comes at the expense of a voiceless other, namely the animals. As a Jew who has spent years learning Jewish sources that indicate that part of the mission of an ethical, value driven society is to protect its weakest members, the decision to abstain from foods directly related to animal abuse is a mandate.
I do not want to be misunderstood: Jewish teachings affirm that humans have the privilege to use animals for our needs. Alas, were it not for the utilization of animals as instruments of labor communities could not have developed and succeeded as they did before the advent of fuel-driven machines. However, Judaism also legislates that human use of animals must be done with a concern for the animals' physical welfare and dignity. To be clear: we humans are permitted to use animals for our needs only in concert with adherence of concern for animal suffering. It must be pointed out that the end user of a product knowingly derived by cruel means is a participant in the cruelty.
I will use a pronounced example to illustrate the point. It is unlawful to poach the elephant. For years elephants were hunted and killed for the sole purpose of harvesting the ivory of their tusks. Today, the illegal poaching of elephants still occurs. Not only are the elephant poachers criminals, but those who purchase the ivory of the hunted elephants have also committed a crime. Were there no consumer willing to buy the tusks, there would be no incentive for the hunters to poach elephants.
Modern societies permit atrocious living conditions and heinous mistreatment of animals for the food industry. The reasons for this abuse are economic – produce vast quantities of product at the least possible expense. Modern, secular thinking allows for sentient creatures to be treated like inanimate objects, but Jewish tradition which expresses the concepts of humility and responsible stewardship does not. Unarguably, Jewish law legislates human interaction with animals. Unarguably, adherents to Jewish law view observance of the law as a medium of relationship with Gd. A holistic reading of Jewish law prohibits modern factory farming practices. My decision to abstain from the consumption of animal products is an expression of my adherence to Jewish law, and it expresses my disapproval and disdain for the cruel practices of the industry.
When we are children, we are taught to trust the police, the judicial system, and the government. Only with intellectual maturity do we understand that corruption makes these institutions imperfect. Similarly, we trust that Westernized governments have adequate laws and law enforcement to protect animals from painful abuses. As children we grow up with images of pastoral farms and happy animals and caring stewards. Intellectual maturity, that is, the critical thinking to which I referred earlier, should dispel our beliefs that societal rules protect animals from torturous conditions. Mounds of evidence prove that both the government and the food industry, and even Jewish leadership, have betrayed our trust in the prevention of animal cruelty and suffering.
Judaism does not make the claim of moral superiority; rather, it makes the demand for responsibility of actions. Judaism starts from a place of concern for justice and tries to protect all members of community, both local and global, from abuses of power and privilege. Thus, Judaism's critique of a social system that fails to protect all of its inhabitants is that the system needs repair. Importantly, within Judaism there is a self-correcting mechanism for its own failures. This mechanism depends on its members voicing concern and condemnation at a societal leadership that fails them. The decision not to oppose the systemic animal abuse in the food industry is to condone this abuse – and, it is the wrong decision for the serious Jew and the compassionate person. As Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel writes, "The mission of the Jewish people has never been to make the world more Jewish, but to make it more human."
Rabbi Adam Frank received rabbinic ordination from the Conservative Movement’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, where he also earned an MA in Jewish Studies. He is spiritual leader of Congregation Moreshet Yisrael in Jerusalem and teaches at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Adam is married to Lynne Weinstein and they have two children, Nadav and Ella, and Zoe.
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12. Animal Rights Groups Can Impact Congressional Debates
Animal-rights groups could impact upcoming debates
Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:35 am (PST)
WASHINGTON — Used to be that farmers only watched the debates over a farm bill to see how much money they would get out of it.
This year, some producers have reason to watch a little nervously. Flush with cash, animal-welfare groups will be pushing to use this year's farm bill to stop practices they consider inhumane.
Among the measures Congress is likely to take up:
# A requirement that the federal government, including the school lunch program, buy meat or dairy products from producers that meet certain animal-welfare standards, including adequate space in barns for hogs and poultry. Pork from producers who keep their sows in crates, the common practice in the industry, could no longer be sold to the government.
# A permanent ban on slaughtering "downer" cattle or hogs, animals that are lame or ill.
# A requirement that the U.S. Agriculture Department set standards for the humane slaughter of chickens and turkeys. Rules already in place set slaughter standards for cattle and hogs.
"We need to see the farm bill not just as a producer bill but as a producer bill and a consumer bill," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. "This is important to the public. The public cares about the humane treatment of animals."
A lot has happened since the last farm bill was written in 2002.
The Humane Society, now the most influential animal-rights group, has more than doubled its membership, merged with several smaller organizations and expanded its staff. Between 2002 and 2005, the
organization's annual revenue jumped from $76 million to $141 million.
The group also formed a new political arm that was used to target campaign spending against several key lawmakers in last fall's election.
full story
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13. Looking For a Special Passover Seder Plate?
Forwarded message from Suzanne Herzberg suzanne.herzberg@verizon.net:
Richard,
Zel and Reuben Allen forwarded me your e-mail address as someone who might have some ideas about spreading the word re: my vegetarian seder plate.
I designed and had the seder plate produced for my own purposes and would like to make it available to others.
You can view the seder plate at: http://www.vegetarianseder.com
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This vegetarian seder plate is the only one of its kind. Featuring a beet, instead of a shankbone, it provides the opportunity for vegetarians to celebrate Passover without leaving a blank space on their seder plates. The gorgeous photographic image seen here has been reproduced on tiles of Italian Botticino tumbled marble. Carved from large blocks, each tile contains the veining and texture that occur only in natural marble.
The seder plate comes with 5 small glass dishes to hold the seder items. A matching trivet is available, as well.
Vegetarian seder plate: $120.00
Free shipping and handling in the United States!
(Shipping to other countries available for an additional charge).
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17. More Re the Controversy Re Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses
From Kosher Nexus, the publication of the Union for Traditional Judaism
ME THINKS THEY DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH
General TopicsThe so called controversy caused by the Conservative movement's announcement that they were going to create a Tzedek Hechsher has been way out of proportion. What does it say about us as Jews that we issue a huge "shrei" of "gevalt" at the thought that some agency might be looking over our collective shoulder at our moral practices?
Here is an article from this week's Kosher Today. Our comments will follow"
“Tzedek Hechsher” Not a Kosher Issue, Many Rabbis Assert
New York… Reacting to an article in the weekly Forward, “Orthodox Slam Effort To Monitor Conditions at Kosher Factories” (February 9, 2007), many rabbis reached by KosherToday did not consider the new proposed Conservative “Tzedek Hekhsher” to be an issue for kashrus. The Forward piece turned the issue of a proposed new certification on the basis of social issues to be the latest spat between Conservative and Orthodox rabbis. But even the Conservatives said that their proposed new hechsher would not deal with kashrus but rather with working conditions at plants producing kosher. The Conservative position followed an earlier article in the Forward that reported on alleged unsafe working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, a fact that was later disputed by Rabbi Asher Zeilingold of Minneapolis who traveled to the plant with a Spanish speaking congregant of his. Rabbi Zeilingold certifies the non-glatt kosher meats at the plant.
"It's not that we don't care about those issues, but we rely on the federal government," said Rabbi Menachem Genack, who heads the kashrus division at the Orthodox Union (OU). He noted that agencies such as the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety & Health Administration already keep watch on workers' pay and working conditions. “We don't want to impose more on those companies than is required by law," Genack said. Other rabbis also saw the new certification as more of an oversight on the already considerable protection offered to workers by government.
Many of the kashrus officials felt that a new certification that broadened the definition of kashrus would only lead to more confusion in the marketplace. Rabbi Yosef Wikler, publisher of Kashrus Magazine, told KosherToday that the Tzedek Hekhsher “has nothing to do with kosher certification and standards,” which is why he would not include the certification on his widely heralded annual list of kosher symbols and certification that numbered nearly 750 in 2006. Rabbi Wikler, who lists Conservative and Reform certifications on his list, agreed that the Tzedek Hekhsher would only lead to more confusion for consumers. One rabbi complimented the concern of the Conservatives but suggested that they “first should have visited non-kosher plants “which are basically no different than kosher ones” and in any event should be issuing their hekhsher for any Jewish businessman who employs workers, and not just a meat plant in Iowa.”
Ok, let's get this out of the way first: The Tzedek Hechsher is not a kosher certification. We get it. But it is a certification that workers are treated in a way consistent with halacha. It addresses the issue of proper working conditions. So what could be bad? Maybe they should have called it a Tzedek Certification and not a hechsher. In fact, upon reflection, we agree that calling it a hechsher will confuse people, but that in no way obviates the need for our community to improve itself in the realm of bein adam l'adam (between man and man).
We are not happy about the response from Rabbi Genack (of the OU). First of all, when halacha has a higher standard than Federal regs, halacha must be served! Second, what is so terrible about demanding that Jewish owned businesses operate on a higher moral level?
As for Rabbi Wikler's comments, what can we say? Yes, he is technically correct. However, he could have suggested a different name for the idea (as we did above) and indicated his support for a proposal to bring another spot light on practices that might not be shining examples of halachic and moral integrity.
The anonymous rabbi quoted at the end of the Kosher Today story is on to something. We agree- the people on the Tzedek commission should indeed visit other kinds of plants, too. What goes on in other plants? And they certainly should not restrict themselves to the meat business- all Jewish businesses should be run in an ethical manner. After all, no one complains when certain segments of our community assert that a business is "heimishe," implying a certain level of religious comittment and practice on the part of the owners.
Finally, we have to ask: why all the "shrei-ing?" Why is this not being welcomed? After all, who can be opposed to a righteousness rating? Hmm, could it be that "they" (who ever they are) are afraid of something?
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This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Press Release About the JVNA Movie
2. Chance to Do Three Positives Through One Act
3. Great Global Warming Web Site
4. Roberta Kalechofsky to Speak at NYU on “Inadmissible Comparisons”
5. Rabbi’s Article on Vegetarianism/My Comments After the Article
6. More Suggestions Re a Vegetarian Slogan
7. Another Great Article Re Diet and Global Climate Change
8. Summary of Recent Global Warming Reports
9. Israeli Vegetarian Rabbi Connects Judaism and Veganism
12. Animal Rights Groups Can Impact Congressional Debates
13. Looking For a Special Passover Seder Plate?
17. More Re the Controversy Re Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses
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, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observance, 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. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Press Release About the JVNA Movie
PRESS RELEASE
[Suggestions very welcome. Please help spread the message in the press release about the movie. Thanks.]
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Richard H. Schwartz, President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
President@JewishVeg.com
718-761-5876 Cell: (917) 576-0344
Vegetarian group and award-winning filmmaker team up for film on healing the planet, Jewish-style
February 20, 2007 (New York) Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) is collaborating with multi-award winning filmmaker Lionel Friedberg to produce a documentary on how Jewish religious teachings can promote a healthier, more humane and sustainable world.
'A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World' [working title]
makes a very strong case for vegetarianism from a Jewish perspective as a major component of efforts to reduce diseases and to move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path," said Richard Schwartz, President of JVNA. "By dramatically showing that animal-based diets and agriculture violate basic Jewish mandates to preserve our health and the environment, treat animals with compassion and feed the hungry, we hope to push some hot buttons - including meat-eating's contribution to global warming - to persuade Jews and people of all faiths to choose a more compassionate and sustainable diet."
JVNA will distribute the film free of charge to religious groups, educational institutions, the media and others to get the movie's important message to the widest possible audience.
'A Sacred Duty' will remind Jews that it is our responsibility to apply the teachings of the Torah to how we obtain our food, tap into the resources of the environment, and live among the many creatures that God created alongside us," said Friedberg. "Since this is really a universal duty for all human beings, 'A Sacred Duty' will challenge and inspire non-Jews as well."
With the film near final production, JVNA - a registered charity - is raising funds from private donors to complete and distribute the film. "We're almost there," said Schwartz, "but we need to raise another $45,000."
"A Sacred Duty" includes interviews with leading environmentalists, health professionals, vegetarians and animal rights activists in the United States and Israel.
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Much more information about the movie is below.
Among the many interview subjects in the movie are:
Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen -- Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa
Rabbi David Rosen -- Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and President of IJCIC (the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, that represents world Jewry to other world Religions.)
Rabbi David Golinkin - President of the Schechter Institute in
Jerusalem
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom - A Breslov Chassid and author
Jonathan Wolf - Founder and first president of Jewish Vegetarians of
North America (JVNA)
Roberta Kalechofsky - Founder and director of Jews for Animal
Rights (JAR) and Micah Publications; author, editor and
publisher.
Nina Natelson - Founder and director of Concern for Helping
Animals in Israel (CHAI)
Richard H. Schwartz - Author of “Judaism and Vegetarianism' and
president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
Rabbi Michael Cohen - Director of the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA)
and a teacher at the Arava Institute in Israel
Rabbi Adam Frank - Rabbi of the largest Conservative synagogue in
Israel
Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D. - A leading author and physician who
specializes in natural healing
Israeli Environmentalists
Alon Tal - Leading Israeli environmentalist; founder of the Israel
Union for Environmental defense: author of “Pollution in a
Promised Land.
Jeremy Benstein - Co-founder and co-director of the Heschel Center for
Environmental Studies in Tel Aviv
Gidon Bromberg - Director of Jerusalem branch of Friends of the Earth/Middle East
Raanan Boral - Environmental expert for the Society of Protection of
Nature in Israel (SPNI)
Michelle Levine - Public relations person for SPNI
Yael Cohen Paran - A leader of Green Course, an Israeli student-based environmental group.
Jewish and Muslim (Jordanian and Palestinian) students at the Arava Institue for Environmental Studies were also interviewed, to help show the importance of multilateral efforts to solve Israel’s environmental problems..
Unlike many documentaries, “A Sacred Duty” will not be just a series of talking heads. Friedberg has videotaped much background material in both the United States and Israel, and he has received additional background material from many sources. This rich visual content will enliven the interviews and make for a compelling film.
While all the arguments for vegetarianism are fully presented, “A Sacred Duty” includes especially extensive coverage of the mistreatment of animals on factory farms, thanks to the powerful footage provided to us by animal rights groups. Again, these are "buttons" that can transform (and save) lives.
Although it is primarily intended for a Jewish audience, “A Sacred Duty” speaks to people everywhere about the ethics of our relationship to the natural world in which we live. The movie's universal message will appeal to anyone interested in such topics as vegetarianism, the environment, health, nutrition, hunger and resource usage, as well as Judaism and Israel.
The movie spells out how contemporary diets, lifestyles and agricultural practices are playing havoc with the environment, contributing to problems like global warming, endangering human health, and adversely affecting the myriad creatures that share our planet. Needless to say, this is a subject that resonates with many, many people today.
As a model of what is wrong with planet Earth due to human activities, A Sacred Duty hones in on the land of the Bible, on Eretz Yisrael itself. Israel is fraught with environmental problems that never make the headlines. Rivers are dirty; the Dead Sea is drying up; air pollution in metropolitan areas kill thousands every year. There is progress in these fields, but that too never makes the headlines. The movie will shed light on many of these issues while considering the environmental threats faced by the planet as a whole. Again, there is much interest by Jews and non-Jews alike in "the Holy Land" and its future.
JVNA president Richard Schwartz stated: “Recent reports about the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other groups and additional reports from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on the major contributions that 'livestock' agriculture has on global warming and other environmental threats demonstrate the great importance of the movie. Regrettably, in spite of the severity of the global environmental crisis and Judaism's powerful teachings on environmental stewardship, the Jewish establishment largely continues to ignore the issue. 'A Sacred Duty' aims to help end this state of denial.”
There are many quotations in the movie from the Torah and other Jewish sacred texts, including the Talmud, since these texts are full of lessons and laws prescribing how we should live mercifully, efficiently, compassionately, and remain responsible custodians of this magnificent, yet highly imperiled world that God has bequeathed to us.
Though powerful and challenging, “A Sacred Duty” does not issue decrees or lecture its audience. It offers information on a wide variety of sensitive issues and food for thought. The net effect is a very positive message for all age groups.
For more information about the movie, including donation opportunities, contact Schwartz at President@JewishVeg.com.
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SNIP [If interested in Lionel Friedberg’s bio, awards and letters of recommendation, please let me know. These were presented in several previous newsletters and other messages.]
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2. Chance to Do Three Positives Through One Act
By making a tax deductible donation toward our movie, you can:
1. perform the important mitzvah of giving tzedakah (charity);
2. play an important role in helping move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path;
3. provide yourself with a good response when your children and grandchildren ask what you did to try to prevent a catastrophe from global warming and other current environmental threats. In view of the very dire predictions of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and similar reports, and projections by some climate scientists of a possible “tipping point” when global warming spirals out of control in a decade unless major changes are soon made, can we continue with “business as usual” at this time?
Tax deductible donations to JVNA can be made by credit card via Paypal at the bottom of http://JewishVeg.com/action, or by sending a check made out to Jewish Vegetarians of North America or JVNA to our treasurer:
Israel Mossman
6938 Reliance Road
Federalsburg, MD 21632
Thanks.
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3. Great Global Warming Web Site
Here's what Farm USA has on their website re global warming http://www.farmusa.org/environment/
There is much valuable information that can be very helpful for letters to editors, articles and talking points.
Congratulations Alex Hershaft and everyone at FARM.
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4. Roberta Kalechofsky to Speak at NYU on “Inadmissible Comparisons”
Forwarded message from Roberta:
On March 24-25, Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D. will give a talk on the inappropriate comparison between animal suffering and the Holocaust at the conference at the NYU Law school on "Inadmissible Comparisons." The conference will be held at Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, Rm. 210.
This conference arose out Ms. Kalechofsky's objection to PETA's exhibit, Holocaust on Your Plate," about which she wrote a short book, "Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem With Comparisons." She has been asked to be a participant in this conference and to defend her position. Below is a short abstract of her talk and a short autobiography. If you wish more information about this conference, inquire from karen@upc-online.org
If you wish more information about Ms. Kalechofsky's part in this conference, email micah@micahbooks.com.
Below is a brief abstract ;
Talk for Conference on Inadmissible Comparisons
Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D.
Title: Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem with Comparisons
Comparisons can be made among any thing or event, nails and screws, horses and zebras, but comparisons should be appropriate to scale, cause, and consequences.
The roots of the Holocaust lay in the Christian doctrine of the deicide charge. Hitler’s purpose was the extermination of every Jew. He considered his mission historical, but the consequence of his policy has been intense religious reflection by Christians of Christianity’s role in the Holocaust.
Animal suffering is horrific, but its causes and consequences share little with the Holocaust.
Roberta Kalechofsky is the author of seven works of fiction, a monograph on George Orwell, poetry and two collections of essays. She was the recipient of Literary Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and some of her fiction has been published in Italy.
She has been an animal rights activist for twenty-five years, and runs Micah Publications which publishes vegetarian and animal rights books, in addition to fiction and poetry. Her publications can be viewed at www.micahbooks.com
Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D., fiction writer, speaker, essayist, publisher. Micah Publications (www.micahbooks.com) is the source for Jewish vegetarian and animal rights books. See website for these and other titles.
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5. Rabbi’s Article on Vegetarianism/My Comments After the Article
Carbs
by Professor Benjamin Blech
Millions of Americans are embracing the dietary laws.
Okay, maybe not the same dietary laws found in the Bible, but the eating habits of the whole country have changed almost overnight. Forget Pepsi, we’re the No-Carb Generation. Stick to the meat part of meat-and-potatoes, and you’re golden. Have steak every day, even for breakfast if you’re so inclined, and America’s most popular diet promises you’ll live close to the proverbial 120. Dr. Atkins spread the gospel: Thou shalt not eat carbs.
Beef prices have skyrocketed, so that non-Jewish consumers are starting to pay the kind of money for meat that used to distinguish Kosher food. This is the Wimpy Age—Popeye’s friend Wimpy, that is—the meat-crazed mooch who famously offered to “pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Vegetarians, obviously, aren’t very happy with this trend. (A clever ad for one prominent chain of steakhouses used to boast, “Horrifying Vegetarians Since 19__.”) Many vegetarians believe that it is a sin to take an animal’s life in order to lengthen our own. All of G-d’s creatures, they contend, have the same right to live out their years. A noble thought, ethically motivated, and yet—supremely un-Jewish!
Jews do eat meat. In fact, the Talmud teaches, that’s what transforms an ordinary meal into a Sabbath or holiday feast. Simchah, true joy, can be attained only with bassar v’yayin, meat and wine. Animals, says the Midrash, were created before Adam so that they would be available for his table, just as a king prepares food in advance for his most favored guest.
The eating habits of the whole country have changed almost overnight. Forget Pepsi, we’re the No-Carb Generation. But before you tear into that rib-eye, there’s something else you should know. Judaism agrees with the meat of the vegetarian argument: Life, whether human or animal, shouldn’t be taken lightly; we don’t have the right to kill other life forms simply because we have the power to do so.
Perhaps the most profound dietary law is one that’s relatively unknown. In fact, if it were put into practice it’s quite conceivable that a lot of us would no longer know the delight of devouring a steak or polishing off a couple of burgers. You see, Judaism doesn’t really give us carte blanche to kill animals for food. It allows us to eat meat only on one condition: that the animal whose life is taken serves to feed someone whose life has more meaning than simple bestial existence.
“Am ha’aretz assur le’echol bassar.” A boor, whose life is devoid of Torah, is forbidden to eat meat! That’s the Talmud’s conclusion based on a simple equation: For any life ended to support another, there must be a qualitative difference between the life that is taken and the life that will be sustained. Animals live, as Sigmund Freud put it, to get and to beget. They eat and they procreate. They simply exist. Human beings are meant to strive for more. Our years are supposed to be imbued with a spiritual quest for holiness. Life is not merely getting and begetting, but being and becoming. Created in the image of G-d, we have an obligation to imitate our Divine Maker. It is only our efforts in pursuit of this goal that permit us to turn animal flesh into the food that fuels us.
This adds a whole new dimension to the Atkins Diet. Piling on meat may keep you thin—but it might be a sin. It all depends on whether you deserve the meat.
So here’s the new diet plan that gives equal weight (no pun intended) to both your body’s need to be slim and your soul’s longing for spiritual fulfillment: Live your life with the constant awareness that you are meant to be much more than an animal, and in that way you’ll earn the right to enjoy as many prime cuts of meat as your heart desires.
Republished with permission from www.chabadstanford.org.
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Editor’s comments:
This article shows why it is so important to have a respectful dialogue. Like many other articles (and talks) of this type, the author fails to address many issues, Including:
* the very negative effects of animal-based diets on human health;
* the major contributions of animal-based agriculture to global climate change and many other environmental problems;
* the fact that the production and consumption of meat and other animal products contradict basic Jewish teachings on treating animals with compassion, preserving human health, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, helping hungry people and pursuing peace and justice.
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6. More Suggestions Re a Vegetarian Slogan
a. From JVNA advisor Rabbi Hillel Norry:
slogan suggestions:
Pass the flame not the meat.
Eatin' eden.
Eden was a garden, not a slaughter house.
"Thou shalt eat your veggies!" God.
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b. Long-time vegetarian activist Patti Breitman suggestion:
Eat Plants, not Meat
Comments on these suggestions and further suggestions are very welcome. Thanks.
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7. Another Great Article Re Diet and Global Climate Change Connections
A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths'
February 2, 2007
The Huffington Post
Kathy Freston
02.02.2007
The report released today by the world's leading climate scientists made no bones about it: global warming is happening in a big way and it is very likely man-made. So, if we are indeed the bulk of the problem, we ought to step up and start doing things differently. Now.
My last post ("Vegetarian Is the New Prius") got a lot of traction, and I think it's because there is a realization that being "part of the solution" can be a whole lot simpler -and cheaper - than going out and buying a new car.
We can make a huge difference in the environment by eating a plant based diet instead of an animal based one. Factory farming pollutes our air and water, reduces the rainforests, and goes a long way to create global warming. And although the vast majority of responses to the piece were positive, there were some environmentalists for whom the idea of giving up those chicken nuggets was impossible to swallow.
My favorite movie of last year was Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize!), but I have to admit that when I speak with environmentalists about the obvious waste and pollution involved in the totally unnecessary activity of meat consumption, I feel a lot like Mr. Gore trying to convince the U.S. Congress to take the issue of global warming seriously during his first term in the Congress. I thought I might discuss a few of the key concerns that were posted to the blog and that my meat-eating friends offer in defense of their continued meat consumption. So here we go:
Some were worried about thriving, physically, on a vegetarian diet.
Now this just does not make sense. Half of all Americans die of heart disease or cancer and two-thirds of us are overweight. The American Dietetic Association says that vegetarians have "lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; ... lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer." Vegetarians, on average, are about one-third as likely to be overweight as meat-eaters.
And I've just learned from the brilliant Dr. Andrew Weil that there is something called arachidonic acid, or AA, in animal flesh which causes inflammation. AA is a pro-inflammatory fatty acid. He explains that "heart disease and Alzheimer's - among many other diseases - begin as inflammatory processes. The same hormonal imbalance that increases inflammation increases cell proliferation and the risk of malignant transformation." They are finding out that inflammation is key in so many of the diseases that plague us. So when you eat meat, you ingest AA, which causes inflammation, which fires up the disease process. It doesn't matter if the chicken is free range or the beef is grass-fed because the fatty acid is natural and inherent in the meat.
As for having strength and energy on a vegetarian diet, some of the world's top athletes are vegetarian. A few examples: Carl Lewis (perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time), Robert Parish (one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History"), Desmond Howard (Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl MVP), Bill Pearl (professional bodybuilder and four-time "Mr. Universe"), Jack La Lanne (Mr. Fitness himself) and Chris Evert (tennis champion). Vegetarian athletes have the advantage of getting all the plant protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber they need without all the artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated animal fats found in meat that would slow them down. In fact, Carl Lewis says that "my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet."
One response pointed out that the rain forest is being cut down to grow soy, not meat.
Actually, much of the rain forest is being chopped down for grazing, but also yes, the rain forest is being chopped down to grow soy--but not for human consumption. Americans and Europeans can't raise all the feed domestically that is needed to sustain their meat addictions, so agribusiness has started cutting down the rain forest. Ask Greenpeace or any other environmental group and they'll tell you that the overwhelming majority of soy (or corn or wheat, for that matter) is used to feed animals in factory farms. In fact, Greenpeace recently unveiled a massive banner over an Amazon soy field that read, "KFC-Amazon Criminal," to accentuate the point that large chicken and other meat companies like KFC are responsible for the destruction of the Amazon. It takes many pounds of soy or other plant foods to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh--so if you're worried about the rain forests being chopped down for grazing or to grow soy, your best move is to stop eating chickens, pigs, and other animals. If more people went vegetarian, we would need far less land to feed people, and we wouldn't have to destroy the few natural places that this world has left.
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8. Summary of Recent Global Warming Reports
Food for Thought on Global Warming
Despite the wave of frigid air that swept in with the new year, 2006 was the warmest year on record in the United States. The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scien tific panel that met recently to discuss global warming, reported that climate change is "very likely" caused by human activities, including burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.
The IPCC predicts that temperatures might increase by as much as 7.2°F and sea levels may rise by 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century.
It's a stark message. We've obviously messed up our planet:¯scientists foresee floods, melting ice caps, devastating droughts, and stronger hurricanes and tropical storms. Wildlife will struggle to survive. It's not something to be proud of. But then, just when it seems like the best option would be to leap off the nearest melting iceberg, the panel reassures us that global warming could be substantially blunted if people would take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gases.
Here's what they didn't explain: Switching to a vegan diet is a simple, effective way to shrink greenhouse gas emissions
The digestive processes of the billions of animals raised to become sandwiches and snacks each year, as well as the 87,000 pounds
A November 2006 report published by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions¯18 percent¯than transportation. The FAO also reported that the livestock industry is responsible for 37 percent of anthropogenic (generated by human activity) methane and 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, both of which have a higher "global warming potential" than carbon dioxide. The FAO also blamed the livestock sector for heavy deforestation, and according to the World Resources Institute
The FAO report http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/06/060413.diet.shtml
followed an April 2006 study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, who compared the amount of fossil fuel necessary to produce various foods, taking into account the fuel needed to run machinery, provide food for animals and irrigate crops. They found that the typical U.S. meat-eater is responsible for nearly 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan (pure vegetarian), simply because of the difference in food choices. An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report
What is the "payoff" for polluting the planet and using fossil fuels like there's no tomorrow? Greasy chicken nuggets and hamburgers. In other words, cholesterol medication, doctor visits and Weight Watchers meetings.
I may not be a scientist, but I think the answer is obvious: Having meat to eat is not worth changing the world's climate, killing animals¯both pigs and polar bears¯and ourselves.
Check out PETA's 30-day VegPledge, with recipes and transitional information, at www.GoVeg.com.
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9. Israeli Vegetarian Rabbi Connects Judaism and Veganism
What's Jewish about a Vegan Diet?
By Rabbi Adam Frank
[Rabbi Frank is a JVNA advisor and spiritual leader of the largest Conservative synagogue in Israel. He participated in many of my lecture tour events several years ago, by showing videos about and discussing the mistreatment of animals in Israel.]
Again I was asked:
"Rabbi, why are you vegan (abstinence from eating foods that contain animal products)?"
I grew up non-religious, but I had a strong Jewish identity founded on an appreciation for the dignified history of our people and for the religion's value-driven contributions to humanity. Long before my acquisition of a serious Jewish education, I took great comfort and pride in the knowledge that Judaism pioneered the idea of respectful responsibility of interaction between humans and the animal world. At an early age I was taught that the laws of Jewish slaughter reflect the concern for minimizing an animal's pain at the end of life. In my adult studies toward rabbinic ordination, the Jewish texts and sources affirmed the teachings of my childhood. Then, BAM!!! In 2003, the realities of the entire food industry hit me like as closed fist.
Two years ago, I attended my first animal rights conference. Like the seeming majority of Americans, I considered myself an animal lover. This conference was the single most sobering and important wake-up-call to my nearsighted understanding of what it means to have concern for animals. My eyes and mind were exposed to the realities of modern animal husbandry, and I received an invaluable education. As a Jew, I was particularly impacted by my evaluation that the treatment of animals to fulfill human food desires is an appalling violation of the Jewish law prohibiting the unnecessary infliction of pain on an animal. Additionally, though the animal rights industry is disproportionately represented by a large number of Jewish activists, with the exception of one speaker I was the only observant Jew participating in the conference.
At the conference, I was able to meet with folks who were at one time on the front lines of animal agriculture. That is, many animal welfare activists are people who previously worked in the animal-food based industry and whose experiences led them to work to alleviate/eliminate the abuses they witnessed. These abuses are documented by hours of films, scientific data and research, and hundreds of testimonials. Critical thinking can help the reader better understand the issues: in the U.S., over 9 billion animals are killed each year for our food supply – the number equates to over 25 million animals a day. It is not possible to breed, raise, handle, transport and slaughter this number of animals in a non-abusive way. Cruelty to animals is the industrial norm and not the exception.
How was I to reconcile Jewish teachings of human responsibility toward animals with the reality of modern factory farming? As an observant Jew, I believe that Jewish law which governs Jewish life is intended to shape a character of sensitivity, kindness, passion and compassion. Not only does my observance of Jewish law craft my character, it constructs my vehicle of relationship with Gd. To ignore the religiously unlawful atrocities inflicted by humans onto the co-inhabitant animals of the world would be devastating to the integrity with which I approach my observance of Jewish obligations. It would also taint the relationship of sincerity that I desire to have with Gd.
The wealth of knowledge we have about the realities of modern animal husbandry forces the critically-thinking, compassionate person to conclude that modern society's appetite for personal pleasures and comforts through food comes at the expense of a voiceless other, namely the animals. As a Jew who has spent years learning Jewish sources that indicate that part of the mission of an ethical, value driven society is to protect its weakest members, the decision to abstain from foods directly related to animal abuse is a mandate.
I do not want to be misunderstood: Jewish teachings affirm that humans have the privilege to use animals for our needs. Alas, were it not for the utilization of animals as instruments of labor communities could not have developed and succeeded as they did before the advent of fuel-driven machines. However, Judaism also legislates that human use of animals must be done with a concern for the animals' physical welfare and dignity. To be clear: we humans are permitted to use animals for our needs only in concert with adherence of concern for animal suffering. It must be pointed out that the end user of a product knowingly derived by cruel means is a participant in the cruelty.
I will use a pronounced example to illustrate the point. It is unlawful to poach the elephant. For years elephants were hunted and killed for the sole purpose of harvesting the ivory of their tusks. Today, the illegal poaching of elephants still occurs. Not only are the elephant poachers criminals, but those who purchase the ivory of the hunted elephants have also committed a crime. Were there no consumer willing to buy the tusks, there would be no incentive for the hunters to poach elephants.
Modern societies permit atrocious living conditions and heinous mistreatment of animals for the food industry. The reasons for this abuse are economic – produce vast quantities of product at the least possible expense. Modern, secular thinking allows for sentient creatures to be treated like inanimate objects, but Jewish tradition which expresses the concepts of humility and responsible stewardship does not. Unarguably, Jewish law legislates human interaction with animals. Unarguably, adherents to Jewish law view observance of the law as a medium of relationship with Gd. A holistic reading of Jewish law prohibits modern factory farming practices. My decision to abstain from the consumption of animal products is an expression of my adherence to Jewish law, and it expresses my disapproval and disdain for the cruel practices of the industry.
When we are children, we are taught to trust the police, the judicial system, and the government. Only with intellectual maturity do we understand that corruption makes these institutions imperfect. Similarly, we trust that Westernized governments have adequate laws and law enforcement to protect animals from painful abuses. As children we grow up with images of pastoral farms and happy animals and caring stewards. Intellectual maturity, that is, the critical thinking to which I referred earlier, should dispel our beliefs that societal rules protect animals from torturous conditions. Mounds of evidence prove that both the government and the food industry, and even Jewish leadership, have betrayed our trust in the prevention of animal cruelty and suffering.
Judaism does not make the claim of moral superiority; rather, it makes the demand for responsibility of actions. Judaism starts from a place of concern for justice and tries to protect all members of community, both local and global, from abuses of power and privilege. Thus, Judaism's critique of a social system that fails to protect all of its inhabitants is that the system needs repair. Importantly, within Judaism there is a self-correcting mechanism for its own failures. This mechanism depends on its members voicing concern and condemnation at a societal leadership that fails them. The decision not to oppose the systemic animal abuse in the food industry is to condone this abuse – and, it is the wrong decision for the serious Jew and the compassionate person. As Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel writes, "The mission of the Jewish people has never been to make the world more Jewish, but to make it more human."
Rabbi Adam Frank received rabbinic ordination from the Conservative Movement’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, where he also earned an MA in Jewish Studies. He is spiritual leader of Congregation Moreshet Yisrael in Jerusalem and teaches at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Adam is married to Lynne Weinstein and they have two children, Nadav and Ella, and Zoe.
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12. Animal Rights Groups Can Impact Congressional Debates
Animal-rights groups could impact upcoming debates
Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:35 am (PST)
WASHINGTON — Used to be that farmers only watched the debates over a farm bill to see how much money they would get out of it.
This year, some producers have reason to watch a little nervously. Flush with cash, animal-welfare groups will be pushing to use this year's farm bill to stop practices they consider inhumane.
Among the measures Congress is likely to take up:
# A requirement that the federal government, including the school lunch program, buy meat or dairy products from producers that meet certain animal-welfare standards, including adequate space in barns for hogs and poultry. Pork from producers who keep their sows in crates, the common practice in the industry, could no longer be sold to the government.
# A permanent ban on slaughtering "downer" cattle or hogs, animals that are lame or ill.
# A requirement that the U.S. Agriculture Department set standards for the humane slaughter of chickens and turkeys. Rules already in place set slaughter standards for cattle and hogs.
"We need to see the farm bill not just as a producer bill but as a producer bill and a consumer bill," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. "This is important to the public. The public cares about the humane treatment of animals."
A lot has happened since the last farm bill was written in 2002.
The Humane Society, now the most influential animal-rights group, has more than doubled its membership, merged with several smaller organizations and expanded its staff. Between 2002 and 2005, the
organization's annual revenue jumped from $76 million to $141 million.
The group also formed a new political arm that was used to target campaign spending against several key lawmakers in last fall's election.
full story
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13. Looking For a Special Passover Seder Plate?
Forwarded message from Suzanne Herzberg suzanne.herzberg@verizon.net:
Richard,
Zel and Reuben Allen forwarded me your e-mail address as someone who might have some ideas about spreading the word re: my vegetarian seder plate.
I designed and had the seder plate produced for my own purposes and would like to make it available to others.
You can view the seder plate at: http://www.vegetarianseder.com
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This vegetarian seder plate is the only one of its kind. Featuring a beet, instead of a shankbone, it provides the opportunity for vegetarians to celebrate Passover without leaving a blank space on their seder plates. The gorgeous photographic image seen here has been reproduced on tiles of Italian Botticino tumbled marble. Carved from large blocks, each tile contains the veining and texture that occur only in natural marble.
The seder plate comes with 5 small glass dishes to hold the seder items. A matching trivet is available, as well.
Vegetarian seder plate: $120.00
Free shipping and handling in the United States!
(Shipping to other countries available for an additional charge).
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17. More Re the Controversy Re Working Conditions at Kosher Slaughterhouses
From Kosher Nexus, the publication of the Union for Traditional Judaism
ME THINKS THEY DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH
General TopicsThe so called controversy caused by the Conservative movement's announcement that they were going to create a Tzedek Hechsher has been way out of proportion. What does it say about us as Jews that we issue a huge "shrei" of "gevalt" at the thought that some agency might be looking over our collective shoulder at our moral practices?
Here is an article from this week's Kosher Today. Our comments will follow"
“Tzedek Hechsher” Not a Kosher Issue, Many Rabbis Assert
New York… Reacting to an article in the weekly Forward, “Orthodox Slam Effort To Monitor Conditions at Kosher Factories” (February 9, 2007), many rabbis reached by KosherToday did not consider the new proposed Conservative “Tzedek Hekhsher” to be an issue for kashrus. The Forward piece turned the issue of a proposed new certification on the basis of social issues to be the latest spat between Conservative and Orthodox rabbis. But even the Conservatives said that their proposed new hechsher would not deal with kashrus but rather with working conditions at plants producing kosher. The Conservative position followed an earlier article in the Forward that reported on alleged unsafe working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, a fact that was later disputed by Rabbi Asher Zeilingold of Minneapolis who traveled to the plant with a Spanish speaking congregant of his. Rabbi Zeilingold certifies the non-glatt kosher meats at the plant.
"It's not that we don't care about those issues, but we rely on the federal government," said Rabbi Menachem Genack, who heads the kashrus division at the Orthodox Union (OU). He noted that agencies such as the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety & Health Administration already keep watch on workers' pay and working conditions. “We don't want to impose more on those companies than is required by law," Genack said. Other rabbis also saw the new certification as more of an oversight on the already considerable protection offered to workers by government.
Many of the kashrus officials felt that a new certification that broadened the definition of kashrus would only lead to more confusion in the marketplace. Rabbi Yosef Wikler, publisher of Kashrus Magazine, told KosherToday that the Tzedek Hekhsher “has nothing to do with kosher certification and standards,” which is why he would not include the certification on his widely heralded annual list of kosher symbols and certification that numbered nearly 750 in 2006. Rabbi Wikler, who lists Conservative and Reform certifications on his list, agreed that the Tzedek Hekhsher would only lead to more confusion for consumers. One rabbi complimented the concern of the Conservatives but suggested that they “first should have visited non-kosher plants “which are basically no different than kosher ones” and in any event should be issuing their hekhsher for any Jewish businessman who employs workers, and not just a meat plant in Iowa.”
Ok, let's get this out of the way first: The Tzedek Hechsher is not a kosher certification. We get it. But it is a certification that workers are treated in a way consistent with halacha. It addresses the issue of proper working conditions. So what could be bad? Maybe they should have called it a Tzedek Certification and not a hechsher. In fact, upon reflection, we agree that calling it a hechsher will confuse people, but that in no way obviates the need for our community to improve itself in the realm of bein adam l'adam (between man and man).
We are not happy about the response from Rabbi Genack (of the OU). First of all, when halacha has a higher standard than Federal regs, halacha must be served! Second, what is so terrible about demanding that Jewish owned businesses operate on a higher moral level?
As for Rabbi Wikler's comments, what can we say? Yes, he is technically correct. However, he could have suggested a different name for the idea (as we did above) and indicated his support for a proposal to bring another spot light on practices that might not be shining examples of halachic and moral integrity.
The anonymous rabbi quoted at the end of the Kosher Today story is on to something. We agree- the people on the Tzedek commission should indeed visit other kinds of plants, too. What goes on in other plants? And they certainly should not restrict themselves to the meat business- all Jewish businesses should be run in an ethical manner. After all, no one complains when certain segments of our community assert that a business is "heimishe," implying a certain level of religious comittment and practice on the part of the owners.
Finally, we have to ask: why all the "shrei-ing?" Why is this not being welcomed? After all, who can be opposed to a righteousness rating? Hmm, could it be that "they" (who ever they are) are afraid of something?
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