Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism: Studies and New Directions

Description

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of veganism, vegetarianism, and meat avoidance among Jews, both historical and contemporary. Contents Illustrations Introduction: Considering Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism What’s Jewish About Veganism? What’s Vegan About Jewishness? Notes on Purpose and Scope Organization of the Book Studies New Directions Acknowledgments Notes Part One: Studies 1 The Slipperiness of Animal Suffering: Revisiting the Talmud’s Classic Treatment The Raccoon in the Kitchen Peter Singer and His Critics The Resting Donkey and the Exhausted Ox Lazy, Sick, and Elderly Donkey Drivers Rava’s Revolution The Talmud’s Testing Grounds Conclusions: Competing Concerns, Law and Ethics, Slippery Slopes Notes 2 Vegetarianism as Jewish Culture and Politics in Interwar Europe Vegetarianism and Jewishness in Vilna Communal Health in Unsanitary Conditions Interwar Poland and Anti-Kosher Laws Lewando‘s Cookbook and Ideals for a New Jewishness 4 Niemiecka Street Vegetarianism as Antifascism in Nazi Germany Jüdischer Frauenbund‘s Vegetarian Recipes CVZ‘s Vegetarian Recipes and Toni Benario‘s Nutrition Column Conclusion: Romanticizing Jewish Food in France Notes 3 “I am a Vegetarian”: The Vegetarianism of Melech Ravitch Biography I Am a Vegetarian: Ravitch’s First Twenty­Four Hours as a Vegetarian Ravitch and His Vegetarian Ideology Ravitch’s Vegetarian Poems Conclusion Notes 4 Farm Animal Welfare in Jewish Art and Literature Veganism: A New Trend? European Voices from the Past Contemporary Authors and Animal Welfare Paintings of Slaughtered Oxen Final Remarks and Acknowledgments Notes 5 Vegetarianism and Veganism among Jewish Punks Veganism among Punks Shared Values and Backgrounds between Jews and Punks Tikkun Olam Radicalism Individualism Questioning Examples from Punk Rock Musicians Prominent Punks Outspoken Vegetarian Jewish Punks References by Nonvegetarians Examples from the Food World Isa Chandra Moskowitz NewKosher Coda Notes 6 Opening the Tent: Jewish Veganism as an Expression of an Ecological Form of Judaism Jewish Identities Vegan Identities Jewish Vegan Identities Jewish Vegan Identity in Practice Conclusion Notes 7 A Linguistic Appraisal: Jewish Perceptions of Animal Suffering Data Collection and Methodology Results Concluding Remarks Appendix English Survey Hebrew Survey Notes Part Two: New Directions 8 Veganism and Covenantalism: Contrasting and Overlapping Moralities Defining Covenant Domestication Covenant in the Torah The Covenant of Israel and the Covenant of Blood The Covenantal Role of the Shepherd The Ecological Dimension Domesticated Animals versus Wild Animals The Prophets Rabbinic Teachings on Animals Medieval Philosophical Perspectives Kabbalah and the Souls of Animals Abraham Isaac Kook Bifurcating Moralities Veganism and Covenantalism: Transcending Dichotomy Notes 9 Musar and Jewish Veganism Divine Love for All Creatures and the Prohibition on Causing Suffering Emulating Noah’s Constant Concern Shepherds and the Power of Empathy Contemplating Midrash and Overcoming Rationalization Sharing the Burden of the Animal Self-Restraint before Pleasure Simchah Zissel’s Explorations of Vegetarianism Conclusions Notes 10 The Vegetarian Teachings of Rav Kook Kook’s Critique of Vegetarianism and Responses Rav Kook was not a Vegetarian. Rav Kook did not allow his son Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook to become a vegetarian, and even encouraged him to study ritual slaughter. Rav Kook considered vegetarianism to be an ideal for the messianic age, when people will have a heightened spiritual awareness, but he argued that vegetarianism should not be widely adopted as a norm for human conduct before that time. Rav Kook asserted that at present, other societal issues, such as the enmity between nations and racial discrimination, should be of greater moral concern to humanity than the well-being of animals. Hence, he advocated that people first work on such societal issues before improving the lives of animals. Rav Kook criticized people who promoted vegetarianism in his own day and in our imperfect world, fearing they might use vegetarianism as an excuse to not involve themselves in other important societal issues. Despite his strongly provegetarian stance, Rav Kook considered this diet to represent a spiritual rung that is presently too difficult for most human beings to attain. Rav Kook believed that when people take on austerities for which they are insufficiently prepared, their uncorrected evil traits will manifest themselves inevitably in other, possibly more harmful ways. He observed that a common psychological strategy for a corrupt person is to whitewash their self-image by finding an extremely idealistic cause to champion. He felt that these dangers apply to ethical vegetarianism. If the premature embrace of this lofty expression of compassion for animals should fail, he warned, it could lead to moral regression—even cannibalism. According to Rav Kook, because people had fallen to an extremely low spiritual level, it was necessary that they be given an elevated image of themselves in comparison to animals. He feared that vegetarians might forget their human superiority and come to think of themselves as beasts. Conclusion Notes 11 Relevant and Irrelevant Distinctions: Speciesism, Judaism, and Veganism Rabbi Albo’s Account of Cain’s Human Sacrifice of Abel Speciesism: A Primer The Divine Image, Souls, and Differences between Humans and Animals Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim: Limits and Reasons Assessment and Conclusions Notes 12 A Morally Generative Tension: Conflicting Jewish Commitments to Humans and Animals Modern Secular History Jewish Thought on Obligation Bible and Early Rabbinic Thought Anthropocentrism Reincarnation Partnership Conclusion Notes 13 Linking Judaism and Veganism in Darkness and in Light Darkness What Does It Mean to Be a Jew? Becoming “Animals” Becoming Jews From Darkness to Light: Kashrut Redeeming Kashrut Here’s Your Damned Meat Why Not Just Require It? Conclusion Notes 14 Jewish Veganism as an Embodied Practice: A Vegan Agenda for Cultural Jews The Crisis of Secular or Cultural Judaism Religious and Ethnic Judaism as Technologies of the Self Jewish Ethnic Self-Understanding and Practices The Rewards of Secular Jewish Veganism Veganism and Jewish Values The Reinvention of Tradition Jewish Veganism and Advocacy Vegan Advocacy and Israel Conclusion Notes Report: Jewish Vegan and Vegetarian Movements in North America A Brief History of the Jewish Veg Movement 1970s: The Beginning Publishing and Conferences The Eco-Jewish Value of Not Eating Meat: Teva Learning Center Twenty-First Century: Podcasts and a Documentary The First Professional Jewish Vegetarians The Role of Meat Reduction in Jewish Food and Farming Education New Jewish Animal Welfare Organizations Collaboration and Points of Tension Notes Afterword Notes Contributors Index