Vegetarianism is the wave of the future

Hi,

"It would be a desecration for this enslavement [of animals, in Bereishit 9:2-3] to be imprinted eternally upon the world of G-d, who is good to all and whose mercy is on all of His creations… Especially, when the Torah has already testified that there was a time when Mankind, as a whole, aspired to be elevated to this high ethical level."

(Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Chazon haTzimchonut v'haShalom, Paragraph 1)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Worry about relationships with people, first

Hi,

[The reference below to "hooves" refers to split hooves, a sign of a kosher animal. "Extending one's hooves" means to display a sign that one is 'kosher', or righteous. The text is talking about someone who becomes vegetarian out of sympathy for animals, but does not display similar sensitivity for human beings.]

"How absurd it would be, if while his impurity was in him he would extend his hooves and turn to this distant righteousness, being generous with animals as though he had already completed his accounts with human beings, created in the image set by G-d."

(Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace, Section 4)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

The right to eat animals

Hi,

"Moving, living spirits have a soul of some degree, in which regard they resemble thinking spirits. They can make choices to help themselves and to feed themselves, and they flee from pain and death… When they sinned, and all flesh warped its path on earth, it was decreed that the animals should die in the flood. For Noach's sake some of them were saved to maintain their species, and so Gd gave humanity permission to slaughter and eat animals; the animals were only maintained for Noach's sake."

(Ramban, Commentary to Bereishit 1:29)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Vegetarianism is better for you

Hi,

"Meat and wine, although nourishing and strengthening, certainly produce many illnesses from immersion in them. However, seeds are more simple, and therefore more healthy. Therefore, at the start of Creation, when people ate only plants and drank water, their lives were longer.

"When Noach came and meat was permitted, and he added drinking wine, their lives became shorter, to the boundary that exists today. This was certainly so when Daniel and his colleagues [Daniel 1] received Divine attention; due to their righteousness and propriety, and the piety of their request, Gd's pledge was fulfilled: 'You will serve HaShem your Gd and He will bless your bread and water, and I will remove illness from your midst.'"

(Don Isaac Abarbanel, Maayanei haYeshuah 5:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Are you worthy of eating meat?

Hi,

When Gd creates Adam and Chavah, He only permits them to eat that which grows from the ground. It is only after the Flood that Gd permits consumption of higher-order living things. The commentators offer various explanations for this change.

The following passage from the Talmud indicates that meat-eating is a privilege reserved for people who develop themselves spiritually:

"Rebbe said: A person who does not study Torah may not eat meat. It is written (Leviticus 11), 'This is the Torah of consuming animals and poultry,' showing that one who is involved in Torah is permitted to eat meat and poultry, but one who is not involved in Torah may not do so."

(Talmud, Pesachim 49b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai