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- A book to help unite all jews
Book review: Vegetarian Judaism. A guide for Everyone, by Roberta Kalechovsky
Roberta Kalechovsky is superbly knowledgeable about Judaism and about vegetarianism, and has written a valuable book combining this knowledge. The title suggests that vegetarianism is a lifestyle rather than just a diet, and the book supports this concept. Kashrut (observance of Jewish dietary laws) implies a commitment to mercy for animals destined for slaughter, and traditionally this has been the case. But in our era of factory farming it is no longer so, and Ms. Kalechovsky starts right out in her introduction by pointing out that all meat, whether kosher or not, comes from animals raised in the same exceedingly inhumane manner on factory farms. Cows destined for slaughter are hoisted by one leg (while still conscious in the case of those destined to be labeled Kosher) to await killing, chickens are crammed into tiny dark cages which drive them insane, and veal calves are confined for all of their short lives in miserable boxes where they wallow in their own excrement. She says: "The distinction between kosher and non-kosher meat is made at the ramp to the slaughtering house."
The bulk of this book is divided into chapters that deal with five important Jewish mandates: pikuach nefesh (to guard one's health), tsa'ar ba'alei chaim (to avoid causing pain to any living creature), bal tashchit (not to waste or destroy), tzedakah (to help the needy), and klal Israel (to work for the welfare of the Jewish people). The author points out that eating animal products today is diametrically opposed to these 5 mandates. It contributes directly to ill health, causes untold suffering to animals, is wasteful, takes food away from the earth's hungry, and is not in the best interests of the Jewish people. She expresses the opinion that vegetarianism for a Jew: "reaches back into the fundamentals of the Jewish religion" and offers the opinion that: "We do not judge the past in becoming vegetarians...we accept the imperatives of our generation, and seek a renewed covenant with the earth." Ms. Kalechovsky makes the observations that vegetarian food allows all Jews, observant or not, to eat together in community, and that it is such a great joy as to be entirely appropriate on a holiday or Sabbath table.
This book is practical as well as philosophical, and there is a chapter entitled: The Jewish Grandmothers' or Parent's Survival Guide to Vegetarianism. There is also a listing of Jewish vegetarian groups, a selection of recipes and an excellent bibliography. This book will be educational to Jews and non-Jews, vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and especially to those who observe kashrut, thinking that it is humane.
- A book to help unite all jewsBook review: Vegetarian Judaism. A guide for Everyone, by Roberta Kalechovsky
Roberta Kalechovsky is superbly knowledgeable about Judaism and about vegetarianism, and has written a valuable book combining this knowledge. The title suggests that vegetarianism is a lifestyle rather than just a diet, and the book supports this concept. Kashrut (observance of Jewish dietary laws) implies a commitment to mercy for animals destined for slaughter, and traditionally this has been the case. But in our era of factory farming it is no longer so, and Ms. Kalechovsky starts right out in her introduction by pointing out that all meat, whether kosher or not, comes from animals raised in the same exceedingly inhumane manner on factory farms. Cows destined for slaughter are hoisted by one leg (while still conscious in the case of those destined to be labeled Kosher) to await killing, chickens are crammed into tiny dark cages which drive them insane, and veal calves are confined for all of their short lives in miserable boxes where they wallow in their own excrement. She says: "The distinction between kosher and non-kosher meat is made at the ramp to the slaughtering house."
The bulk of this book is divided into chapters that deal with five important Jewish mandates: pikuach nefesh (to guard one's health), tsa'ar ba'alei chaim (to avoid causing pain to any living creature), bal tashchit (not to waste or destroy), tzedakah (to help the needy), and klal Israel (to work for the welfare of the Jewish people). The author points out that eating animal products today is diametrically opposed to these 5 mandates. It contributes directly to ill health, causes untold suffering to animals, is wasteful, takes food away from the earth's hungry, and is not in the best interests of the Jewish people. She expresses the opinion that vegetarianism for a Jew: "reaches back into the fundamentals of the Jewish religion" and offers the opinion that: "We do not judge the past in becoming vegetarians...we accept the imperatives of our generation, and seek a renewed covenant with the earth." Ms. Kalechovsky makes the observations that vegetarian food allows all Jews, observant or not, to eat together in community, and that it is such a great joy as to be entirely appropriate on a holiday or Sabbath table.
This book is practical as well as philosophical, and there is a chapter entitled: The Jewish Grandmothers' or Parent's Survival Guide to Vegetarianism. There is also a listing of Jewish vegetarian groups, a selection of recipes and an excellent bibliography. This book will be educational to Jews and non-Jews, vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and especially to those who observe kashrut, thinking that it is humane.
