Again, a vegetarian diet would provide enough for everyone's needs. With a meat-centered diet, the few eat more than they need, and many millions are malnourished.
(3) Enough was provided on Friday morning so that there was no need to gather manna on the Sabbath. The people were commanded to rest on the seventh day. (see Exodus 16:5, 22-30.)
With a vegetarian diet, people would not need to struggle continually for their means of subsistence. They would be able truly to rest, to have a peaceful Sabbath, knowing that their needs would be met and that there is no reason to struggle for necessities.
The people were not satisfied, however, with the simple diet of manna, which sustained them in the desert. The Children of Israel complained, "Would that we were given flesh to eat." (Num. 11:4) They said they remembered the fish and other good food that they believed they had had in Egypt, but now they had only manna to eat. The Lord was very angry and Moses was displeased. Finally, God provided meat in the form of quail, which were brought by a wind from the sea. While the flesh was in their mouths, before it was chewed, the anger of God was kindled against the people; He struck them with a great plague (Num. 11:4-33).
Note the following key points from a vegetarian point of view:
(1) God wanted the people to be sustained on manna; He was very angry when
they cried for flesh to eat.
(2) God did provide meat, but a plague broke out among the people. Perhaps this incident was designed to teach people that they should not eat meat, and if they did, it would have very negative consequences.
(3) The place where this incident occurred was named "The Graves of Lust,"
to indicate that the lust for flesh led to the many deaths (Num. 11:34). While the manna, their staple food in the desert, kept them in good health for forty years, many deaths occurred when they deviated from this simple diet.
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, animals could only be slaughtered and eaten as part of the sacrificial service in the sanctuary (Leviticus 17:3-5). The eating of "unconsecrated meat", meat from cattle slaughtered for private consumption was not permitted. Every meat meal therefore was an integral part of a sacrificial rite. Maimonides states that
the sacrifices were a concession to the primitive practices of the nations at that time. [22] The biblical sacrifices will be discussed in more detail later.
Finally God permitted people to eat meat even if it was not part of a sacrificial offering:
When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border as He hath promised thee, and thou shalt say: "I will eat flesh," because thy soul desireth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, after all the desire of thy soul. (Deut. 12:20)
This permitted meat was called b'sar ta'avah, "meat of lust," so named because, as the following rabbinic teachings indicate, meat is not considered a necessity for life. [23] The above verse does not command people to eat meat. Rabbinic tradition perceives it to indicate that it is people's desire to eat flesh and not God's edict that people do so. Even while arguing against vegetarianism as a moral cause, Rabbi Elijah Judah Schochet, author of Animal Life in Jewish Tradition, (1984), concedes that "Scripture does not command the Israelite to eat meat, but rather permits this diet as a concession to lust." [24] Similarly, another critic of vegetarian activism, Rabbi J. David Bleich, a noted modern Torah scholar and professor at Yeshiva University, concedes, "The implication is that meat may be consumed when there is desire and appetite for it as food, but may be eschewed when there is not desire and, a fortiori, when it is found to be repugnant." [25] In short, again according to Rabbi Bleich, "Jewish tradition does not command carnivorous behavior..." [26] Commenting on the above Torah verse (Deut. 12:20), modern Torah scholar and teacher Nehama Leibowitz points out how odd the dispensation is and how grudgingly permission to eat meat is granted. She concludes that people have not been granted dominion over the animal kingdom to do with them anything that we desire, but that we have been given a "barely tolerated dispensation", if we cannot resist temptation and must eat meat, to slaughter animals for our consumption. [27]
Rav Kook also regards the same Torah verse as clearly indicating that the Torah did not regard the slaughter of animals for human consumption as an ideal state of affairs. [28] Rabbi I. Hebenstreit points out that God did not want to give the Israelites who had left Egypt permission to return to a diet involving meat, due to the cruelty involved. However, the "mixed multitude" (other slaves who left Egypt with the Jews) lusted for meat and inculcated this desire among the Jewish people. Hence, God again reluctantly gave permission for the consumption of meat, but with many restrictions. [29] The negative connotation associated with the consumption of meat is indicated in the Talmud:
The Torah teaches a lesson in moral conduct, that man shall not eat meat unless he has a special craving for it...and shall eat it only occasionally and sparingly. [30]
The sages also felt that eating meat was not for everyone:
Only a scholar of Torah may eat meat, but one who is ignorant of Torah is forbidden to eat meat. [31]
Based on this prohibition, how many Jews today can consider themselves so scholarly as to be able to eat meat? Those who do diligently study the Torah and are aware of conditions related to the production and consumption of meat today would, I believe, come to conclusions similar to those in this article.
It should be noted that the above stricture reflected concern for the scrupulous observance of the many technicalities of the laws of kashrut. While there are few conditions on the consumption of vegetarian foods, only a
diligent Torah scholar can fathom the myriad regulations governing the eating of meat.
Rabbi Kook believes that the permission to eat meat "after all the desire of your soul" was a concealed reproach and a qualified command. [32] He states that a day will come when people will detest the eating of the flesh of animals because of a moral loathing, and then it shall be said that "because your soul does not long to eat meat, you will not eat meat." [33]
The Torah looks favorably on vegetarian foods. Flesh foods are often mentioned with distaste and are associated with lust (lack of control over one's appetite for meat). In the Song of Songs, the divine bounty is mentioned in terms of fruits, vegetables, vines, and nuts. There is no special b'racha (blessing) recited before eating meat or fish, as there is for other foods such as bread, cake, wine, fruits, and vegetables; the blessing for meat is a general one, the same as that over water or any other undifferentiated food.
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom, a modern Chassidic rebbe from Minnesota, states
that "concerning the priority given to blessings, meat is on the bottom of the hierarchy". He notes that on festivals and Sabbaths, wine comes first. Otherwise, bread comes first, and a blessing over bread covers all other foods except wine. If there is no bread, foods are blessed in the following order: (1) wine, (2) grains, (3) tree fruits, (4) vegetables, (5) all other foods, including fish, meats, etc. In other words, meat has the lowest priority in the b'racha system. Also, when bread is eaten a full bircat hamazon (blessing after meals) is to be recited. For the grains and fruits mentioned
in the Torah (the seven species), there is a shorter blessing recited after meals (al hamichya), but if only other foods such as meat or fish are eaten, only one sentence is to be recited afterwards (borei nefashot). Since, as our sages taught, words have replaced sacrifices today, flesh foods are least honored.
Typical of the Torah's positive depiction of non-flesh foods are the following:
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive- trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it... And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord thy God for the good land which He hath given thee. (Deut. 8:7-10)
I will give you the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou may gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil. (Deut. 11:14)
Among many similar statements by the prophets are:
I shall return my people from captivity, and they shall build up the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine from them, and they shall make gardens and eat the fruit from them, and I shall plant them upon their land. (Amos 9:14-15)
Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. (Jeremiah 29:5)
Along with permission to eat meat, many laws and restrictions (the laws
of kashrut) were given. Rabbi Kook believes that the reprimand implied by these regulations is an elaborate apparatus designed to keep alive a sense of reverence for life, with the aim of eventually leading people away from their meat-eating habit. [34]
This idea is echoed by Torah commentator Solomon Efraim Lunchitz, author
of K'lee Yakar:
What was the necessity for the entire procedure of ritual slaughter? For the sake of self-discipline. It is far more appropriate for man not to eat meat; only if he has a strong desire for meat does the Torah permit it, and even this only after the trouble and inconvenience necessary to satisfy his desire. Perhaps because of the bother and annoyance of the whole procedure, he will be restrained from such a strong and uncontrollable desire for meat. [35]
A similar statement was made by a modern rabbi, Pinchas Peli:
Accordingly, the laws of kashrut come to teach us that a Jew's first preference should be a vegetarian meal. If, however, one cannot control a craving for meat, it should be kosher meat, which would serve as a reminder that the animal being eaten is a creature of God, that the death of such a creature cannot be taken lightly, that hunting for sport is forbidden, that we cannot treat any living thing callously, and that we are responsible for what happens to other beings (human or animal) even if we did not personally come into contact with them. [36]
It was stated earlier that Joseph Albo taught that a reason for the original prohibition against eating meat was because, "in the killing of animals there is cruelty, rage, and the accustoming of oneself to the bad habit of shedding innocent blood . . ." Perhaps the laws of kashrut which limit the eating of meat can therefore be viewed as a path leading people back to the original, non-violent, vegetarian diet. For example, the 15th century Sephardic biblical commentator and leader, the Abarbanel, explains why kosher animals are limited to those that "dividest the hoof . . . and chewest the cud . . ." (Leviticus 11:3). In his commentary on this verse, the Abarbanel advanced his theory that animals that chew the cud are not capable of crushing and chewing up bones. Therefore, they feed on plants and do not have the ferocity of wild animals. Their split hooves are without claws so they are peaceful and relatively harmless. Limiting people to such animals means that
they avoid eating animals with a cruel and violent nature.
Rav Kook sees people's craving for meat as a manifestation of negative passions rather than an inherent need. He and Isaac Arama believe that in the days of the Messiah people will again be vegetarians. [37] He states that in the Messianic Epoch, "the effect of knowledge will spread even to animals...and sacrifices in the Temple will consist of vegetation, and it will be pleasing to God as in days of old..." [38] They base this on the prophecy of Isaiah:
And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them And the cow
and the bear shall feed; Their young ones shall lie down together, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
Rabbi Kook believes that the high moral level involved in the vegetarianism of the generations before Noah is a virtue of such great value that it cannot be lost forever. [39] In the future ideal state, just as at the initial period, people and animals will not eat flesh. [40] No one shall hurt nor destroy another living creature. People's lives will not be supported at the expense of the lives of animals.
Other prophetic visions that depict vegetarian diets for people include:
And it shall come to pass in that day that mountains shall drip sweet wine and the hills shall flow with milk. (Joel 4:18)
And the earth shall respond to the corn, the wine, and the oil. (Hosea 2:24)
In his booklet which summarizes many of Rav Kook's teachings, Joe Green, a recent Jewish vegetarian writer, concludes that Jewish religious ethical vegetarians are pioneers of the Messianic era; they are leading lives that make the coming of the Messiah more likely. [41]
Today most Jews eat meat, but the high ideal of God, the initial vegetarian dietary law, still stands supreme in the Torah for Jews and the whole world to see, an ultimate goal toward which all people should strive.
Notes
1. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:29. 2. Quoted in Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit (Genesis) (Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), 1976), p. 77. 3. Sanhedrin 59b. 4. Nachmanides, commentary on Genesis 1:29. 5. Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Vol. III., Chapter 15. 6. Rabbi J. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs (London: Soncino Press, 1958), p. 5; also see Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), p. 137 7. Maimonides, Moreh Nebuchim II, 47, cited by Nachmanides in his commentary on Genesis 5:4. Also see "Afikim Banegev," in HaPeles (Berlin), 1903-4 and "Tallelei Orot," in Takhkenwni (Berne), 1910, and Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), pp. 135-142. 8. Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 138. 9. From Rav Kook's Tallelei Orot (Dewdrops of Light), cited by Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 138. 10. Rabbi Samuel H. Dresner, The Jewish Dietary Laws, Their Meaning for Our Time (New York: Burning Bush Press,1959), pp. 21-25; Cassuto, commentary on Genesis 1:27. 11. Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit, p. 77. 12. Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Vol. III., Chapter 15. 13. Rabbi Isaak Hebenstreit, Graves of Lust (Hebrew), (Rzeszow, Poland, 1929), p. 6. 14. Samson Raphael Hirsch's commentary on Genesis 9:2. 15. Dresner, The Jewish Dietary Laws, p. 29. 16. Quoted by Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit, p. 77. 17. Rashi, based on Midrash Rabbah; also Baba Kamma 91b. 18. This speculation is considered by Pick,"The Source of Our Inspiration," p. 3. 19. See Rabbi Elijah J. Schochet, Animal Life in Jewish Tradition (New York: K'tav), 1984, p. 290; also see S. Clayman, "Vegetarianism, The Ideal of the Bible," The Jewish Vegetarian (Summer, 1967): 136- 137, and Hebenstreit, Kivrot Hata'avah, p. 7. 20. Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 276. 21. Talmudic sage Ben Zoma taught as follows: "Who is rich? The person who rejoices in his or her portion" (Pirke Avot 4:1). 22. Reverend A. Cohen, The Teaching of Maimonides (New York: Bloch Publishing Co., 1927), p. 180. 23. See Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 135. 24. Schochet, Animal Life, p. 300. 25. Rabbi J. David Bleich, "Vegetarianism and Judaism", Tradition, Vol. 2 3, No. 1, (Summer, 1987), p. 86. 26.Ibid., p. 87. 27. Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 136. 28. Ibid. 29. Hebenstreit, Kivrot Hata'avah, p. 9. 30. Chulin 84a. 31. Pesachim 49b. 32. See the discussion in Joe Green, "Chalutzim of the Messiah-The Religious Vegetarian Concept as Expounded by Rabbi Kook", p. 2. 33. Ibid., pp. 2-3. 34. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, "Fragments of Light," in Abraham Isaac Kook, ed. and trans. Ben Zion Bokser (New York: Paulist Press,1978), pp. 316-21 35. Quoted in Abraham Chill, The Commandments and Their Rationale, (New York, 1974), p. 400. 36. Rabbi Pinchas Peli, Torah Today (Washington,D.C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987), p. 118. 37. Rabbi Alfred Cohen, "Vegetarianism from a Jewish Perspective," Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 1, No. II, (Fall, 1981) p. 45. 38. Olat Rayah, Vol. 1, p. 292. Cited by Cohen, "Vegetarianism...... p. 45. 39. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace. 40. Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 5. 41. Green, "Chalutzim of the Messiah," 3 p. 1.
