From: engelson-sean@CS.YALE.EDU (Sean Philip Engelson)
Subject: Vegetarianism & Halacha (was Re: Following Sedar tradition)
Organization: Yale AI Mobile Robotics Project
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 13:39:09 GMT


In article <1992Apr2.125151.12188@tudorct.com>, shdan@tudorct.com (Dan Shimoff) writes:
|> In article <1992Mar31.211841.19017@news.cs.brandeis.edu> kidorf@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Dan Kidorf) writes:
|> >
|> >This year, as every year, there will be a large, dead and cooked
|> >animal lying in the center of our table ready to be eaten
|> >as part of a traditional sedar.
|> >
|> >This difference this year is that I'm now vegetarian.
|> >
|> >Is there anything I should worry about with respect to Jewish law?
|> >I think simply skipping the meat would be a simple enough solution.
|> 
|> Well, in the Talmud it says Ain simcha ela bibasar -- (there is no joy without 
|> meat,  and a holiday like passover in a joyous holiday in religious law.  So
|> one might infer that you must have at least a little meat to be happy on 
|> the holiday (being happy is a Biblical commandment, even if you don't feel
|> happy).  Same can be said about wine, but you need to drink wine anyway.

However, the final conclusion in the Gemara is that the meat referred to is the
meat of the holiday sacrifice (chagiga), and hence the dictum does not apply
today.  I'm appending an article of mine on vegetarianism and halacha that I
wrote some time ago, I guess the time has come to repost it.  One issue that I
don't address is the fact that Chazal wanted to impose a general ban on eating
meat and drinking wine after the Churban, but didn't because they judged
that people couldn't take it...

	-Shlomo-

I am a frum vegetarian (frum enough to qualify for the "right-wing
extremist" epithet from some quarters, vegetarian enough not to allow
noten-taam lekhatkhila :-).  I'd like to summarise my thoughts on the
matter, of which I have many, due to the continual necessity to
justify myself to others.  I'll restrict myself here to halachic
questions, even though I personally am motivated by other factors as
well.  There are two types of questions I'll attempt to answer, (a)
does halacha allow vegetarianism, and (b) does the Torah prefer
vegetarianism.  Naturally, I think both answers are "yes", which
conclusion I shall try to justify.  Enough preamble, on to the meat,
er, fruit of the article...

The first "halachic problem" people tend to have with my vegetarianism
is the principle "ein simcha ela b'basar" [there is no joy without
meat] on Yom Tov.  Indeed, when I first became a vegatarian I ate a
kezayit of meat on Yom Tov; this was before I had properly researched
the matter, however.  The Gemara which discusses this, however,
appears to come to the conclusion that this refers specifically to the
Qarban R'iyah brought by each Jew on Yom Tov, and does not apply these
days, rather "yayin m'sameach l'vav enosh" [wine gladdens a person's
heart (Psalms)], and wine is the way of attaining simchas Yom Tov
[holiday joy] today (for men; this is a complex issue in its own
right).  Some Rishonim, including the Tur, seem to feel, however, that
there is an idea of meat-eating even today; the only explanation I can
see is a "zekher l'miqdash" [remembrance of the Temple].  The Beit
Yoseph comments on this Tur that this makes no sense to him at all
(his words), and concludes that only wine is applicable today.  Since
he doesn't discuss the issue in the Shulchan Aruch, and the Darkei
Moshe doesn't disagree, this would appear to be psak.  It should also
be noted in this regard that the halacha of `oneg Shabbat [Sabbath
enjoyment] does not, in any way, require meat; it is a subjective
measure of enjoyment, "eat what you like".

Another question that is asked is "Would you eat Qarbanot
[sacrifices]?"  The answer to this is an unequivocal "Yes!"  There
appear to be opinions, however, that in the time of Mashiach (may he
come soon!) there will be no animal qarbanot (R. Kook, and, I believe,
the Ramban).  Certainly in such a case there would be even less of a
problem.  But even were animal sacrifices reinstituted, I would eat
from them, as my objection is to the *needless* killing and eating of
animals; qarbanot clearly serve an important purpose.  I do, after
all, wear leather tefillin.

The third main halachic objection to vegetarianism is that it is
associated with avodah zarah [idolatry], and hence should be avoided
as a matter of mar'is `ayin [something which, while not itself
forbidden, looks like a forbidden act].  I have even heard it
suggested that vegetarians should specifically eat a piece of meat on
Shabbat to avoid giving this impression.  However, it seems to me that
this position is rather weak, especially in the US today.
Vegetarianism, though it is a part of several Eastern Asian types of
avodah zarah, as well as neo-paganism, is certainly not a primary
indicator for membership in such a cult.  It is more associated here
(although less and less as time goes on) with the "California" "health
food" fad, and has no religious overtones at all.  Even did it have
some such overtones, I would think that extrapolating from this
halachically permitted behavior (which itself doesn't even look like a
forbidden activity) to think someone an avodah zarah-nik, would be a
case of choshed b'k'sherim [suspecting the innocent].

On the other hand, given that vegetarianism is a permitted life-style
(is there an alternative to this ugly word?), does the Torah perhaps
prefer omnivorism to vegetarianism or the other way around, even
though no strict halachic considerations apply?  I suggest that
vegetarianism is preferred, for several reasons.  The first is a
particular interpretation of the postdiluvian era, due, I am told, to
Rav Kook.  The reason why people were permitted meat after the Flood
is given in the Midrash as "a change in nature" (shinui hateva`).
However, the nature of this change is not described, and various
commentators explain it in different ways, most of which seem to have
little to do with the Flood itself.  However, a shinui hateva` that
follows directly from the event of the Flood itself is a reduction in
the variety of plants growing in any one area of the earth.  As is
well-known, until the last few hundred years, few different kinds of
cultivated, edible vegetation existed in any one place.  Hence, a
healthy vegetarian diet would have been extremely difficult to keep.
Hence the permission to eat meat.  Today, this is not necessary, since
a great variety of vegetables are easily bought at the corner
supermarket, thus the original idea of vegetarianism can be adhered
to.

Another indication of disapproval of meat-eating is the reference to
the desire to eat meat in "ki ta'avat nafshekha l'ekhol basar" [when
your soul has a craving to eat meat] as "ta'avah", "craving", a word
that has negative connotations, as in "qivrot hata'avah" [the graves
of desire].  Further, until the establishment of the Beis haMiqdash,
[Temple] meat-eating was restricted to qarbanot (since bamot were
readily available, see Shmuel I), indicating that it is not something
to be done lightly.  And when we examine the b'rakhot [blessings] made
on various foods, meat is at the bottom of the totem-pole
(kiv'yakhol), with the least specific b'rakhah, hence it is one of the
least important of foods.  We see the idea of b'rakhah specificity
reflecting food importance most clearly with reference to wine and
bread, which have the most specific b'rakhot; it also applies to
others, see 6th Pereq Masekhta B'rakhot.

The final point, and one which I believe demands proper halachic
investigation by those qualified, is the issue of tza'ar ba`alei
chayim [pain to living creatures].  Modern factory farming is, on the
whole, quite cruel to animals, and hence supporting such practices
may, indeed, fall under the prohibition of unnecessarily causing pain
to living creatures.  I hesitate to say anything definite on this
issue, except that it is one that I believe the Torah community should
deal with as soon as possible, as it involves the widespread sh'gagah
on a possible d'Oraisa [Torah law], no small matter.

I hope that this helps to clarify some of the issues a bit.  I'm sorry
I can't provide detailed references; my sfarim are mostly at home.

-- 
Sean Philip (Shlomo) Engelson		May He who makes peace on high
Yale Department of Computer Science	Mercifully make peace for us
Box 2158 Yale Station			And for all of the House of Israel
New Haven, CT 06520				And let us say: Amen.