After hearing my talk on Judaism and Vegetarianism at the May Shabbos Tisch or after reading last months Tikkun Olam column on the same topic, a number of you have expressed an interest in becoming vegetarians. I thought that it might be useful and efficient to share the information with all interested readers. Fruitarians only eat fruit and nuts, i.e., the parts of the plant whose harvesting does not kill the plant itself. In my opinion, any movement toward a vegetarian diet should be applauded, as long as it is appropriately labeled.
Vegetarianism is as much a state of mind as it is a diet.
If you believe in what you are doing and are committed to it, becoming a vegetarian and staying one is relatively easy. That is where Jewish Vegetarianism enters the picture. By doing it for a higher, more spiritual purpose, it just feels like the right thing to do. As with a lot of behaviors that we would like to change, we can do it gradually or just jump right in and do it. The choice is yours and depends a lot on your personality type and your reasons for the change.