Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Vegetarianism and Judaism

I remember an article some years ago from a kiruv organization that seemed to try its hardest to get vegetarians to eat meat. You'd think this was on the level of keeping Shabbos it was so important to the author. Meanwhile, there is strong rabbinical support for the vegetarian diet. We see yet another area where it is not necessary to drive BTs crazy.

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Vegetarianism and Judaism: The Rav’s Radical View

linked article from kolhamevaser.com

By David Errico-Nagar

Articles about ideological vegetarianism[i] and Judaism are replete with citations from the Bible, Talmud, and Rabbis Kook and Albo. Yet, of the numerous books,[ii] journal publications,[iii] and online articles[iv] that regurgitate these sources, one important thinker is conspicuously left out: R. Yosef Soloveitchik.  R. Soloveitchik had much to say regarding ideological vegetarianism, but his views were not published until 2005. As a result, R. Soloveitchik’s important voice on this topic has yet to become as well-known as that of Rabbis Kook and Albo, who maintain that vegetarianism is good as an ideal but not as a practice. R. Soloveitchik, however, holds that Judaism believes that man should practice ideological vegetarianism, but, in acknowledgement of the evil inclination, the Torah allows man to follow his desire for meat. Compared with other popular views of vegetarianism published by Rabbis Albo and Kook, R. Soloveitchik’s views are avidly supportive of vegetarianism.


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