Ethical Eating

1. Do you think people have a right to eat animals? Plants?
2. What does "ruling" animals mean to you? Is it a positive relationship? Negative?
3. Why might someone avoid eating "flesh with its life-blood in it"?
4. Do these sources feel like they're in conflict to you?
5. Placing Genesis 9 in context, do you see any significance to the fact that they come right after a world-destructing flood? Do you see any connection between verses 3-4 and 8-10?

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What is Kosher? - Rabbi Joshua Koperwas

The word kosher means proper or acceptable, and it has informally entered the English language with that meaning. But kosher laws have their origin in the Bible, and are detailed in the Talmud and the other codes of Jewish traditions. They have been applied through the centuries to ever-changing situations, and these rulings, both ancient and modern, govern kosher certification.

The Bible lists the basic categories of food items which are not kosher. These include certain animals, fowl and fish (such as pork and rabbit, eagle and owl, catfish and sturgeon), most insects, and any shellfish or reptile. In addition, kosher species of meat and fowl must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner, and meat and dairy products may not be manufactured or consumed together.

Why do so many foods require kosher supervision? For example, shouldn’t cereals and potato chips be inherently kosher since they are not made from meat, fowl, fish, or insects? The answer is that all units and subunits in a food item must be kosher as well. Thus, for example, a cereal may be non-kosher because it has raisins which are coated with a non-kosher, animal-based glycerin. Potato chips can be non-kosher if the vegetable oil used in the fryer has been pasteurized and deodorized on equipment used for tallow production. In fact, equipment used for hot production of non-kosher products may not be used for kosher production without kosherization (a hot purging procedure).

1. Does anything here feel familiar or relateable?
2. Does anything about this description surprise you?
3. To what level of detail do you usually think about the preparation of your food?
4. What might be the benefits of such a focused eating practice? What might be the drawbacks?

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Philosophical Approaches to Jewish Food Ethics

For each of the following, consider:

1. In what ways does the author believe kashrut and food ethics connect to or influence each other?
2. Which of these arguments do you find to be persuasive? Which do you find to be challenging?
3. How do your Jewish values or practices influence your eating? How do your beliefs around food ethics influence your Jewish practices?
4. What is the argument here? Does it resonate with anything else we've learned about kashrut? How is it different? What do you make of this rationale for kashrut?

Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 3

Let a person not say: Envy, lust, honor and similar things are evil ways and remove a person from the world, and so one should separate oneself from them and go to the opposite extreme, not to eat meat, drink wine, marry, live in a nice house or dress in fine clothes, etc.

This too is an evil way and one who follows it is a sinner... Therefore, the Sages commanded that one should not abstain from anything, except from things which the Torah has forbidden, and one should not vow to refrain from using permitted things. About these and similar things Solomon said, "Don't be excessively righteous, nor make yourself overwise; lest you destroy yourself."

Jerusalem Post Interview with R. Yitz Greenberg (May 3, 2008)

Q: In 1971, you were [one of] the only Orthodox rabbis to declare that non-union lettuce and grapes should be regarded as non-kosher and you urged Jews to boycott them. What is the basis in Judaism for that position?

A: Halacha is not just a list of ritual dos and don'ts, but a comprehensive worldview that applies to everything that happens around us. The Torah prohibits the exploitation of workers- so why shouldn't that apply to migrant farm workers picking lettuce or grapes? They were being mistreated, so it was natural for us to apply the principle of non-exploitation to their situation, too. It seemed obvious.

Rabbi Goldie Milgram - Why Separate Milk and Meat?

"Always the emphasis is on mother's milk as a source of life. Meat requires a whole other category of thinking, how was the life taken, with a blessing, as painlessly as possible? To mix the essence of nurturing, milk, with meat, which is dead, is not done. It is too spiritually painful and does not cause the distinction which leads to thinking through your relationship to the chain of life and our methods of raising animals, feeding them, and slaughtering them."

Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg

Eating is the primary way that human beings interact with the rest of nature. we are composed of the same elements and compounds that make up our food. Indeed, when we eat, we transform a part of nature into energy that we can use for conscious purposes. The system of kashrut causes us to pause and consider that while we are part of nature, we are endowed with a unique potential to make choices in the way we respond to life.

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Kli Yakar, Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, 17th century

The reason for the laws of kashrut is not for physical health benefits... Rather their purpose is for the well-being of the soul. Non-kosher foods remove the spirit of purity and holiness, and create a blockage in the intelligence, and cause cruelty.

1. Is "you are what you eat" too simple of a summary of this idea?
2. Do you buy the idea that what you eat can affect your personality or empathy?

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady

The great Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) taught that every created thing possesses a "spark" of energy that constitutes its essence and soul. When a person utilizes something toward a holy end, they bring to light this spark, manifesting and realizing the purpose for which it was created. No existence is devoid of a spark. But not every spark can be actualized. There are certain "impregnable" elements whose sparks are inaccessible to us. The fact that something is forbidden by the Torah means that its husk cannot be penetrated, so that its spark remains locked within it and cannot be elevated.

Thus, one who eats a piece of kosher meat and then uses the energy gained from it to perform a good deed, elevates the spark that is the essence of the meat, raising it to a state of fulfilled spirituality. However, if one would do the same with a piece of non-kosher meat, even if you used the energy for positive ends, no such "elevation" would take place. But these elements still serve a purpose - they exist to be rejected and defeated.

1. How does the idea of everything, even food, having a holy "essence" or "spark" sit with you?
2. Are there any parts of this idea which feel relatable? How might we "translate" this text into a modern understanding?
3. Do you agree with Rabbi Luria's opinion that doing a "good" deed with the energy from a "bad" source negates some/all of that goodness?

Eco-Kosher, Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi

"I invented the word eco-kosher, to say that something is ecologically kosher. I'll give you an example of eco-kosher. The regular kosher way is about the dishes that mustn't be contaminated, etc. If I pick up a cup to have coffee, styrofoam would be the best thing to have. It hasn't been used before and after I drink from it, I'll throw it away and nobody else will use it. From the usual kosher place that's the direction to go...but in comparison to waht will happen to the planet by my drinking in a styrofoam, I'd much rather make the other choice...that's eco-kosher."

1. What Reb Zalman doing here? How do you understand his approach?
2. On what grounds is he arguing for eco-kashrut? What are the values at play?
3. How much is this a break vs. an evolution of kashrut?
4. Does it have be either Eco or Kosher? Can it be both/and? How do we decide in moments where it has to be one or the other?

CCAR Responsa, 1979 (edited for clarity)

Judaism has always recognized a religious dimension to the consumption of food. Being a gift of God, food was never to be taken for granted. And if this was true of food generally, it was especially true of meat, fish, and fowl, which involve the taking of life. Those Reform Jews who observe the dietary laws, totally or in part, seem to do so because:

(a) it adds to their personal expression of Judaism; the daily meals serve as reminders of Jewish ideals;

(b) it provides an additional link with other Jews and a link to history; it enables Jews of all groups to eat in their home or their synagogue;

(c) it encourages ethical discipline;...

[(d)] Some form of dietary observance may be carried out as a daily reminder of Judaism

[(e)] One might opt to eat only kosher meat or even to adopt some form of vegetarianism so as to avoid the necessity of taking a life.

The range of options available to the Reform Jew is from full observance of the Biblical and Rabbinic regulations to total non-observance.

1. Which of these reasons are most understandable to you? Most surprising?

2. Which of these reasons might apply to vegetarianism or veganism?

To a weight-loss diet? To food allergies?

3. Which of these reasons feel related to your food choices?

Which, if any, resonate with you? Is there anything you'd add?

4. If you were to choose your favorite reason and base your diet off it,

how might your consumption habits change?