Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
What is the Torah view on being a vegan or a vegetarian? I have heard a claim that killing animals is cruel and hurtful, and is included in the prohibition of causing pain to animals (tzaar baalei chaim). Yet others assert that abstaining from meat shows disregard for the gifts Hashem gave us to enjoy. Who is right?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
Flipped Script
As mentioned previously (“Purpose of Sacrificing Animals”), vegetarians claim that killing and eating animals is very cruel. However, in truth, it is the greatest kindness one can do for the animal, and it is the vegetarians who are the cruel ones!
I was once at a fancy wedding where steak was served. As I was eating, a teenage boy looked at my plate incredulously and remarked, “How can you eat that meat? Do you know what suffering they caused this animal?” I smiled, and responded, “If you would think into it, you would realize that you are actually the cruel one, and I am the one who really cares about the animal!” That response really caught him by surprise, and when he asked me to explain, I told him the following.
An Animal’s Purpose
The animal kingdom doesn’t have its own purpose in life, and on the surface doesn’t seem to accomplish anything for the ultimate purpose of creation. An animal just does what Hashem (God) programmed it to do, then dies and decays into the ground, disappearing forever. But when a Jew slaughters an animal and eats it, the entire picture changes! This animal has just transcended the physical and turned into something of eternal significance, for many reasons.
Holy Cow!
First of all, when a Jew recites a berachah (blessing) — both on slaughtering the animal, as well as before and after consuming its meat — he is bringing untold blessing to the world. The word berachah also means bereichah — a wellspring — because every berachah brings a flow of blessing into the world. Furthermore, a Jew who gets nourishment from eating meat and can then serve Hashem better has uplifted this simple cow into a medium for mitzvah performance.
The animal can also be served at a Shabbat or Yom Tov meal, thereby enhancing the enjoyment of Shabbat (oneg Shabbat). When a Jew keeps Shabbat — the source of all blessing — properly, he will be worthy of being showered with Heavenly blessings. This simple animal has now turned into a vehicle for transmitting a bounty of good to the world, something it could never have accomplished by living out its life and dying of natural causes.
Who’s Cruel?
In fact, the kabbalists tell us that through the aforementioned mitzvot we elevate the animal to a whole new level of existence, and actually give it some share in the World to Come. So, far from being cruel to animals, we are actually being kind to them, elevating them and giving them a connection to eternity, while it is they, the vegetarians and vegans who are being cruel, by denying them eternity.
In short: Vegetarianism is misplaced compassion for animals. Kosher animals are among the foods God gave us to eat, and by eating them we give meaning to their existence. Those who claim that killing animals is cruel or against the Torah are totally misinformed.
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