Kitniyot-A Vegetarian Perspective 

By BVeg 

As we plan our menus for the upcoming Passover holiday, most of us have a good sense of what we will be eating.  There are of course the traditional foods: maror, haroset, matzo ball soup (possibly made vegetarian) and plenty of crispy matzo.  But there are also the dishes unique to our families: grandma’s mock kishke, dad’s sweet mandle bread, your famous locally grown, organic, hametz-free, vegan nut burgers.  These “family” foods are part of the customs we look forward to most and miss when not at home, along with the stories, the singing and the community.  And for some of us, part of our holiday tradition is not to eat beans, rice and corn—kitniyot--during the holiday.  Most likely this is not out of a strict adherence to Jewish law, but instead is part of the powerful pull that tradition and custom has on our lives.

Vegan Matzo Balls

ShalomVeg.com Recipes

This recipe is taken from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Post Punk Kitchen  (http://theppk.com/).  It is such an incredible recipe we posted it here, but please visit her site and check out her other great recipes.

Copyright 2008-2009 Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

(This recipe is not kosher for Passover for those who do not eat kitniyot) 

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I could write a novel on everything it took for me to perfect this recipe, but instead I will just give you the beautiful results. These are perfect light, fluffy and flavorful matzoh dumplings. Use home made vegetable stock to add tons of love and flavor. I suggest making the vegetable broth the night before. You can even make the matzoh mixture the night before and the big day will be a breeze.

You can half the recipe or even third it if you aren't serving the whole mespuchah. If you don't have a huge stock pot (I use a 16 Quart) then half the recipe or boil the matzoh balls in two sessions. I make my own matzoh meal by grinding the matzoh in a food processor (it takes about 6 to get the 1 1/2 cups called for in this recipe) but store bought will work just as well.

Passover and Vegetarianism 

By Richard Schwartz

Passover and vegetarianism? Can the two be related? After all, what is a seder without gefilte fish, chicken soup, chopped liver, chicken, and other meats? And what about the shankbone to commemorate the paschal sacrifice. And doesn't Jewish law mandate that Jews eat meat to rejoice on Passover and other Jewish festivals?

An increasing number of Jews are turning to vegetarianism and they are finding ways to celebrate vegetarian Passovers while being consistent with Jewish teachings. For many years, Jonathan Wolf, a Jewish vegetarian activist, has had up to 50 people at his Manhattan apartment for completely vegetarian seders. This year the Jewish environmental group Shomrei Adamah ("Guardians of the Earth") has scheduled a vegetarian seder.

Contrary to a common perception, Jews are not required to eat meat at the Passover seder or any other time. According to the Talmud (Pesachim 109a), since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jews need not eat meat to celebrate Jewish festivals. In recent scholarly articles by Rabbi Albert Cohen in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society and Rabbi J. David Bleich in Tradition magazine, this concept is reinforced. Also, Israeli chief rabbis, including Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel and Rabbi Sha'ar Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Haifa, were or are strict vegetarians.

Opinion 

Purim-What Are We Really Blotting Out? 

Posted by BVeg

As we approach the holiday of Purim, we are confronted with the undeniable reality and challenge of the holiday.  Amidst a world in which we still see so much pain and suffering, we are told to spend the day in celebration; eating, drinking, and enjoying the pleasures of the day.  While the rest of the Jewish year is filled with so many "serious" holidays remembering the sad times in our history, this day is truly a blessing--a time to let go, act silly and celebrate the joys of life.

Yet, as with so much of Jewish tradition, even the holiday of Purim has a deeper side.  The story of Purim is at its core a simple story of good and evil.  There is the powerful king, the "bad guy" Haman, the heroes of the story, Esther, Mordechai and Vashti.  The Jewish people begin the story in suffering, and end with their freedom.  It is a story of right and wrong, and the powerful against the weak.  Yet what makes the holiday unique is not that the story is just made up of opposites, but it is how we are commanded to remember the good and the evil that gives true meaning to the holiday.  On this day we are told that we must hear and "remember" Haman--the representation of evil--and only then can we wave our groggers, boo and stomp our feet to blot out his name.  This is one of the most important aspects of the holiday.  Ultimately it is a lesson about the very important Jewish understanding of how we must listen in order to make change in the world.

My Dog or Your Child?

Ethical Dilemmas and the Hierarchy of Moral Value

By Dr. Steven Best

Too often, animal rights advocates (ARAs) are challenged with the hysterical hypothetical of the “burning house dilemma.” It runs something like this: If you were caught in a burning house, were running out the door to save your life, and only had time enough to save a dog in one room and a human being in another, which would you choose?

Invariably, the question is asked with the intent to find an inconsistency in the value scheme or commitments of the ARA, such that for all their talk about animal rights or species equality, they would still save the human. Deep down, therefore, the ARA is like everyone else and a speciesist at heart. When faced with the burning house question, you are always damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If you answer that you would save the human being, your interlocutor glibly and gleefully derides you as a hypocrite. If you answer you would save the dog, you are vilified as a miscreant and deviant misanthrope with warped values.

You Eat Fish Don't You? 

The Perks and Pitfalls of Parve for Vegetarians

By BVeg 

Anyone who has been a vegetarian or vegan knows how quickly label reading becomes a force of habit.  We peruse the aisles of the market, looking for chicken stock in soups, gelatin in candy, and question whether we should continue to buy refined sugar, food coloring and other products we are unsure of.  Luckily we have a life saver when it comes to looking at labels; the kashrut and parve symbols written on products.

Some common kosher symbols

Yom Kippur and Vegetarianism

By Richard Schwartz

Rosh Hashanah and Vegetarianism

By Richard Schwartz

Rosh Hashanah is the time when we take stock of our lives and consider new beginnings. Perhaps the most significant and meaningful change that Jews should consider this year is a shift away from diets that have been having devastating effects on human health and the health of our increasingly imperiled planet. While many Jews seem to feel that its celebration can be enhanced by the consumption of chopped liver, gefilte fish, chicken soup, and roast chicken, there are many inconsistencies between the values of Rosh Hashanah and the realities of flesh-centered diets. Consider these points:

1. While Jews ask God on Rosh Hashanah for a healthy year, non-vegetarian diets have been linked to heart disease, strokes, several forms of cancer, and other illnesses. While we implore "our Father, our King" on Rosh Hashanah to "keep the plague from thy people", high fat, meat-based diets are causing a plague of degenerative diseases that have resulted in total U.S. medical costs soaring from $80 billion in 1970 to an estimated $1,106 billion in 1994.