Recently, and for the first time in my life, I laid tefillin. I enjoyed the process and found it enlightening so I plan on doing it regularly. The trouble is, to be kosher tefillin must be made of the hide of an animal slaughtered in accordance with shechita - this obviously goes against my vegan principles. I've posted the question on a few sites with 'ask the rabbi' sections and am awaiting a response but nevertheless wondered if any other shalomveg users have had the same problem? If so, how did you get round it, and have you found anywhere that is able to supply vegan tefillin?

This is a difficult question. I personally don't use tefillin because I have decided it does not hold to my values as a vegan. However, I also believe that the practice of putting on tefillin can be a very important and powerful religious experience. But could I have the same experience with "non-kosher" tefillin?

The truth is even though I do not believe that we should be using animals for food, clothing or for ritual _object_s like tefillin, I am not sure whether I would connect much to non-animal skin tefillin either. I almost feel that if they are traditionally made with animals, then just let it be made with animals (and say I don't want to use them)or of nothing at all.

Of course Jewish ritual _object_s made out of animal hides include not only tefillin, but also Torah scrolls, mezuza scrolls and shofarot. As you said, to be "kosher" under Jewish law, these all must be made from animals--with very specific rules about what parts of the animal are used and how.

One argument that is used by some Jewish vegans and others who are against using animals for human needs, is that these ritual _object_s use such a minimal amount of animal products compared to meat, fur, leather and other products that we can just accept it as part of our tradition and put the focus on other issues like food products. (One Torah scroll vs. billions of farm animals). My problem with this has always been that it weakens the vegan argument and especially the Jewish vegan argument in many ways. If we are saying that it is wrong to use animals for food because it is bad for the environment, bad for our health, hurts the animals and is problematic for society, then how can we argue that it is necessary for "spiritual needs". If the Torah tells us to care for animals, work towards social justice, and move towards the vegetarian ideal, then how can we say it is ok to use just some animal products. It is easy to replicate each of these ritual _object_s so they look similar to the animal versions, the main difference would be that they simply are not made from same material.

Of course how we feel about vegan tefillin and parchment is _base_d on how we see halachah and how much we feel Judaism can or should change to fit values that we hold. I think that no matter what beliefs we have about Jewish practice and law, we have to ask ourselves what the highest values of Judaism are, and see if the practices (and _object_s) we use hold to these values. If we believe in fighting world hunger, fighting for human rights and caring for the environment, then can we justify ending an animal's life for a Torah scroll?

Today there are animal free versions of these things on the market, including feminine _style__ tefillin and a few people writing vegan mezuza scrolls (so far I have not seen an animal-free Torah scroll). I have seen them on the internet and will see if I can find where and post them here soon.

Again I think whether a person is willing to use non-halachic tefillin is up to how that person sees the role of halachah in their lives. Halachah, just like all parts of Jewish life and ritual have changed over the years, partially in relation to societal changes and needs. I see similar changes can and should happen with Jewish ritual obejcts.

This is a very touchy subject when I have brought it up with others, even other vegans and vegetarians. I am curious what others think about this issue.

My son stood up to the Chabad rabbis at school on this issue.

If they insisted he use tefillin at school, then he would borrow them from the school but he could not bring himself to actually OWN them since they are made from leather. He has had some interesting "discussions" with the rabbis about this (and other animal related topics).

They also told him his cotton tallis was not "kosher" because it wasn't wool. He said, "Show me exactly where it says you MUST use wool... I think that's tradition rather than law". They shut up after that.

Ultimately, the rabbis know he is there for the secular education; he is going to public HS next year (not a yeshiva) so I think they "put up" with him.

"Vegetarian Tefillin" are available - at a price! Jewish law requires that tefillin be made from leather. We Vegetarians _object_ because of the cruelty to animals involved. The solution offered by "vegetarian tefillin" is to make tefillin from leather derived from animals that died a natural death and were not slaughtered. Details are available here: target="_blank">http://www.soferoftzfat.com/Vegetarian%20Tefillin,Tefilin,Sofer,Scribe,Stam.htm


Simchah Roth, Herzliyya