What is ShalomVeg?ShalomVeg is the first non-denominational resource site and online community for Jewish vegans, vegetarians, activists and curious omnivores. Features include learning pages, profiles, networking tools, recipes and activism. -Read More
Quick Quote
“It is not necessary for any human benefit to consume the flesh of animals. In fact it is harmful to human health, destructive of the environment, and wasteful of valuable resources that could be better used to feed the hungry and provide for the needy. All of these are Torah values.” Rabbi Hillel Norry
Spread the Word!
Help ShalomVeg grow by spreading the word! Print out these flyers, and leave them at your synagogue, community center or other places where you think there might be people interested in the site. (The flyers are in PDF format) Download large flyers here . Download small flyers here .
Who's Online
We have 6 guests online
Number of Visitors Since 11/2007
Visitors: 2261152
|
 MAKE A FRIEND - Create a profile on ShalomVeg and search for other Jewish vegetarians in your area using our networking features, including instant messaging and bookmarking. Registration is free and completely private.  FORUMS - Have a question to ask? Want to share your opinion on a current event or issue? In the ShalomVeg forums, you can participate in discussions on various topics and learn along with the community.  NEW VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN? ShalomVeg has a collection of articles covering the basics of veg*n and animal rights issues. Learn about modern farming methods, animal rights philosophy, vegetarian health and activism tips.  MULTIMEDIA - Visit the multimedia section of ShalomVeg to see our selection of videos and audio including the new Jewish Vegetarians of North America documentary, A Sacred Duty.  QUICK QUOTES - Visit our quotes collection to see what classic Jewish texts, rabbis and modern thinkers have to say about our relationship to animals, the environment, and health.  A VEG GUIDE TO JERUSALEM - Visiting Jerusalem and want to eat vegan? This holy city has more than just falafel. We have reviewed the best places to eat and shop, and will even tell you how to say vegetarian in Hebrew.  ARTICLES AND ESSAYS - Learn about Jewish views of animals, eating and ethics from our growing article collection. You can also submit your own articles and essays to the site and have your writing published.  WE NEED RECIPES! - We have a growing database of recipes- from classic Jewish dishes made veggie, to tasty vegan treats. Add your own favorite to the collection, or comment on those you have tried.
|
|
Wednesday, 01 December 2010 |
Another Miracle of Chanukah 
By Daniel Brook & Richard Schwartz
Hope springs eternal. Indeed, it's always been an integral part of Jewish history, spirituality, and politics. Without hope, there wouldn't be a Chanukah; without hope, there might not even be a Jewish community. That's the power of radical hope!
Jewish survival is a miracle of hope. Increasing light at the darkest time of the year to celebrate Chanukah and Jewish survival is also a miracle. This year, each year, we work and hope for further miracles.
We sincerely hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of this ancient, beautiful, and spiritually-meaningful holiday of Chanukah, the first night of which falls on Wednesday, December 1st this year, by making it a time to strive even harder to live up to Judaism's highest moral values and teachings. For most of us, we certainly don't need more “things” in our homes; instead, we need more meaning, purpose, and spirit in our lives. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. One significant way we can do this, on a daily basis, is by moving towards vegetarianism.
Chanukah commemorates the single small container of pure olive oil - expected to be enough for only one day-which, according to the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), miraculously lasted for eight days in the rededicated Temple on the 25th of Kislev 165 BCE, exactly two years after it was defiled by the Syrian-Greeks, who were ruled by the tyrannical Antiochus IV. In kabalistic (Jewish mystical) thought, according to Avi Lazerson, “oil is symbolic of chochmah (wisdom), the highest aspect of the intellect from which inspirational thought is derived”.
A switch to vegetarianism would be using our wisdom and compassion to help inspire another great miracle: the end of the tragedy of world hunger, therefore ensuring the survival of tens of millions of people annually. Currently, from one-third to one-half of the world's grain, and about three-quarters of major food crops in the U.S. (e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans, oats), is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while about one billion poor people chronically suffer from malnutrition and its debilitating effects, tens of thousands of them consequently dying each day, one every few seconds.
Maimonides, the great rabbi, physician, and scholar, who wrote that the pain of people is the same as the pain of other animals (Guide for the Perplexed), ruled that one must literally sell the clothes one is wearing, if necessary, to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the menorah and celebrating the miracle (Hil. Chanukah 4:12). Uniting physical needs and spiritual needs is vitally important for the body, the mind, and the spirit. In the joyous process of celebrating our festival of freedom and light, other beings shouldn't have to be enslaved and killed by our tyranny over them. No one should ever have to die on our account.
Chanukah represents the victory of the idealistic and courageous few, over the seemingly invincible power and dominant values of the surrounding society. We learn through both our religious studies and history that might does not make right, even if it sometimes rules the moment. Therefore, quality is more important than quantity; spirituality is more vital than materialism; though each is necessary. “Not by might and not by power, but by spirit”, says Zechariah 4:6, part of the prophetic reading for Shabbat Chanukah. Today, vegetarians are relatively few in number, though growing, and billions of captive factory farm animals are powerless to defend themselves, but the highest ideals and spirit of Judaism are on their side.
Still believing in brute force, materialism, and greed, the world presently wastes a staggering and nearly unimaginable $1 trillion on total military might (over half of that amount is by the U.S. alone), while half the world's population barely survives on $2 a day or less and, as noted, some don't even survive. Security does not come from superior physical forces or from authoritarian political conditions, as the Chanukah story and contemporary events remind us. Collective security lies in a just and sustainable society, just as personal security lies in a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. These are deeply and intimately related.
The Jewish anti-imperialist insurgency, led by the Macabees, was sparked when a pig was killed and Rabbi Eleazar and other Jews were ordered to eat it. Those who refused, including nonagenarian Rabbi Eleazar, were summarily killed. According to the Book of Macabees, some Macabees lived on plant foods - to “avoid being polluted” - when they hid in caves and in the mountains to escape capture. Further, the major foods associated with Chanukah, latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts), are vegetarian foods - as is chocolate gelt! - and the vegetable oils that are used in their preparation are a reminder of the pure vegetable oil (olive) used in the lighting of the Temple's Menorah.
The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus. One day's oil was able to last for eight days in the Temple. Conservation and energy-efficiency are sacred acts and vegetarianism allows resources to go much further, since far less oil, water, land, topsoil, chemicals, labor, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets, while far less waste, pollution, and greenhouse gases are produced. For example, it can require up to 78 calories of non-renewable fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from factory-farmed beef, whether kosher or otherwise, but only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans.
Reducing our use of oil by shifting away from the mass production and consumption of meat - thereby making supplies last longer, freeing us from our dangerous dependence on oil as well as oily authoritarian governments, and diminishing the availability of petro-dollar funds for terrorists - would surely be a fitting way to celebrate the miracles of Chanukah. By conserving oil, commemorating how one's day's worth of oil lasted for eight, and by reducing our dependence on it, we can create what Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center calls a “green menorah” and a green Chanukah. In this way, we create ethical lifestyles and holy communities.
In addition to resource conservation and economic efficiency, a switch toward vegetarianism would greatly benefit the health of individuals, the condition of our environment, and would sharply reduce the suffering and death of billions of animals. Further, the social, psychological, and spiritual benefits should not be underestimated. Many people who switch to a vegetarian diet report feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually better.
Chanukah also represents the triumph of idealistic non-conformity. Like the Hebrew prophets, the Macabees fought for their inner beliefs, rather than conforming to external pressure. They were willing to proudly exclaim: this we believe, this we stand for, this we are willing to struggle for. Like the great Prophets and the celebrated Macabees, vegetarians represent this type of progressive non-conformity by an inspired minority. At a time when most people, especially in wealthier countries, think of animal products as the main part of their meals, vegetarians are resisting and insisting that there is a better, healthier, more compassionate, more environmentally sustainable, and ethical choice.
Candles are lit for each of the eight nights of Chanukah, symbolizing a turning from darkness to light, from despair to hope, from oppression to miracles. According to the prophet Isaiah, the role of Jews is to be a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). And, as our sages have said, it only takes a little light to dispel much darkness. Vegetarianism can be a way of adding light and hope to the darkness of a world still suffering with factory farms and slaughterhouses - and their attendant negative consequences - as well as with other systems and symbols of violence and oppression.
The word Chanukah means dedication, while the Hebrew root of the word means education. Each year, we should re-educate ourselves about the horrible realities of factory farming and slaughterhouses, as well as re-dedicate our inner temples. We can do this by practicing the powerful Jewish teachings and highest values of Judaism, as another way to “proclaim the miracle” of Chanukah and Jewish renewal. These sacred values and holy deeds (mitzvot) include compassion for others, including animals (tsa'ar ba'alei chayim), preserving one's health (pekuach nefesh), conservation of resources (bal tashchit), proper spiritual intention (kavanah), righteousness and charity (tzedakah), peace and justice (shalom v'tzedek), being partners in creation (shomrei adamah), healing our world (tikun olam), and increasing in matters of holiness (ma'alin bakodesh v'ayn moridim, just as Hillel ruled we should light the menorah for the eight days in ascending order).
Chanukah commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the Syrian-Greeks. In our time, vegetarianism can be a step toward deliverance of society from various modern plagues and tragedies, including global warming, world hunger, deforestation, air and water pollution, species extinction, resource depletion, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, rising health care costs, and lost productivity, among others.
One way to achieve the wonderful aspirations of Judaism is by switching to a vegetarian diet. A shift toward vegetarianism can also be a major factor in the rededication and renewal of Judaism, as it would further demonstrate that Jewish values are not only relevant but essential to everyday personal life and global survival.
The letters on a Diaspora dreidel are an acronym for nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there. May the celebration of this joyous holiday inspire another miracle within each of us.
May we all have a happy, healthy, and miraculous Chanukah! |
|
Current News
Pass it On!Like ShalomVeg? Recommend the site to a friend--Click Here
Watch A Sacred Duty online!Click here to watch the new JVNA film.
|
