Vegan tefillin anyone?
Tags: Jewish World Anshel PfefferWhen I was six or seven, my father took us to do kapparot with live chicken before Yom Kippur. He thought it would be an experience and he got that right. Over a quarter of a century later, I can still physically recall the stench coming out of the back of the truck containing hundreds of stupefied fowls and remember the terrified look on my little brother's face while they were waving a flapping cockerel over his head.
Thankfully, the shechita of the luckless birds was done elsewhere.
It didn't transform me into a vegetarian but my family has ever since always made kapparot with a fistful of cash, as do the great majority of Orthodox Jews and many ultra-Orthodox too. And while most of us haven't become animal rights campaigners, we continue to look upon our Haredi brothers and sisters who stick to the old custom with a mixture of bemusement and slight distaste.
But the win-all argument remains, putting aside the spiritual validity that a number of senior rabbis have questioned over the generation, it's hard to criticize kapparot with chicken while millions of birds and cattle are slaughtered each day to satisfy our appetite for meat.
There have always been a few rabbis advocating vegetarianism, most notable among them Rabbi A. Y. Kook, who even wrote a book on the subject, but they've always been a distinct minority.
Will that change in the foreseeable future? Unlike other new-age lifestyle trends, not eating meat can actually backed be up with sufficient "acceptable" orthodox Jewish sources. But even if it were to catch on the streets of Bnei Berak, vegan religious Jews would still be running afoul of the animal rights groups, who frown upon any use of animals, in circuses, experiments and most importantly clothing.
In 2000 years of exile, we might not have had to deal with animal sacrifice (some Rabbis believe/hope that the third temple will be devoted to spiritual contemplation instead), but Jewish ritual is still intricately linked to dead cows, mainly their hides.
Just think how many heads of cows had to roll to make enough parchment for one sefer torah - and though a mezzuzah uses only a sliver, multiply that by millions of doors in Jewish homes around the world. And whoever puts on tefillin (phylacteries) every morning, is literally wrapping around his arm a nice big chunk of cow.
A quick Google search found on a couple of humorous pieces on the subject, one offering knitwear tefillin and the other soy-based "tofu-llin". On an interesting site called jewishveg.com I came upon this FAQ by an unnamed writer:
"Isn't much of Judaism today related to the use of animals for teaching and ritual purposes, e.g., the Sefer Torah, tefillin, the shofar, etc.? The number of animals slaughtered for these purposes is minute compared to the billions killed annually for food. The fact that there would still be some animal slaughter to meet Jewish ritual needs shouldn't stop us from doing all we can to end the horrible abuses of animals. Also, most problems related to flesh-centered diets - poor human health, waste of food and other resources, and ecological threats - would not occur if animals were slaughtered only to meet Jewish ritual needs. Our emphasis should be on doing a minimum amount of harm to other people, the environment, and animals. The fact that some animal products are required for sacred uses (a very small amount) should not prevent a person from becoming a vegetarian. Also, tefillin and other ritual products can be made from the leather of animals that were raised without cruelty and died a natural death."
Fancy halakhic footwork there, but even if was possible to find enough cattle that had died of natural causes, and outside of India, a cow reaching a ripe old age is exceedingly rare, that still wouldn't satisfy more militant groups like PETA that abhor any use of animals or their bodies. Even so, in Israel and the U.S. these groups are media-savvy, black-hatted kapparot chicken-wavers are popular targets, but I doubt we'll be seeing raids on synagogues to liberate the poor dead cows from the Holy Ark any in the foreseeable future. That might be just a bit too reminiscent of the most infamous vegetarian in history.
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My son is having Barmitzvah and being Vegan wont wear Teffilin. If anyone knows of an alternative please help.
I would be interested in Tefillin not made with leather too.
Sorry but the entire debate misses the point. Judaism demands that a Jew be more than an animal.The animal side of Man is only there to serve the spiritual side. Therefore judaism uses other animals to achieve spiritual goals to encourage man to be more of a spiritual and to go above his own physical, animal side. In Fact Judaism demands that Jews be above the mere human too. Thus Jews are expected to go beyond that which often rules humans. Even kindness must be a kindness that is more than a kneejerk reaction. This is part and parcel of why Jews MUST use animal products, and eat meat on Shabbat.
Rav Kook told the only one of his students who actually wished to be a vegetarian that he was still obligated to eat at least one Kazait of meat on Shabbat and festivals. The student complied.
E from Toronto, check your facts. Hides of kosher animals that died naturally *are* kosher for tefillin, mezuzot, and sifrei torah. Shulchan Aruch OC 32:12. #11, Jackie from Pittsburgh: "Can Jewish ritual be followed without using animal derived material?" No, it cannot. Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzot must come from animal hides. And when the temple is rebuilt animal sacrifice *will* resume - that is *the* central ritual of Judaism. Re Animal sacrifice, the writer claims "some Rabbis believe/hope that the third temple will be devoted to spiritual contemplation instead". That is simply not true. There are no such rabbis, and there is not the slightest chance that animal sacrifice will not be restored. That is what we pray for three times a day, and in more detail in every Musaf prayer. (Rumours that the Rambam or R AY Kook believed otherwise are false and defamatory; neither one wrote anything of the kind.)
A tenet of Judaism is to work with, not against, human nature. While some people find their way to vegetarianism, humans are omnivores. Just as with the much more distasteful "Eshet y'efat to'ar" (women captured by Israelites during war) laws, we seek to find the centering sanctification in doing what sometimes comes naturally (or socially acceptable). Personally, I don't think Jews were meant to have abattoirs -- shchita was meant to be something at the family level. We lose the purposefulness of the act of kashrut when we pick up a roast at the store instead of go through the complex rituals of selecting a healthy animal and purposely depriving it of its life. If Jews had to personally participate in shchita there would be far more vegetarians, and I think our general respect for life -- all kinds, would rise. Wishing even the agitators a year of peace, Almoni
Whether he was or was not a vegetarian, Rav Kook sure wrote a lot in it's favour and expected it to come about. Anyway, why this opposition? - Is it such a bad thing to take the precept tsa'ar ba'alei chayim to it's ultimate chumra? I think not ! David
As a vegetarian, halachic observant Jew, I was intrigued by the title and disappointed by the article (and indeed by some of the talkback). I am uncomfortable by the use of animal based materials in many of our rituals. While they may have been all that was available for hundreds / thousands of years, things have changed. Orthodox Judaism should be open to a frank discussion of ways to find halachic alternatives that do not involve the use of animals. I believe that these are far less contentious issues than, say mamzerim, women's issues or patralineal dissent and thus more open to halachic resolution. This has nothing to do with being pro-PETA or not, Haredi (or even orthodox) or not. Labels here are not relevant. The only important thing is the question: Can Jewish ritual be followed without using animal derived material? The article really doesn't say much about anything -- and it says it poorly.
See what many of his students said and wrote debunking it. His own son, Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook, was similarly asked about rumors that his father was a vegetarian and he denied it.
Kol hakavod, D.Greenberg. I, too am a vegetarian and would be most interested in non-leather tefillin and all the rest.They would be truly kadosh. I see no reason why ANY ritual objects have to be made from dead animal hides, given today's multiplicity of materials. Information on this would be appreciated. David
Slaughtering animals may be needed for healthy masculine psyche. For over a million years, humans evolved as hunter-gatherers. Paleolithic humans evolved for gender-division, so that the feminine group cared for young children and gathered plants and grub, and the masculine community hunted animals. Our gendered bodies specialized to adapt to these tasks. Notably, there were females - "tomboys", "valkyries" - who belong to the masculine group, and males who belong to the feminine group. This transgenderedness is still with us today, stronger than ever. Masculine humans may live in cities and eat tofu, but our bodies and masculines brain are still hunters. It is good, Judaism restricts and channels these primitive hunting instincts into sacrificial offerings for ritual meals for the social good. These "superstitious" animal sacrifices may be more necessary for our masculine mental health than we realize.
Minor reality check from the Halacha Dept.: Animals which die of natural causes are considered "nevela," and their hides cannot be used for a sefer tora, tefillin, etc. In order the hide to be used for holy objects, the animal must have been slaughtered properly.
In all seriousness, I would like to purchase non-leather tefillin if they exist. I realize it wouldn't be kosher, but I'm a vegetarian and I'm willing to compromise. If you know of a website or place where these can be obtained, please post a response with the information. Thanks.
Author says our 'Hareidi' brothers which implies that all hareidim use the chickens. I look upon my own 'Hareidi' brother, and he uses money. Stop generalising. Oh, my 'Hareidi' brother studies in Kollel and pays taxes. And he's not the only one. Many of our 'Hareidi' brothers keep the laws of the state. I think it's time we stop demonising them. Afterall, within our own secular culture, there are many who don't go to the army, pay taxes, have jobs, and commit crimes. Stop demonising. It's sickening.
This article lacked in substance, flow and was nebulous. It was neither informative nor enlightening, it was simply a foolish article written (likely) by an armature journalist.
So were many of the Nazis. One concentration camp Kommandant even arranged a funeral for a pet bird.Sorry but PETA's rhetoric brings up very ugly memories, and anyone who researches the pages of Der Sturmer or the writings of the SS finds all too many common themes.
He refrained from eating flesh every once in awhile to help prevent flatulence
No PETA activist is going to raid a holy ark to "liberate" long dead animals whose hides are now sacred objects. To imply so is incredibly offensive. To bring up Hitler's vegetariansim is also horrifically offensive. To equate vegetarians with Hitler is repugnant. Hitler was a homo-sapien who wore clothing. Are we to condemn all people who wear clothes just because Hitler did? Are we to condemn all homo-sapiens because Hitler was one? The author should have stuck with the premise that eating meat is exponentially more of a killer of animals than any amout of hides used to make a holy Torah, tefilin, or mezuzot.