Jewish vegetarianism

Jewish vegetarianism is the belief that following a vegetarian diet is implied in the Torah. While it is neither required nor prohibited for Jews to eat meat, a number of medieval scholars of Judaism, such as Joseph Albo and Isaac Arama, regard vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not just out of a concern for animal welfare but also the slaughterer. Jewish vegetarians also cite health and environmental reasons for adopting a vegetarian diet.

The Torah gives precise details on how animals are to be sacrificed and slaughtered (shechita). According to Rabbis Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz and Abraham Isaac Kook the complexity of these laws were intended to discourage the consumption of meat.Kashrut may also be designed to remind Jews of the magnitude of the task undertaken in killing a living being.

Genesis 1:29 states "And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit—to you it shall be for food." Rabbi Kook speaks of vegetarianism as an ideal, and points to the fact that Adam and Eve did not partake of the flesh of animals as all humans and animals were originally commanded by God to only eat plants. According to Richard H. Schwartz, president emeritus of Jewish Vegetarians of North America and author of the book Judaism and Vegetarianism, God's original plan was for mankind to be vegetarian, and that God only later gave permission for man to eat meat in a covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:1–17) as a temporary concession because of Man's weak nature. This concessionary view of meat-consumption is based on the scriptural analysis of several Rishonim.

Some writers assert that the Jewish prophet Isaiah was a vegetarian, on the basis of passages in the Book of Isaiah that extol nonviolence and reverence for life, such as Isaiah 1:11, 11:6-9, 65:25, and 66:3. Some of these writers refer to "the vegetarian Isaiah", "the notorious vegetarian Isaiah", and "Isaiah, the vegetarian prophet".

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