In Parshat Shmini we learn about which animals are kosher and which
animals are not. What is the Torah’s view on eating meat?
After Adam and Chava were created (Breisheet 1:28-30) they were told:
God
blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and
master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the
living things that creep on earth.” God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon
all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours
for food. And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky,
and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, I
give all the green plants for food.” And it was so.
At the time of the creation of the
world, everyone was a vegetarian.
After the flood, we see a similar
commandment to Noach (Breisheet 9:1-4) and his family with a slight change due to the desire for meat. The hierarchy that people are above the animals is reinforced.
God
blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fertile and increase, and fill
the earth. The fear and the dread of
you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth and upon all the birds of the
sky—everything with which the earth is astir—and upon all the fish of the sea;
they are given into your hand. Every creature that lives shall be yours to
eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. You must not,
however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it.
Although meat was permitted after
the flood, there was a restriction of not eating “Ever Min HaChai”, flesh with
its life-blood in it, meaning a limb cut from a living animal.
Rambam, who tries to find the
reasons behind the mitzvot explains in Moreh Nevuchim (Guide of the Perplexed)
Part 3, 48:7:
It is prohibited to cut off a limb
of a living animal and eat it, because such an act would produce cruelty and
develop it: Besides, the heathen kings used to do it: It was also a kind of
idolatrous worship to cut off a certain limb of a living animal and to eat it.
We see that the Rambam points out
that we should not be cruel to animals but he also mentions the issue of
staying away from practices that look like Avoda Zara, idol worship.
At Mount Sinai, B’nai Yisrael
received the Torah including the laws of kashrut-keeping kosher- further limiting
the permission to eat meat which was given to Noach. There was now a listing of
which animals we are permitted to eat and how they must be slaughtered.
Rambam explains (48:9):
The commandment concerning the
killing of animals is necessary, because the natural food of man consists of
vegetables and of the flesh of animals. The best meat is that of animals
permitted to be used for food. No doctor has any doubts about this. Since
therefore, the desire of procuring good food necessitates the slaying of
animals, the Law enjoins that the death of the animal should be the easiest. It
is not allowed to torment the animal by cutting the throat in a clumsy manner
or by cutting off a limb while the animal is alive.
Some things have changed since the
days of the Rambam (1138-1204). There are many vegetarians and vegans today who
have found protein alternatives and are able to live healthy lives without
meat. There are plenty of doctors today who don’t have any problem with their
patients refraining from eating meat. Most health care professionals suggest
that meat only be eaten in moderation.
Are the kosher animals the
healthiest? I don’t think that has been proven.
The Akedat Yitzchak (Yitzchak Arama
1420-1494) points out:
The non-Jews who eat pork and the
meat of other impure animals, birds and fish, enjoy good health and are not
affected adversely by these.
What still holds true from the Rambam’s words
is that Shechita (ritually slaughtering the animal) has to be done with the
sharpest blade in order to make the process as painless as possible for the
animal. As well, ripping a limb off a living animal is unacceptable.
Although the ideal in the Garden of
Eden was a vegetarian diet, meat was permitted as part of the Sheva Mitzvot
B’nai Noach as long as one didn’t eat the limb torn off of the animal or the
blood. Once the Kosher laws were set up, the laws of eating meat were limited
to certain animals which had to be killed through Shechita.
There is much speculation over
whether in the days of the Mashiach we will go back to the vegetarian diet of
the Garden of Eden. Rav Yosef Albo (1380-1444) believes that meat eating is an
intermediate phase and that we will go back to vegetarianism.
Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook
(1865-1935), Chief Rabbi of pre-State Israel looked at Zionism as a precursor
to the Messianic Age and therefore wrote about it in “Chazon HaTzimchonut
v’HaShalom,” A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace. He also wrote in “Olat Rayah,”
that the korbanot (sacrifices) in the Third Beit HaMikdash would be vegetarian.
Will we be returning to the diet of
the Garden of Eden?
I guess that we will have to wait
and see.
