Talmud is filled with recipes, most of which explain how to cook vegetables and grains. Bread is the main course and blessing for bread covers all food other than wine. Rarely do we say a blessing for meat (only when it is served without bread.)
Meat was a precious and limited resource reserved for sabbaths and holidays. Blood and milk sustain life; thus, the Torah asks us not to eat meat and milk together.
The kosher method of slaughtering animals was far ahead of its time. Judaism asks us to take life from animals only on rare occasions. One who brought a cow or lamb for slaughter would first make certain his knife was sharp and had no nicks. He would then cut the animal's jugular vein quickly.
All animals lived free range. Our rabbis could not have imagined the so-called kosher death factories that exist today. Although quick slaughter complies with the letter of the law, it does not fulfill the spirit of the law. An animal must be treated with loving kindness for as long as it lives. The workers must be treated with justice as well.
I was humbled in 2010 to be lauded by The Institute of American and Talmudic Law as "great example" of a "prominent Jewish leader" for ''his dedicated work in developing a Magan Tzedek, a Shield of Righteousness, insuring that animals are treated humanely, and workers treated fairly, in kosher meat packing plants.''
"A righteous man knows the soul of his animal" (Proverbs 12:10). Jewish law requires us to prevent tza'ar ba'alei chayim, the suffering of living creatures. The ancient Chazal, the sages, understood what psychiatrists and criminal behaviorists have since proven: one who harms a helpless animal is more likely to harm a helpless human.
The Talmud tells the story of our great rabbi, Judah Ha-Nasi, who was punished with years of kidney stones and other painful ailments because he was insensitive to the fear of a calf being led to slaughter. He cruelly told the calf: "Go—for this purpose you were created." He was relieved years later from his illness when he showed kindness to baby weasels (Bava Metzia 85a). If we are supposed to treat weasels with kindness, how much greater is the demand to treat other animals and humans with kindness?
Rabbi Arthur Segal is an international lecturer, author, and teacher. Visit him at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org . Follow him on FaceBook at 'Arthur L Segal', on Twitter at RabbiASegal, or his blog at http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com . Email at RabbiASegal@aol.com .
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