VEGETARIAN IDEOLOGY IN TALMUDIC LITERATURE AND TRADITIONAL BIBLICAL EXEGESIS

copy Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden 2006 Review of Rabbinic Judaism 9

1 Rabbi AI Kook The Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace from a Torah Perspective col-lected and edited by David Hakohen ( Jerusalem 1983) p 8 (Heb)

2 See Alfred S Cohen ldquoVegetarianism from a Jewish Perspectiverdquo in Journal ofHalacha and Contemporary Society 1 n 2 (1981) pp 38ndash63 Yitzchok Sliw ldquoMeat TheIssues An Analysis of Vegetarianism in the Light of Biblical Talmudic and RabbinicTeachingsrdquo in LersquoEla 36 (1993) pp 25ndash29 Sliw notes inter alia that as long asthe Temple stood it was impossible to be a vegetarian because of the obligationto eat of the Paschal Lamb (p 27)

3 See Cohen ldquoVegetarianismrdquo pp 40ndash43 EJ Schochet Animal Life in JewishTradition Attitudes and Relationships (New York 1984) pp 168ndash75

4 See for example Roberta Kalechofsky ed Rabbis and Vegetarianism An EvolvingTradition (Marblehead 1995) Richard H Schwartz Judaism and Vegetarianism(Marblehead 1988) Roberta Kalechofsky Vegetarian Judaism A Guide for Everyone(Marblehead 1998)

VEGETARIAN IDEOLOGY IN TALMUDIC LITERATURE

AND TRADITIONAL BIBLICAL EXEGESIS

Yael Shemesh

Bar-Ilan University

It is quite impossible to imagine that the Lord ofall works Who has compassion for all His crea-tures Blessed be He would enact an eternal lawin his ldquovery goodrdquo creation so that the human racecan survive only by transgressing its moral sensi-bilities and shedding blood even if only the bloodof animals1

Let me make it plain at the outset that Judaism is not a vegetarian

religion2 Many Rabbinic texts display a favorable attitude toward

the consumption of meat which they consider to be a satisfying and

wholesome food In addition eating fish and meat on the Sabbath

and festivals is deemed to be an especially appropriate way to honor

those sacred days3 Nevertheless in recent years many works have

been published that try to demonstrate that in the modern world

meat-eating is incompatible with Jewish values Various justifications

of this view are advanced of which the most important are the pain

caused to animals by the modern food industry the ecological damage

caused by the meat-packing industry and the health hazards asso-

ciated with the consumption of meat hazards we are aware of today

but that were unknown in the past4 Even though I accept these

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 141

142 yael shemesh

5 See for example Terry Eagleton Literary Theory An Introduction (2nd editionMinneapolis 1996) For the application of this realization to biblical criticism seefor example Dana Nolan Fewell ldquoFeminist Reading of the Hebrew Bible AffirmationResistance and Transformationrdquo in JSOT 39 (1987) pp 77ndash87 (esp 80ndash81) J Cheryl Exum Fragmented Women Feminist (Sub) version of Biblical Narratives (ValleyForge 1993) p 12 Edward L Greenstein ldquoReading Strategies and the Story ofRuthrdquo in Alice Bach ed Women in the Hebrew Bible (New York 1999) pp 211ndash31(esp 211ndash12)

6 Fewell ldquoFeminist Readingrdquo p 777 See for example Triblersquos pioneering article ldquoDepatriarchalizing in Biblical

Interpretationrdquo in Journal of American Academy of Religion 41 (1973) pp 30ndash48

argumentsmdashespecially the concern for causing pain to animalsmdashmy

aim in the present article is not to offer halakhic or meta-halakhic

arguments in favor of vegetarianism It is rather to extract from the

Talmudic literature and the traditional commentators those voices

that provide support for the vegetarian ideology

Before I begin it is important to note the widespread contemporary

consensus that there is no such thing as objective neutral and totally

unbiased exegesis5 As Dana Nolan Fewell asserts the very choice

of a research topic is the result of subjective factors6 The present

article too was not written from an ldquoobjectiverdquo or ldquoneutralrdquo standpoint

but out of emotional engagement with its theme As a vegetarian

since childhood and a vegan for the last twelve years on the one

hand and as an observant Jew who teaches Bible at the religiously

affiliated Bar-Ilan University on the other I want to see whether it

is possible to build a bridge however flimsy between these two essen-

tial elements in my life You might say that I am trying to do for

the vegetarian party what religious feminist scholars like Phyllis Trible

have done for feminist ideology trying to bring distant realmsmdashtheir

religious faith and their feminismmdashcloser together7

My ideology clearly influenced my choice of topic and decision

to present one side of the coin the more subversive and lesser-known

onemdashthe support for vegetarianism in the Talmudic literature and

traditional commentaries (although here and there I have cited oppos-

ing voices the dominant ones so as to present a fuller picture) Still

I have endeavored and I hope successfully not to distort the texts

and not to allow my ideological fervor to win out over intellectual

honesty

Biblical scholarship related to ecology has flourished in recent

years as attested by the Earth Bible series edited by Norman C Habel

and many other studies But this literature focuses on Mother Earth

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 142

vegetarian ideology in talmudic literature 143

8 See Webbrsquos argument directed at Christian theologians about their disregardfor the suffering of individual animals SH Webb ldquoEcology vs the PeaceableKingdomrdquo in Sounding 79 (1996) pp 239ndash52 (239)

9 See the list of publications in n 4 above10 John Olley ldquoMixed Blessings for Animals The Contrast of Genesis 9rdquo in

Norman C Habel and Shirley Wurst eds The Earth Story in Genesis (Sheffield 2000)pp 130ndash39 (131) See also what he writes about the failure of most scholars tounderstand the harmonious idyll of Isaiah 11 as an ethical demand in his ldquolsquoTheWolf the Lamb and a Little Childrsquo Transforming the Diverse Earth Communityin Isaiahrdquo in Norman C Habel ed The Earth Story in the Psalms and the Prophets(Sheffield 2001) pp 219ndash49 (228)

11 W Sibley Towner ldquoThe Future of Naturerdquo in Interpretation 50 (1996) pp27ndash35 (30ndash31)

12 Ibid p 30 (emphasis mine)13 I have dealt with this in my ldquoCompassion for Animals in Midrashic Literature

and Traditional Biblical Exegesisrdquo in S Vargon et al eds Studies in Bible andExegesis 9 (Elazar Touitou Festschrift) (in press) (Heb)

or Nature and on balanced ecology in general The suffering of

individual animals and animal rights and a fortiori the issue of veg-

etarianism are hardly mentioned by scholars of Bible Talmud and

Jewish philosophy nor by their Christian counterparts8 They seem

to be expressed almost exclusively in the publications of animal rightsrsquo

organizations9 As John Olley notes ldquoanimals can rightly feel slighted

by the lack of attention they receive from commentatorsrdquo10 Even

scholars who do raise questions related to animal welfare generally

do not favor vegetarianism For example W Sibley Towner one of

the few who sees the idyllic picture in Isaiah 11 as an ethical demand

about how we treat the environment11 holds that

Whatever the Bible may say about the future of the natural order ofwhich we are a part we have to accept the biological fact that untillife on earth ceases altogether nature will prey upon itself People willparticipate too because we have to eat12

In the present article I would like to fill in the lacuna concerning

the vegetarian idea in classical Jewish texts I will show that it was

not alien to the sages and the traditional commentators and that

voices in these texts can be invoked to support the vegetarian ideo-

logy Let me make clear that I do not deal here with the more gen-

eral and important idea of not causing pain to animals or of animal

welfare which is dealt with at length in the Talmudic literature and

by the traditional commentatorsmdashsome of their statements are aston-

ishingly forceful and even radical13mdashbut only with direct references

to vegetarianism as it existed in the past at the dawn of humankind

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 143

144 yael shemesh

14 Biblical passages are rendered on the basis of the RSV andor the New JPSmodified as best suits the context Talmudic passages are rendered on the basis ofthe Soncino translation again modified where necessary In the interest of consis-tency biblical and Talmudic quotations embedded in passages from previously pub-lished translations of commentators quoted here have been rendered as they appearin the present article rather than as they appear in the translation cited

15 Midrash Rabbah Genesis trans I Epstein (London 1939 [1961]) vol 1 p 27816 See the commentaries by Rashi Rashbam Abraham ibn Ezra David Kimhi

Nahmanides and Joseph ibn Kaspi on Gen 129ndash30 Midrash Leka˙ Tov on Gen93 and Sforno on Lev 174 On the other hand Gersonides and SD Luzzattoreject the idea that Adam was a vegetarian Gersonides in his commentary onGen 129 harshly assails this opinion which he considers to be a nonbinding derashldquoThis is a huge falsehood from which every intelligent person should fleerdquo According

its feasibility in the present and its restoration in the futuremdashat the

End of Days

The Past The Belief in a Primeval Vegetarian Age

ldquoAdam was not permitted to eat meatrdquo

The prevalent opinion among the Talmudic sages and the tradi-

tional commentators is that the ten antediluvian generations from

Adam to Noah were vegetarians Only after the Flood did the Lord

permit human beings to eat meat (B San 59b)14

Rav Judah said in Ravrsquos name Adam was not permitted to eat meatfor it is written ldquo[See I give you every seed-bearing plant ] theyshall be yours for food and to all the animals on landrdquo (Gen 129ndash30)implying but the beasts of the earth shall not be for you But withthe advent of the sons of Noah it was permitted for it is said ldquo[Everymoving thing that lives shall be food for you] and as I gave you thegreen plants I give you everythingrdquo (Gen 93)

Something similar is stated in Genesis Rabbah 3413

ldquoEvery moving thing that lives shall be food for you Only youshall not eat flesh with its life that is its bloodrdquo (Gen 93f ) R Yoseb R Avin said in R Yohananrsquos name Adam to whom flesh to sat-isfy his appetite was not permitted was not admonished against a limbtorn from the living animal But the children of Noah to whom fleshto satisfy their appetite was permitted were admonished against eat-ing a limb torn from the living animal15

Most classical commentators followed in this vein16 B San 59b

explains the injunction ldquohave dominion over the fish of the sea and

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 144


to him the original sweeping license to eat meat was curtailed after the FloodThe explicit permission to eat meat in the Noah pericope is actually the imposi-tion of these new restrictions Luzzatto too rejects the notion of a vegetarian erathough in more moderate language ldquoIt is most unlikelyrdquo He bases his case bothon the biblical text (Adamrsquos license to dominate the animalsmdashGen 126 and 28)and on human physiology ldquoSince man by his nature his physical structure andthe design of his teeth is equipped to eat both vegetarian and meat alike if theCreator had not wanted man to eat meat He would not have fashioned his bodyto be equipped for itrdquo (The Book of Genesis A Commentary by ShaDal [SD Luzzato]trans Daniel A Klein [Northvale 1998] p 27) But see below for Malbimrsquos differentunderstanding of Gen 129 Luzzatto explains the omission from the creation storyof permission to eat meat by the awkwardness of stating it there explicitly ldquoNowit seems to me that the Holy One blessed is He did not want to tell man explic-itly that he was free to kill living things so as not to accustom his hands to shedblood and so He told him only that he would ldquorulerdquo over all animals The dis-pensation to kill for food is thus to be inferred from the contextrdquo (ibid p 28)

17 Ramban (Nachmanides) Commentary on the Torah Deuteronomy trans and annotCharles B Chavel (New York 1971) p 57

over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon

the earthrdquo (Gen 128) which seems to be incompatible with primeval

vegetarianism as license to use animals to perform work not to eat

them The text there even offers rather far-fetched examples of useful

labor done by fish and birds

Nahmanides in his commentary on Gen 129 invokes the traits

shared by human beings and animals to explain the antediluvian

ban on the consumption of meat

However meat was not permitted to them until the time of ldquosons ofNoahrdquo as is the opinion of our Rabbis And this is the plain mean-ing of the verse The reason for this [prohibition of eating meat] wasthat creatures possessing a moving soul have a certain superiority asregards their soul resembling in a way those who possess the rationalsoul they have the power of choice affecting their welfare and theirfood and they flee from pain and death And Scripture says ldquoWhoknows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of thebeast goes down to the earthrdquo (Ec 321)17

Several midrashim hedge the idea that Adam was allowed only a

vegetarian diet Although they say he was not permitted to kill ani-

mals he did enjoy ldquomeat that fell from the heavensrdquo (B San 59b

Yalqut Shimoni on the Torah Weekly Portion Bereshit 15 sv ldquoRav

Judah saidrdquo) which was provided by the angels ldquoR Judah b Tema

said Adam reclined in the Garden of Eden whilst the ministering

angels roasted flesh and strained wine for himrdquo (B San 59b)

According to the Tosafists on B San 56b Adam was permitted to

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 145

146 yael shemesh

18 Judah ben Bezalel Loumlw The Complete Gur Aryeh Pentateuch ed JD Hartman( Jerusalem 1989) vol 1 p 175 (Heb)

19 Judah ben Bezalel Loumlw Bersquoer ha-golah II ( Jerusalem 1972) p 23

eat the flesh of animals that had died a natural death but not to

kill them himself On the other hand in his commentary on Gen

92 the Maharal of Prague R Judah Loumlw (1512()ndash1609) asserts

that ldquoAdam was not permitted [to eat] meat even if [the animal]

had died a natural deathrdquo18

The question of antediluvian vegetarianism is bound up with the

question of why the animals were created The dominant Jewish

view is that they were created to serve human beings as stated by

Simeon b Eleazar ldquoWere they not created for naught else but to

serve merdquo (M Qid 414 [trans Danby] et passim) Nevertheless

some other passages hold that the animals were not created to be

eaten by human beings For example

ldquoGod said lsquoSee I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon allthe earthrsquordquo (Gen 129) From this you learn that Adam was not per-mitted to eat meat because the Holy One Blessed be He did not cre-ate His creatures to diemdashfor had Adam not sinned no being woulddie Should you ask why Adam was not permitted to eat meat afterhe had transgressedmdash[the answer is that] this would be a case of atransgressor emerging rewarded (Midrash Aggadah [ed Buber] Gen129 sv ldquoGod saidrdquo)

This is also the view of Rabbi Loumlw who goes further than the

midrash and holds that the animals were created for their own sake

Everything like grasses and fruits were created for the sake of ani-mals which are flesh for He gave them everything to eat as the versestates ldquoI give yourdquo etc From this you see that everything else wascreated for the animals while the animals were created in the worldfor their own sake Even though animals serve as food for humanbeings this was not the case when the world was created for humanbeings were not permitted to kill an animal and eat it until the timeof Noah19

In this context we should also cite the Talmud ldquoYou are assuming

that a living animal is intended for food in reality it is intended for

breeding purposesrdquo (B Hul 14a)

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146


20 So too the Hizzequni ad loc quoting Bechor-Shor almost verbatim but with-out attribution See also David Kimhi on Gen 94 and Nahmanides on Gen 129and Lev 1711

21 See also Samson Raphael Hirsch on Gen 129ndash3022 Shlomo Ephraim Luntshitz Keli yaqar ha-shalem lsquoal ha-Torah ed Avraham

Rabinovitch ( Jerusalem 2001) vol 1 p 59 So too Isaac b Arama Sefer lsquoAqedatYiszlig˙aq ( Jerusalem 1961) vol 2 sect41 (commentary on the weekly portion of Beshala˙)

Why Were Human Beings Permitted to Eat Meat after the Flood

Various opinions are offered as to why human beings were permitted

to eat meat after the floodmdashsome of them complementary others

mutually contradictory R Joseph Bechor-Shor in his commentary

on Gen 93 sv ldquoas I gave you the green plants I give you every-

thingrdquo explains that ldquobecause they were saved in the ark that you

made and their salvation came through you now they are yours to

do with as you likerdquo20 This explanation is also advanced by Meir

Malbim (1809ndash1879) in his commentary on Gen 93 along with

two others The first is that human physiology and the nature of

vegetable foods changed after the Flood

In Adamrsquos time human bodies were strong and fruits had not yet beencorrupted and could nourish human beings like meat does But afterthe flood foodstuffs deteriorated and human beings were made readyto spread to the corners of the earth and far islands which from thattime became cold and hot so meat was needed to keep them healthy21

According to the second explanation as long as human beings were

only of the animate degree they were not permitted to consume ani-

mals which are of the same degree Only after the Flood when

they ascended to the degree of rational being (medabber) were they

permitted to eat the flesh of animalsmdasha license that benefits the ani-

mals consumed as well

Just as there is no injustice if animals eat plants for the latter are thuselevated by being converted into animal bodies so there is no injus-tice if rational beings eat animals by which the latter are elevated andconverted into the body of a rational creature as the verse states ldquoasI gave you the green plants I give you everythingrdquo

R Shlomo Ephraim Luntshitz (154550ndash1619) offers a similar expla-

nation in his Keli yaqar on Gen 92 ldquoThe reason that Adam was

not permitted to eat meat is that all uneducated persons (lsquoammei ha-

rsquoareszlig) are forbidden to eat meat but Noah who studied the Torah

was permitted to do sordquo22 On a different track SD Luzzatto (one

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh

He explains there that the sect that was given permission to eat meat in Noahrsquostime was on a higher spiritual level than the animals To this Nahmanides adds(in rsquoIggeret ha-qodesh chap 4 which deals with wholesome foods) that animals profitwhen human beings slaughter and eat them because in this way they are raisedfrom the degree of the animal body to that of the human body

23 For the decline of the generations as the reason for meat-eating see KookThe Vision of Vegetarianism p 13 On vegetarian (and even vegan) ideology in Kookrsquoswritings see Yael Shemesh ldquoThe Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace in the Philosophyof Rabbi Kookrdquo in Teva-On u-vrirsquout 105 (2000) pp 13ndash14 (Heb)

24 Saadyarsquos Commentary on Genesis ed with Introduction Translation and Notes byMoshe Zucker (New York 1984) p 260 (Heb) David Kimhi offers a similar viewin his commentary on Is 116 although he advances a different opinion in hiscommentary on Gen 129 meat-eating was not allowed because the Lord knewthat Noah would later save the animals from the Flood and wanted a way to rewardhim for his exertionsmdashsince God does not detract from the reward of any creature

of the few who does not believe in an antediluvian vegetarian age)

holds that it was actually the sins of the generation of the Flood

that resulted in the explicit license to eat meat which he asserts

had been implicit before then (his commentary on Gen 130) Like

Luzzatto Rabbi AI Kook (1865ndash1935) thought that the decline of

the generations and moral weakness of the human race were the

sources of the permission granted it to consume meat unlike Luzzatto

however Kook did believe in antediluvian vegetarianism23

Saadia Gaon in his commentary on Gen 129 ignores the moral

dimension but offers a pragmatic rationale for the ban on meat-eat-

ing before the Flood According to him this prohibition which

applied to both human beings and animals was only temporary

because in that age the population of each species was very small

and ldquohad they eaten one another all of them would have become

extinct Consequently He deferred [the permission to eat meat] until

they had multiplied and allowed them to do so only thenrdquo24 (Saadia

ignores the fact that the population number of each species animals

in the generations before the Flood certainly far exceeded the number

that left the Ark with Noah and his family) Approaching the matter

from a different angle Isaac Abravanel on Gen 93 advances a prag-

matic reason for the new permission to eat meat replacing the ear-

lier ban the original divine intention was that human beings be

vegetarians But the Flood devastated the flora so that Noah and

his sons could not survive on plants alone ldquoHad they waited to eat

until they sowed fields and planted vineyards they would have died

of hunger So He permitted them to eat meatrdquo

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148


25 See also his commentary on Is 116ndash7 concerning meatrsquos baneful influenceon the soul Before Abravanel this argument had been advanced by the philosopherJoseph Albo (ca 1380ndash1444) His explanation for the belated permission to eatmeat is that ldquothe Torah spoke only to ward off the evil inclination just as it per-mitted them the beautiful captive in the same fashionrdquo As for the spiritual impactof meat-eating on the human soul he cautions ldquoin addition to the fact that killinganimals partakes of cruelty wrath anger and teaching human beings the bad traitof shedding blood for nothing eating the flesh of some animals makes the souldense foul and dullrdquo (Sefer ha-Iqqarim 315)

26 lsquoAqedat Yiszlig˙aq vol 2 sect41 For an abridged English version see Akeydat Yitzchak

The Manna A Divine Attempt to Reinstitute a Vegetarian Diet for

the Israelites

An inference that can be drawn from Abravanelrsquos commentary is

that God wanted to reinstitute vegetarianism for the Israelites only

after He delivered them from Egypt In his commentary on Exod

164 he asks why the Lord provided the Israelites with ldquobread from

the skyrdquo (ie manna) rather than meat and replies

The Holy One Blessed be He told Moses Meat is not an essentialfood but is rather a matter of gluttony filling the belly and an over-whelming craving In addition meat generates maleficent and cruelblood in human beings This is why you find that the predatory car-nivorous beasts and birds are cruel and bad But sheep and cattlechickens turtledoves and doves which live on the grass of the fieldhave no cruelty or wickedness This is why the prophet foresaw thatat the time of the future redemption ldquothe lion like the ox shall eatstrawrdquo (Is 117 also 6525) He explained the reason when he saidthat ldquothey shall not hurt or destroy rdquo (Is 119 also 6525) This iswhy the Holy One Blessed be He did not tell Moses to give meat tothe Israelites but only bread which is a fitting and essential food forthe human constitution This is what is meant by ldquoI will rain downbread for you from the skyrdquo (Exod 164)25

Abravanelrsquos interpretation seems to have been influenced by that of

Isaac Arama (ca 1420ndash1494) in his lsquoAqedat Yiszlig˙aq on the weekly

portion of Beshala˙ Arama argues that the divine plan was for the

Israelites to be satisfied with the manna which is the food best suited

to the human body and intellect The people however longed for

the fleshpots of Egypt where they could sate themselves on bread

(Exod 163) The Lord initially responded with bread only and not

meat as we read ldquoI will rain down bread for you from the skyrdquo

(Exod 164) This was because He wanted them to rise to the lofti-

est spiritual level that of those who opt for an ascetic life and refrain

from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh

Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the Torah trans and condensed by EliyahuMunk ( Jerusalem and New York 2001) vol 1 p 386

27 The Pentateuch translated and explained by Samson Raphael Hirsch trans intoEnglish by Isaac Levy (2nd edition New York 1971) vol 4 (Numbers) p 176

28 Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael ed Jacob Z Lauterbach (Philadelphia 1933) vol 2tractate vayassalsquo chap 3 p 105 See also Rashi Nahmanides and Midrash SekhelTov (ed Buber) on Exod 166 The assertion that meat was given to the Israeliteswith a ldquofrowning countenancerdquo is based on the verse ldquoAnd Moses said lsquoWhen theLord gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the fullrsquordquo(Exod 168)

With regard to the fact that meat was not essential for the nour-

ishment of the Israelites in the wilderness Samson Raphael Hirsch

in his commentary on Num 1113 asserts that Moses was angered

by the peoplersquos demand for meat not only because they were ask-

ing for something that he clearly could not provide but also because

ldquowhat they are asking for is something dispensable and superfluousrdquo

And he adds ldquojust because the demand was for something quite

dispensable and superfluous neither Moses nor the people could

expect that God would grant it in some miraculous mannerrdquo27

The Mekhilta draws a distinction between the manna and quail

given to the Israelites

ldquoAnd in the morning you shall knowrdquo From this you learn thatthe manna was given to Israel with bright countenance The quailbecause they asked for it out of full stomach was given to them witha frowning countenance But the manna which they were justified inasking was given to them with a bright countenance28

The sages used the reference to the time of daymdashmorning versus

eveningmdashto support a symbolic statement about the Lordrsquos positive

attitude toward eating manna and negative attitude toward eating

meat

The Present Rabbisrsquo and Commentatorsrsquo Reservations about Meat Eating

In general the Talmudic sages and traditional commentators took

meat-eating for granted None of them preach or recommend that

their flock or readers switch to a vegetarian regimen In several

places we find the didactic tale of Judah the Prince who when a

calf being led off to slaughter fled to him for protection dismissed

it with the words ldquofor this you were createdrdquo In return he suffered

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


29 B BM 85a Y Kil 93 (32b) et passim30 Cf Cohen ldquoVegetarianismrdquo p 48 Schochet Animal Life p 16631 See for example Gen Rabbah 372

fierce painsmdashmeasure for measure because he had not displayed

compassion for the animal Heaven showed him no compassion29

But this tale is not a sermon to promote vegetarianism but a call

for the humane treatment of animals30 Judah was freed of his pains

not after he adopted a vegetarian diet but when many years after

the incident with the calf he showed compassion for young weasels

(others say kittens) that were found in his house and did not allow

his housekeeper to sweep them out the door

Nevertheless the Talmudic literature and traditional commentators

do present the idea of limiting the consumption of meat and even

include statements that encourage vegetarianism or indicate reservations

about killing animals Both the Talmudic sages and the traditional

commentators were familiar with the phenomenon of vegetarianism

one commentatormdashJoseph Ibn Kaspimdashreports that he himself adopted

such a diet (see below)

Hunting

Simeon b Pazai expounded the verse ldquoHappy is the man who has

not followed the counsel of the wicked or taken the path of sin-

nersrdquo (Ps 11) ldquothat is he who does not attend contests of wild

beasts [qinigiyyon]rdquo (B AZ 18b) Rashi glosses qinigiyyon as meaning

ldquohunting using dogs and everything they did was for sport and plea-

surerdquo The midrash views Nimrod of whom the Bible reports that

ldquohe was the first on earth to be a mighty man He was a mighty

hunter before the Lordrdquo (Gen 108ndash9) with extreme disfavor31

According to Midrash Aggadah (ed Buber) on Gen 108 Nimrod

was the first person to eat meat ldquoBefore Nimrod human beings did

not eat meat until Nimrod came and hunted and ate them This

is why it says that lsquohe began to be a [ie was the first] mighty

hunterrsquordquo The midrashrsquos disapproval of the first hunter is evident

from what comes next ldquolsquoHe was a mighty hunterrsquo This means that

he hunted men [beriyot] and killed them lsquoBefore the Lordrsquo This

means that he knew his Master and intended to rebel against him

lsquoHe was a mighty hunter before the Lordrsquo This refers to Esau

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh

32 R Ezekiel Landau of Prague (1713ndash1793) asked to rule whether a Jewishestate owner could go hunting on his land expressed his vigorous opposition tohunting (even though he did not ban it) He wrote inter alia ldquoI am most aston-ished about the essence of the thing We have not found any hunter except forNimrod and Esau This is not the way of Abraham Isaac and Jacobrdquo (ResponsaNodalsquo biyhudah 2nd edition Yoreh Delsquoah 10 [Heb])

33 M Qid 414 (B Qid 82a) Y Qid 411 (65b) Soferim 157 Simoons men-tions various societies in which butchers were relegated to an inferior caste andsometimes even deemed untouchables For example ldquothe ancient Guanche of theCanary Islands did not allow their professional butchers to enter the homes of otherpeople to handle their property or to associate with anyone but those of their owncallingrdquo (Frederick J Simoons Eat Not This Flesh Food Avoidances from Prehistory to thePresent [2nd edition Madison 1994] p 313)

who is called lsquoa skilful hunterrsquo (Gen 2527)rdquo The midrash evidently

draws a link between harming animals and harming human beings

someone who overcame the basic human revulsion at shedding the

blood of animals is a villain who also hunts and kills human beings

As for ldquobefore the Lordrdquo which might be interpreted as favorable

the midrash reads it negatively even though he knows the Lord he

intends to rebel against Him32

Slaughtering Animals for Food

The condemnation goes beyond those who hunt for pleasure Even

ritual slaughterers who do their job not for pleasure but to satisfy

the communityrsquos need for kosher meat receive the back of the hand

in the dictum reported by Judah in the name of Abba Guria ldquoThe

worthiest of butchers [ie ritual slaughterers] is Amaleqrsquos partnerrdquo33

The underlying assumption seems to be that a person who can

engage in this profession which involves killing is contaminated by

cruelty the hallmark trait of Amaleq

This at least is how this passage is understood by Nahmanides

who quotes it approvingly in his commentary on the precept of send-

ing away the mother bird He refers to the educational rationale of

all the precepts associated with animals notably the ban on slaugh-

tering an animal and its offspring on the same day (Lev 2228) and

that of taking both the mother bird and her fledglings (Deut 226)

But the reason for the prohibition is to teach us the trait of compas-sion and that we should not be cruel for cruelty proliferates in manrsquossoul as it is known that butchers those who slaughter large oxen andasses are men of blood they that slaughter are extremely cruel It is

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152


34 Ramban (Nachmanides) Commentary on the Torah Deuteronomy p 27135 Sifre A Tannaitic Commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy ed Reuven Hammer

(New Haven 1986) p 128

on account of this [cruelty] that the rabbis have said ldquoThe worthiestof butchers is Amaleqrsquos partnerrdquo (B Qid 82a)34

Eating Meat

Disapproval of those who gorge themselves on meat and praise for

those who derive the bulk of their nourishment from the plant king-

dom may underlie the Talmudic explanation of Prov 333 ldquoThe

curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked but He blesses the

abode of the righteousrdquo (B San 94b)

R Yohanan said What is meant by ldquoThe curse of the Lord is onthe house of the wicked but He blesses the abode of the righteousrdquoldquoThe curse of the Lord is on the house of the wickedrdquo refers to Pekahthe son of Ramaliah who ate forty sersquoahs of young birds as a [mere]dessert ldquobut He blesses the abode of the righteousrdquo applies to Hezekiahking of Judah who ate [but] a litra of vegetables for his [entire] meal

The Talmudic sages believed that one should limit the consumption

of meat although they seem to have been driven by economic rather

than ethical motives Expounding the verse ldquoyou may slaughter any

of the cattle or sheep that the Lord gives you and you may eat

to your heartrsquos contentrdquo (Deut 1221) Sifre on Deuteronomy (sect75)

holds that

One should not eat meat until he has cattle and flocks You mightthink that he must slaughter all of his flock and all of his herd hencethe verse says ldquoof thy herdrdquo not all of thy herd and ldquoof thy flockrdquonot all of thy flock35

This idea is expanded at B Hul 84a

Why does Scripture say ldquoWho takes in huntingrdquo (Lev 1713) TheTorah teaches a rule of conduct (derekh rsquoereszlig) that a person should noteat meat except after such preparation as this [Rashi As if he hadhunted and it is not readily available for himmdashthat is he should noteat meat frequently so that he not become poor]

Our rabbis taught ldquoWhen the Lord your God enlarges your terri-tory as He has promised you and you say I will eat fleshrdquo (Deut1220) The Torah here teaches a rule of conduct (derekh rsquoereszlig) that aperson should not eat meat unless he has a special appetite for it

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh

36 Joseph Ibn Kaspi Tirat kesef (Mishneh kesef 1) ed Last (Pressburg 1905 reprintJerusalem 1970) p 35

I might think this means a person should buy [meat] in the marketand eat it The text therefore states ldquothen you may kill any of yourherd or your flockrdquo (v 21) I might then think this means he shouldkill all his herd and eat and all his flock and eat The text thereforestates ldquoOf your herdrdquo and not all your herd ldquoof your flockrdquo and notall your flock Hence R Eleazar b Azariah said A man who has amaneh may buy for his stew a litra of vegetables if he has ten manehhe may buy for his stew a litra of fish if he has fifty maneh he maybuy for his stew a litra of meat

That is there are two conditions for eating meat the economic

wherewithal and a genuine appetite for it But even when these con-

ditions exist one should not be a glutton

The Talmud (ibid) continues by expounding Prov 2727 ldquolsquoAnd

there will be goatsrsquo milk enoughrsquo it is enough for a person to sus-

tain himself with the milk of the goats and lambs in his home

lsquoAnd life for thy maidensrsquo Mar Zutra the son of R Nahman said

Discipline your maidens in the way of life hence the Torah teaches

a rule of conduct that a parent should not accustom his son to flesh

and winerdquo Rashi explains first that a person should be satisfied with

the goatsrsquo milk and not slaughter them for their meat and second

that they should teach their children to be satisfied with ldquolight foodsrdquo

Thus he seems to be adding a nutritional reasonmdashthe greater digestibil-

ity of light foodsmdashto the economic reason advanced by the sages

Joseph ibn Kaspi viewed animals as our ldquonearest genusrdquo and

ldquobrothersrdquo36 because both human beings and animals belong to the

animal kingdom His reservations about meat-eating are evident in

what he writes about the precept of sending away the mother bird

(Deut 226) and reference to the original divine intention that human

beings adhere to a vegetarian diet

ldquoShould your soul yearn to eat meatrdquo that we not kill them withoutneed but only for food because it is human nature to have an appetitefor meat But the authentic intention is that we eat no meat and make do withplants Accordingly after Creation we were permitted only the grassesof the field Only after the Flood did the consumption of animalsspread which is as if we were to eat our parents because they are our nearestgenus This is why the Torah commanded us to have compassion forthem as we remember the precept ldquoit and its offspringrdquo (Lev 2228)and ldquodo not seethe a kid in its motherrsquos milkrdquo (Exod 2319 et pas-sim) and ldquoshould you encounter a birdrsquos nestrdquo (Deut 226) If the Torah

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


37 Joseph Ibn Kaspi Mishneh kesef Miszligraf le-kesef (Mishneh kesef 2) ed Last (Pressburg1906 repr Jerusalem 1970) p 294 emphasis added

38 Ibn Kaspi Tirat kesef p 35 At the same time as he explains the proximitybetween human beings and plants is less than that between human beings and ani-mals Consequently human beings have less of a duty to plants than to animalsOn Ibn Kaspirsquos notions of ecology see Hanna Kasher ldquoFor Man Is a Tree of theField On Ecology in the Thought of R Joseph Ibn Kaspirdquo in Naftali Rothenberged Meditations on the Parasha The Weekly Torah Portion as an Inspiration for Jewish Thoughtand Creativity (Tel Aviv 2005) pp 566ndash575 (Heb)

39 Tirat kesef pp 32ndash33

could restrict us more it would do so but because our proximity to the ani-mal type is less than our proximity to the rational type He dimin-ished and minimized the precepts out of His love and His compassion37

The practical nutritional implications of Ibn Kaspirsquos notion of the

closeness between man the rational being and the lower animals

are slight given that he also viewed plants as brothers and com-

panions because animals too belong to the vegetative kind38 In

fact Ibn Kaspi alleges an economic rather than an ethical rationale

for his own decision to stop eating meat In a rather amusing account

he describes how his diet was influenced by the biblical story of

Elijah After stating his view that a scholar must support himself

financially and not depend on charity he tells what happened to

himself Formerly he had believed that it was appropriate for those

pursuing health to eat bread and meat every morning and evening

this being the regime on which Elijah was maintained by the ravens

when he hid in Wadi Kerith (1 Kings 176) But two years later

when his economic situation had deteriorated he reviewed his expenses

including those on food When he went back to the story of Elijah

he was delighted to discover that after the prophet left Wadi Kerith

where he lived on bread and meat he resided at Godrsquos command

in the house of the widow of Zarefath where he ate only bread

cooked in oil (1 Kings 1711)39

The Talmudic sages saw moderation in the consumption of meat

as a virtue in which one should educate onersquos children ldquoThe Torah

teaches a rule of conduct that a parent should not accustom his son

to flesh and winerdquo (B Hul 84a) It is no accident that one of the

traits of the wayward and rebellious son according to the sages is

that he consumes meat and wine gluttonously (M San 82 B San

70a see Rashi on Deut 2118)

Nahmanides in his commentary on Lev 192 referring to the

injunction ldquoyou shall be holyrdquo notes that one may be ldquoa sordid

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh

40 Judah ben Bezalel Loumlw Netivot lsquoOlam ed H Pardes (Tel Aviv 1988) vol 2Netiv derekh rsquoereszlig chap 1 p 614

41 After B Ber 32a ldquoA lion does not roar over a basket of straw but over abasket of fleshrdquo This dictum of the school of Yannai is cited in the Talmud aspart of a discussion that people sin when things are good and comfortable for themas in the folk saying quoted later on the page ldquoA full stomach is a bad sortrdquo

person within the permissible realm of the Torahrdquo (naval bi-rshut ha-

Torah) and do unseemly things indulging to excess in sexual inter-

course drinking wine and eating meat and excusing himself by

saying that these acts are not forbidden by the Torah But the appro-

priate and seemly path according to him is to be abstemious in all

these matters

Judah Loumlw the Maharal of Prague points out the importance of

meticulous obedience to the sagesrsquo instructions especially with regard

to the appropriate diet

It is a great sin and transgression if one does not follow some of [theseinstructions] so we must be meticulous about them The mainthing is what one eats because it is extremely contemptible in the eyesof men when a person is immoderate in his diet and a glutton Asthey said in the chapter ldquoCovering the Bloodrdquo (B Hull 84a) ldquoOurrabbis taught lsquoWhen the Lord your God enlarges your territory asHe has promised you and you say I will eat fleshrsquo (Deut 1220) TheTorah here teaches a rule of conduct that a person should not eatmeat unless he has a special appetite for itrdquo40

An uncompromisingly negative view of an appetite for meat is

advanced by R Shlomo Ephraim Luntshits Rabbi Loumlwrsquos successor

as rabbi of Prague in his Torah commentary Keli yaqar There with

regard to Deut 1220 he writes

ldquoWhen the Lord your God enlarges your territory and you say lsquoIwill eat fleshrsquordquo (Deut 1220 [RSV]) He indicated that a person lustsafter his appetites only from extreme expansion just as a lion roarsonly over a basket of meat41 This is why he said ldquoWhen the Lord enlarges your territoryrdquo This will lead you to ripping the veil of shamefrom your face until you say unabashedly ldquoI will eat fleshrdquo This issomewhat similar to casting off the yoke of heaven and inquiring ldquowhatis the location of the animal-offeringsrdquo The reason for all this is thatthe place that the Lord selects will be far from you [after Deut 1221and 1424] for everyone who draws closer and closer to the Lordrsquossanctuary is overcome by extreme fear of the Kingdom of Heaven asit says ldquorevere My sanctuaryrdquo (Lev 1930) This means that the sanc-tuary is why the fear of the Kingdom of Heaven is on you But ifyou are far away from that place the Lord is far from your vital

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156


42 Keli yaqar ed Rabinovitch vol 2 p 72543 Cf Rashi on B Hul 84a quoted above44 Keli yaqar ed Rabinovitch vol 2 p 726

organs and accordingly all day you will lust and crave and not beashamed to say ldquoI will eat fleshrdquo42

After explaining that the Lord permitted us to eat meat when we

are overpowered by a craving for it he enumerates the restrictions

imposed by the Talmudic sages and even refines their remarks As

he understands it the phrase ldquojust as the gazelle or the hart is eaten

so you may eat of itrdquo (Deut 1222) puts strict limits on the con-

sumption of meat For if a person gets into the habit of eating his

domesticated livestock which he can do without excessive effort or

danger he might eat meat every day43 But ldquoif he eats only after he

has hunted animals or birds in the forests and grasslands which

involves many pains and much danger to hunt them his appetite

would be diminished because the eating is not worth the magni-

tude of the discomfort and effortrdquo ldquoAnd because of this effort he

eats less of themmdashin the same fashion he should eat butcherrsquos meatrdquo44

The Tanhuma too reads ldquoand you say lsquoI will eat fleshrsquordquo as a

directive to limit onersquos consumption of meat ldquoR Eliezer b R Joshua

said lsquoHence you learn that a person should not buy a pound of

meat until he consults with his householdrsquordquo (Midrash Tanhuma

[Warsaw] Rersquoeh sect6) In Ishmaelrsquos opinion the Israelites in the

wilderness were forbidden to eat meat at will unless they first offered

the animal as a sacrifice in the Sanctuary (B Hul 16b) A restric-

tion of another sort which does not relate to the quantity eaten or

the period during which the consumption of the flesh of non-sacrificial

animals was permitted or forbidden but seeks rather to exclude an

entire class from eating meat is the opinion that ldquoan lsquoam ha-rsquoareszlig[uneducated person] may not eat the flesh of cattle for it is said

lsquoThis is the law [Torah] of the beast and of the fowlrsquo (Lev 1146)

whoever engages in [the study of ] the Torah may eat the flesh of

beast and fowl but he who does not engage in [the study of ]

the Torah may not eat the flesh of beast and fowlrdquo (B Pes 49b)

The conventional explanation is that an uneducated person is not

proficient in the regulations that govern ritual slaughter the ban

on his eating meat is intended to prevent him from sinning But

Abravanel in his commentary on Gen 126 suggests another reason

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh

45 On this see his Yesod morarsquo ve-sod Torah ed Joseph Cohen and Uriel Simon(Ramat Gan 2002) index sv ldquoseparating from corporeality and materialityrdquo

46 See the remarks attributed to Meir B Men 43b47 Yesod morarsquo 212 See The Secret of the Torah A Translation of Abraham Ibn Ezrarsquos

Sefer Yesod Mora Ve-Sod Ha-Torah trans and annotated by H Norman Strickman(Northvale 1995) p 54

ldquoThe sages held that an uneducated person is forbidden to eat meat

and this is not astonishing since he is in no way superior to the

animals and it is not appropriate that someone who is like them rule

over themrdquo

As already noted Abravanel believes that ldquomeat is not an essen-

tial food but is rather a matter of gluttony filling the belly and an

overwhelming craving In addition meat generates maleficent and

cruel blood in human beingsrdquo (on Exod 164) Moreover in his

commentary on Is 116ndash7 describing the Lordrsquos apprehension when

he permitted human beings to eat meat he establishes a cause-and-

effect relationship between eating the flesh of animals and murder-

ing human beings ldquoWhen the Holy One Blessed be He gave Noah

and his sons permission to eat meat He said lsquofor your lifeblood I

will surely require a reckoningrsquo (Gen 95) because of His appre-

hension that the cruelty and malevolence that meat-eating would

generate in them would lead them to start killing one anotherrdquo

Abraham ibn Ezra (1089ndash1164) saw abstinence from meat as a

virtuemdashnot for moral reasons but as part of his view of the virtue

of ascetic separation from material comforts45 In his philosophical

work Sefer Yesod morarsquo ve-sod ha-Torah he wrote

However all of these acts are not obligatory for there is no com-mandment to eat meat There is no doubt that one who fasts andkeeps himself from eating meat as Daniel did will receive a greaterreward from God The same applies to one who fasts every day anddoes not recite grace after meals Similarly a Nazirite is not obligatedto recite Kiddush and Havdalah or to drink four cups of wine at theseder The obligation for the aforementioned is only upon one whodrinks wine I make mention of the above because I heard that a piousscholar used to wander in the streets searching for someone with afowl so that he might ritually slaughter it The pious scholarrsquos mindwas on the blessing46 He wanted to fulfill the daily quota of a hun-dred blessings47

R Isaac Arama too saw avoiding meat as a virtue and a lofty ideal

although he believed that such a diet was appropriate only for the

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158


48 Arama lsquoAqedat Yiszlig˙aq p 70 (English p 385)49 See for example Moshe Alshekhrsquos commentary on Dan 113 and 17 (Moshe

Alshekh Sefer ˙avaszligelet hasharon [Warsaw 1876])50 ldquoThe Gaon said that this was a great miracle but this reading is unneces-

saryrdquo ldquoThe Gaonrdquo is how Ibn Ezra refers to Saadia but I have not been able tofind any suggestion in Saadiarsquos commentary on Daniel that Daniel and his com-rades were the beneficiaries of a miracle

elite few In Aramarsquos view the human race is divided into three

degrees

The lowest degree consists of the uneducated and ignorant whose

rational faculty is weak Of them the Talmudic sages said ldquoAn une-

ducated person (lsquoam ha-rsquoareszlig) may not eat meatrdquo (B Pes 49b) Arama

explains that this is because the rank of the eater and eaten would

be the same Because every creature is nourished by creatures of an

inferior rank the unlearned are not permitted to feed on what is

essentially of their same degree

The intermediate degree consists of persons whose rational faculty

does not rise above the mundane Because they are on a higher level

than the animals they received permission to eat meatmdashas in the

time of Noah

The highest degree consists of the elite few who do not need to

eat meat because their intellect is so developed that it no longer

requires the vital force provided by meat These people live an ascetic

life in the mountains or forests far away from other human beings

and meat foods48

As for whether a vegetarian diet is adequate to keep human beings

healthy we have already noted that the dominant thread among the

Talmudic sages and commentators is that meat is beneficial if not

indeed essential for health There are dissenting views though The

various interpretations of the story of Daniel and his comrades who

for reasons of kashrut sustained themselves on a vegetarian diet in

a foreign land (Daniel 1) reveals the commentatorsrsquo positions on this

issue For some of them the fact that at the expiration of the ten-

day trial Daniel and his comrades looked healthier and plumper than

the children who had eaten the royal food is evidence of a miracle49

But Abraham ibn Ezra in his commentary on Dan 115 rejects

this notion50 He explains that Daniel and his comrades lived on

ricemdashthe food of the people of Indiamdashwhich is a nourishing food

even more so than wheat and endowed with the property of cleans-

ing the blood He also believes that they ate various types of pulses

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh

51 With regard to the nutritional value of the foods eaten by Daniel and his com-rades see Gersonides on Dan 112ndash14 He too writes that they ate various pulsesthat are good for onersquos health and some of which purge the liver As for the gen-eral statement accepted today that food that people enjoy is better for the bodythan food that repels them see Tanhumrsquos comment on Dan 115 ldquolsquofatter in fleshrsquoplump and round which is not astonishing under Divine providence because foodthat has slight nutritional value with which they are happy and comfortable ismore nourishing and beneficial for the body than fat foods that are full of nutrientsif it disgusts those who are forced to eat itrdquo (in Daniel with the translation and com-mentary of Rabbenu Saadia b Joseph Fayumi [of blessed memory] ed JD Kappah [ Jerusalem1981]) (Heb)

52 Isaac Abravanel Commentary on the Prophets and Writings Sefer Malsquoyenei ha-yeshulsquoah(commentary on Daniel) ( Jerusalem 1960) With regard to the damage caused byexcessive consumption of meat see Sforno on Num 1120 sv ldquoand it becomesloathsome to yourdquo

which grow in hot countries like Spain and Egypt and ldquomake the

face glow more than wine doesrdquo and purge the liver He considers

rice and beans to be nourishing and healthy foods especially because

ldquoany food that is attractive to the soul is more beneficial than food

the soul does not like even though it be warm and moist like the

generation of life For these [children] ate what their soul desired

and it was good for themrdquo51

Abravanel too speaks of the health benefits of a vegetarian diet

in general and of that followed by Daniel and his comrades in par-

ticularmdashthough he does not overlook the element of divine providence

After explaining that Daniel deliberately asked the steward for a ten-

day trial (Dan 112) because according to physicians it takes up

to ten days for the pernicious effects of eating bad foods to be evident

he continues as follows

God who saw their meritorious intention consented to their plan Soafter the trial they looked well and full that is they were healthymdasheven healthier than the other childrenmdashbecause there is no doubt thata diet of meat and wine for all that it is full of nutrition and energycauses many ailments when a person is saturated with them whereasa diet of pulses being simpler is healthier This is why at the begin-ning of creation when human beings ate only plants and drank watertheir lives were longer But when Noah came and was permitted toeat meat and he added the drinking of wine their life spans dimin-ished to the range we have today52

Malbim in his commentary on Dan 112 reads Danielrsquos request of

the steward as an encomium of simple foods which because they

are beneficial not only to the body but also to clarity of mind and

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160


53 By contrast Alshekh on Dan 117 says just the opposite He believes thatroyal fare not pulses is best suited to clear thinking But the Lord worked a mir-acle for Daniel and his comrades who exceeded all the others in their wisdom(Alshekh Oacuteavaszligelet hasharon)

54 See also his comment on Gen 93 referred to above (sect12)

soul are best suited to persons who have chosen an ascetic and con-

templative life53

As if he had said that it is easier to achieve the goal of being hand-some and healthy-looking with simple foods than with delicacies thatcause many chronic ailments and that for those who are attracted toa life of asceticism and contemplation simple foods are more con-ducive to both the clearness of their mind and the health of theirbodymdashas he will demonstrate to him by a ten-day trial Abravanelciting the physicians reported that it takes up to ten days for the per-nicious effects of eating bad foods to be evident after which their harmcan be seen in their faces

One can argue of course that Malbim did not agree with Danielrsquos

reasoning and thought that Daniel used this merely as an excuse to

avoid eating non-kosher foods for in his commentary on Dan 115

he explains the healthy appearance of Daniel and his friends as the

result of divine providence ldquoit being unnatural since pulses cannot

fatten the body as meat and wine dordquo But he does not seem to

have believed that Daniel was telling an outright untruth and did

see some advantages in his vegetarian diet (even though it is not fat-

tening) for in his commentary on Gen 129 he asserts that human

anatomy and physiology is not suited to meat-eating and praises the

tranquil nature of peoples who abstain from meat

Scholars have found that human beings are not inherently designedto live on meat as can be seen from their teeth and jaws The ani-mals that have a placid nature are herbivores similarly many nationsin India who live on fruit are more placid

He adds that the human race originated in East Asia which is home

to many plants that can serve as a substitute for meat ldquoOnly the

sons of Noah who were going to be scattered over the entire earth

were permitted meatrdquo54

Both the Talmudic sages and traditional commentators were famil-

iar with the phenomenon of individuals who voluntarily eschewed

the consumption of meat But the motive cited in the Talmud is

quite different from modern ideological vegetarianism The classical

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh

55 On vegetarian sects during the Second Temple period and the reasons fortheir diet see Louis A Berman Vegetarianism and the Jewish Tradition (New York1982) p 29 Roger T Beckwith ldquoThe Vegetarianism of the Therapeute and theMotives for Vegetarianism in Early Jewish and Christian Circlesrdquo in Revue de Qumran13 (1988) pp 407ndash10

56 We must not forget that Ibn Ezra never visited India His knowledge of thecountry was based on books and hearsay So he is clearly exaggerating in his descrip-tion of the Indians as vegans Simoons (Eat Not This Flesh) notes the importance ofvegetarianism in the two major religions that developed in India Hinduism andBuddhism as well as among various smaller sects that are still more stringent onthe matter and also avoid eggs such as the Jains But vegetarianism has never beenuniversal in India and even less so a vegan abstention from all animal-derivedfoods especially milk products despite its presence on the fringes As Simoonswrites ldquoSome Indian vegetarians have even given up milk and milk products onthe grounds that their use amounts to nothing less than stealing from a young ani-mal the milk of its mother Indeed Devadatta (sixth century BCE) the Buddharsquoscousin and follower urged that milk and curd be banned for Buddhist monksrdquo (p 8) But Devadattarsquos rejection of milk was not accepted and he was forced toleave Buddhism and set up a rival sect in which we may assume monks were notallowed to eat dairy products

texts never suggest an ethical rationale (or even a health rationale)

for vegetarianism Rather abstaining from meat (and wine) is an

expression of mourning for the destroyed Temple ldquoWhen the Temple

was destroyed for the second time large numbers in Israel became

ascetics binding themselves neither to eat meat nor to drink winerdquo

(B BB 60b) The sages were not pleased by their behavior as is

evident from Joshuarsquos rebuke of this group (ibid)55

When we reach the medieval commentators though we find that

Abraham ibn Ezra does refer to ethical veganism In various places

in his commentaries he mentions that the people of India avoid all

animal-derived foods For example in his long commentary on Exod

822 [RSV 826] dealing with Mosesrsquo reply to Pharaoh that ldquoit

would not be right to do this for what we sacrifice to the Lord our

God is untouchable to the Egyptiansrdquo he rejects the prevalent under-

standing that the Egyptians worshipped the lamb and that sacrificing

it would have been offensive to them His rationale ldquoIf the reason

for the Egyptiansrsquo not eating meat was their worship of the lamb

why did they also abstain from ox and goat meatrdquo He suggests that

the Egyptians of that era followed the same diet he attributes to the

Hindus of his own day one that excludes all foods of animal ori-

gin56 He even describes the Indiansrsquo moral indignation when they

find themselves in the company of meat-eaters

I believe that the ancient Egyptians in the time of Moses had the samebelief currently held by the people of India who make up more than

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162


57 It seems likely that Ibn Ezrarsquos argument was influenced by the Hindu castesystem which bans eating in company with members of other castes or consumingfood prepared by members of lower castes

58 Ibn Ezrarsquos Commentary on the Pentateuch Exodus (SHEMOT ) trans and annotatedby H Norman Strickman and Arthur M Silver (New York 1996) pp 165ndash66See also Ibn Ezrarsquos long commentary on Exod 199 and his commentary on Gen4634 ldquoThe people of India until this very day do not eat or drink anything derivedfrom a living creaturerdquo (Ibn Ezrarsquos Commentary on the Pentateuch Genesis [BERESHIT]trans and annotated by H Norman Strickman and Arthur M Silver [New York1988] p 406)

59 R Abraham Ibn Ezrarsquos Torah Commentaries ed A Weiser vol 2 p 305 (Heb)60 The belief that the Indians are a just people is also found in the Kuzari (119)

I would like to thank Prof Uriel Simon for calling my attention to Ibn Ezrarsquos andJudah Halevirsquos idealization of the Indians

half of the world All of them are descendants of Ham They do noteat meat until this very day These people also do not drink milk orblood or eat fish or eggs In other words they do not eat anythingcoming from a living creature Furthermore they abhor any personwho eats any of the aforementioned They consider shepherding to bean especially disgusting type of work It is similarly written ldquofor everyshepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptiansrdquo (Gen 4734)

They also do not allow any meat-eating person in their country Ifany of them goes to a foreign country he will flee from any placewhere flesh is eaten They will not eat anything which a meat-eaterhas handled57 They consider his very garments unclean It is thus writ-ten ldquobecause the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrewrdquo(Gen 4332) Behold Potiphar placed everything with the exceptionof the food which he ate under the care of Joseph who was then liv-ing in his house Potiphar would not permit him to touch his foodbecause Joseph was a Hebrew There is no reason to ask ldquoif this isso then why did the Egyptians keep cattlerdquo We find the same in thecase of contemporary India Horses asses and camels were used tocarry burdens and for riding Cattle served to pull the plow and sheepwere kept for their wool58

It is worth noting that Ibn Ezra had a very positive view of the

Indians in general He believed that they excelled in rational moral-

ity as reflected in his short commentary on Exod 2320 There he

asserts that the laws of torts were given to remedy injustices But ldquoif

we lived in a place where there are no oxen we would have no

need for laws about an ox that gores If we lived in tents like the

Kedarites we would not need [the precepts of ] the parapet or the

mezuzah And if in India there would be no need for laws about

theft and murder and fraud and false witnessrdquo59 In other words Ibn

Ezra believed that none of these moral failings was found in India

so the Indians did not need laws against them60

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

61 See also Maimonides who saw this prophecy as an allegory of world peaceand identified the dangerous beasts in the prophecy with ldquothe wicked among theidolatorsrdquo (Laws of Kings 121) SD Luzzatto on the same verse understood thepassage to mean that the wicked and violent would no longer abuse the weak

62 By contrast Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 146 avers that ldquothe Lord sets pris-oners freerdquo (Ps 1467) means that in the future the Lord will make all the uncleananimals clean (and thus fit to eat)

63 Saadia Gaon too (Beliefs and Opinions 88) and Nahmanides (on Lev 276)understand the prophecy literally peace between human beings and animals andamong the animals themselves But they say nothing about the diet of human beingsin that era and do not explicitly state that they too will no longer dine on animals

The Future The Return of Vegetarianism in the Messianic Era

Isaiahrsquos vision of the end of days describes an era of concord among

the animals and between animals and human beings

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie downwith the kid and the calf and the lion and the fatling together anda little child shall lead them The cow and the bear shall feed theiryoung shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the oxThe sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp and the weanedchild shall put his hand on the adderrsquos den They shall not hurt ordestroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of theknowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Is 116ndash9 cf6525)

Some have interpreted these verses as figurative Thus Ibn Ezra in

his commentary on Is 116 ldquoThis is a metaphor for the peace that

will reign in his timerdquo61 But Abravanel in his commentary on Is

116ndash7 rejects the idea that the passage is metaphorical and under-

stands the prophecy literally although he limits its scope to the Holy

Land In his reading in the messianic era Israel will return to the

harmony that prevailed among all creatures in the Garden of Eden

ldquoIn other words in the messianic age things will return to their orig-

inal state predatory beasts will not hunt and domestic animals will

not be eatenrdquo62 He repeats the explanation he advanced in his com-

mentary on Exod 164 that meat-eating leads to cruelty and adds

ldquothis is why the prophet stated that in the messianic age the lion

will eat straw like the ox meaning that this will be its sustenance

rather than meat and consequently it will not be cruel angry or

wrathful and what is more lsquothey shall not hurt or destroyrsquordquo63 It

is true that Abravanel does not refer explicitly to human dietary

habits in this context but from his commentary on Exod 164 (start

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164


64 An allusion to Eccl 729 ldquoGod made man upright but they have sought outmany devicesrdquo

65 R Samuel Laniado Isaiah with the Commentary Keli Paz part 1 ( Jerusalem 1996)p 404 (Heb)

of sect13) we see clearly his belief that in the messianic age human

beings will no longer eat meat

R Samuel Laniado in his commentary on Is 116 mentions

Abravanelrsquos remarks approvingly and offers a similar interpretation

Even though he does not reject the possibility that Isaiahrsquos prophecy

is a metaphor for the fraternity that will prevail among human beings

(in the Land of Israel only according to the minimalist view or

throughout the world as the maximalists have it) he asserts that it

should also be understood literally fraternity among all living crea-

tures the human race and all other species In his reading in the

messianic age

the world will return to its youthful days as at the time of the Creationwith everyone inclined toward the good because God made manupright etc 64 So too the lion like the ox that eats straw content-edly so the lion too will be glad of heart when it eats and this iswhy it is compared to the ox For no one thought of eating throughviolence before the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and whenthis evil is amended all will be amended65

Even though Laniado like Abravanel before him does not refer

explicitly to what human beings will eat in the messianic era it is

clear both from the quotation from Ecclesiastes which deals with

human morality and his mention of the sin of eating from the Tree

of Knowledge as the cause of violence in the world that he believed

that a carnivorous diet will be inappropriate for human beings too

in the reformed world of the future

Conclusion

The belief in a vegetarian epoch in the youth of the human race

which lasted until after the Flood is dominant and widespread among

the Talmudic sages and medieval commentators Isaac Arama and

Isaac Abravanel even suggest that God planned to provide the

Israelites with a strictly vegetarian diet after they left Egypt and

accordingly first gave them ldquobread from the skyrdquo (ie manna) and

not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh

66 I would like to thank Professor Athalya Brenner for her helpful comments andsuggestions

None of the sages or commentators calls for their contemporaries

to switch to a vegetarian diet Nevertheless one can certainly find

suggestions to limit the consumption of meat for educational eco-

nomic and health reasons as well as passages that may reflect reser-

vations about killing animals or that encourage vegetarianism

Both the Talmudic sages and the medieval commentators were

familiar with the phenomenon of vegetarianism One commentator

Joseph ibn Kaspi reports that he himself gave up meat for a time

though for economic rather than ethical reasons Abraham ibn Ezra

and Isaac Arama promote vegetarianism as a lofty ideal Other com-

mentators refer to the hygienic or spiritual advantages of a vegetarian

diet

The sages and commentators almost never refer to vegetarianism

as the norm in the messianic era Still Abravanel and Samuel Laniado

suggest that in the messianic age the world will return to its ancient

equilibrium and the human race like all other carnivorous species

will adopt the vegetarian diet that satisfied it at the beginning of

time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

142 yael shemesh

5 See for example Terry Eagleton Literary Theory An Introduction (2nd editionMinneapolis 1996) For the application of this realization to biblical criticism seefor example Dana Nolan Fewell ldquoFeminist Reading of the Hebrew Bible AffirmationResistance and Transformationrdquo in JSOT 39 (1987) pp 77ndash87 (esp 80ndash81) J Cheryl Exum Fragmented Women Feminist (Sub) version of Biblical Narratives (ValleyForge 1993) p 12 Edward L Greenstein ldquoReading Strategies and the Story ofRuthrdquo in Alice Bach ed Women in the Hebrew Bible (New York 1999) pp 211ndash31(esp 211ndash12)

6 Fewell ldquoFeminist Readingrdquo p 777 See for example Triblersquos pioneering article ldquoDepatriarchalizing in Biblical

Interpretationrdquo in Journal of American Academy of Religion 41 (1973) pp 30ndash48

argumentsmdashespecially the concern for causing pain to animalsmdashmy

aim in the present article is not to offer halakhic or meta-halakhic

arguments in favor of vegetarianism It is rather to extract from the

Talmudic literature and the traditional commentators those voices

that provide support for the vegetarian ideology

Before I begin it is important to note the widespread contemporary

consensus that there is no such thing as objective neutral and totally

unbiased exegesis5 As Dana Nolan Fewell asserts the very choice

of a research topic is the result of subjective factors6 The present

article too was not written from an ldquoobjectiverdquo or ldquoneutralrdquo standpoint

but out of emotional engagement with its theme As a vegetarian

since childhood and a vegan for the last twelve years on the one

hand and as an observant Jew who teaches Bible at the religiously

affiliated Bar-Ilan University on the other I want to see whether it

is possible to build a bridge however flimsy between these two essen-

tial elements in my life You might say that I am trying to do for

the vegetarian party what religious feminist scholars like Phyllis Trible

have done for feminist ideology trying to bring distant realmsmdashtheir

religious faith and their feminismmdashcloser together7

My ideology clearly influenced my choice of topic and decision

to present one side of the coin the more subversive and lesser-known

onemdashthe support for vegetarianism in the Talmudic literature and

traditional commentaries (although here and there I have cited oppos-

ing voices the dominant ones so as to present a fuller picture) Still

I have endeavored and I hope successfully not to distort the texts

and not to allow my ideological fervor to win out over intellectual

honesty

Biblical scholarship related to ecology has flourished in recent

years as attested by the Earth Bible series edited by Norman C Habel

and many other studies But this literature focuses on Mother Earth

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 142






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 143

144 yael shemesh





End of Days












RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 144





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 145

146 yael shemesh






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 143

144 yael shemesh





End of Days












RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 144





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 145

146 yael shemesh






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

144 yael shemesh





End of Days












RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 144





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 145

146 yael shemesh






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 145

146 yael shemesh






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

146 yael shemesh






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 146





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166





























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 147

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

148 yael shemesh






























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 148





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166





the Israelites

















from eating meat26

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 149

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

150 yael shemesh



















meat








RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 150


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166


















Hunting


















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 151

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

152 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 152





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166





Eating Meat












holds that





RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 153

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

154 yael shemesh
























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 154


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166


































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 155

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

156 yael shemesh








these matters










RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 156




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166




































RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 157

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

158 yael shemesh







over themrdquo




















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 158






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166






degrees











time of Noah





and meat foods48
















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 159

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

160 yael shemesh





















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 160





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166





templative life53






















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 161

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

162 yael shemesh


























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 162



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166



















RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 163

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

164 yael shemesh

























RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 164














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166














messianic age









Conclusion







not meat

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 165

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

166 yael shemesh













diet






time66

RRJ 9_f8_141-166III 51206 126 PM Page 166

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VEGETARIAN IDEOLOGY IN TALMUDIC LITERATURE AND TRADITIONAL BIBLICAL EXEGESIS

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