JEWISH GROUP COMMENDS REFORM MOVEMENT
FOR SUPPORTING “HEKHSHER TZEDEK” CAMPAIGN: URGES FURTHER STEPS
For Immediate Release:
September 3, 2008
Contact:
Richard H. Schwartz, President of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America
(JVNA)
President@JewishVeg.com
Phone: (718) 761-5876
Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) issued the following statement today:
We commend the Reform movement for its announcement that it supports the
Conservative movement's ambitious new "hekhsher tzedek," ("certificate of righteousness")
campaign which will provide an additional stamp on kosher foods that meet its
standards for working conditions, treatment of animals, the environment and
other Jewish values. (Please see the JTA article below this release.)
However, as praiseworthy as their actions are, we respectfully urge the Reform
and Conservative movements to go further to avoid implicitly providing a stamp
of approval to the continuation of the animal-based diets and agriculture that
are:
o contributing to an
epidemic of diseases in the Jewish and other communities;
o contributing to
global warming and other environmental problems that threaten humanity and all
of creation;
o violating basic
Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion,
protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people and
pursue peace.
The Hekhsher Tzedek
brochure properly indicates that “Companies that work with animals should have
policies and practices in place to insure they are treated humanely at all
points of the production cycle.” (Emphasis added.) Based on that statement,
which is consistent with Judaism's beautiful teachings on compassion to
animals, we respectfully urge the Reform and Conservative movements and other
Jewish organizations to speak out against the many abuses of animals on factory
farms - for example, the killing of male chicks immediately after birth at egg
laying hatcheries; the crowding of hens in spaces so small they can't raise
even one wing; the debeaking of hens to avoid harmful
pecking; the artificial impregnation of female cows annually so they will
constantly be able to give milk; the removal of calves almost immediately after
birth, often to produce veal in a very cruel process; and MUCH more.
Another important requirement for getting a Hekhsher Tzedek certificate is meeting standards for “environmental impact.”
This is also commendable since Judaism has such powerful teachings on
sustainability and conservation. Hence we also urge the Reform and Conservative
movements and other Jewish leaders to consider: the many negative environmental
effects of raising 60 billion farmed animals worldwide (over 10 billion in the
U.S. alone) for slaughter annually; that, according to a 2006 UN FAO report,
'livestock' agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (18 percent in CO2
equivalents) than all the cars, planes, ships and other forms of transportation
worldwide combined (13.5 percent); and the contributions of the production of
meat and other animal products to rapid species extinction, widening water
shortages, destruction of tropical rainforests and other valuable habitats, and
many more environmental threats.
And since another of Hekhsher Tzedek's
criteria is properly health and safety standards, we also urge consideration of
the strong links of meat and other animal products to heart disease, several
forms of cancer and many more chronic, degenerative diseases.
"We need an ethical stamp of approval on nutritious plant foods - organic
beans, whole grains, veggie burgers and more - that don't take the lives of
innocent animals, that aren't the worst dietary contributors to global warming,
the worst polluters and resource drainers and the most
scientifically-incriminated dietary risk factors for the nation's deadliest
diseases," said JVNA president Richard H. Schwartz. “This is especially
important at a time when
warming will cause severe heat waves and storms, up to 30 percent less rainfall
and severe flooding from a rising
JVNA would very much welcome respectful dialogues/debates with Reform and
Conservative rabbis and, indeed, all rabbis on “Should Jews be Vegetarians?”
Such discussions would constitute a kiddush
Hashem (a sanctification of G-d's
Name) because it would show the applicability of eternal Jewish teachings to
dietary issues.
Rather than directly or indirectly endorsing the general continuation of
present practices that are so harmful in so many ways, it is essential that our
rabbis and other Jewish leaders increase awareness that a major shift toward
plant-based diets is essential to avoid the unprecedented catastrophe that the
world is rapidly approaching and to move our precious, but imperiled, planet to
a sustainable path.
Further information about these issues can be found at the JVNA web site
JewishVeg.com. We will provide complimentary copies of its new documentary A
SACRED DUTY: APPLYING JEWISH VALUES TO HELP HEAL THE WORLD to rabbis and other
Jewish leaders who will contact us (president@JewishVeg.com) and indicate how they will use them to involve their
congregations on the issues. The entire movie can be seen and further
information about it can be found at ASacredDuty.com.
=========================
JTA Breaking News
Reform rabbis embrace ethical kashrut
Published: 09/02/2008
The Reform movement's rabbinical group endorsed the Conservative movement's
ethical kosher initiative.
The Board of Trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform
movement's rabbinical association, resolved last month to explore ways to
cooperate with the initiative, known as Hekhsher Tzedek.
The conference urged producers of kosher meat to adhere to the highest ethical
standards, applauded the Conservative movement for integrating ethical concerns
into kashrut and encouraged Reform Jews to consider
the initiative's guidelines in making dietary choices.
"Those who keep kosher, including the growing number of Reform Jews who
are embracing the observance of kashrut, should not
be forced to choose between their ritual observance and their ethical
values," the Reform conference said.
Spurred in large measure by the continuing controversy over Agriprocessors,
the
In recent days, Allen has reached out to Conservative rabbis to seek their
endorsement of the initiative, which is a joint project of the movement's
rabbinical and congregational arms. Among the Orthodox, the initiative has
provoked unease from those who believe it modifies the notion of kashrut.
Agudath
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/110178.html
=========================
Letter on Reform Movement's Support of the “Hechsher
Tzedek” Initiative
Dear Editor:
As president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), I commend the
Reform movements' support of the Conservative movement's “Hechsher
Tzedek” ("certificate of righteousness")
campaign which will provide an additional stamp on kosher foods that meet its
standards for working conditions, treatment of animals, the environment and
other Jewish values.
However, as praiseworthy as their actions are, we respectfully urge the Reform
and Conservative movements to go further to avoid implicitly providing a stamp
of approval to the continuation of the animal-based diets and agriculture that
are:
o contributing to an
epidemic of diseases in the Jewish and other communities;
o contributing to
global warming and other environmental problems that threaten humanity and all
of creation;
o violating basic
Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion,
protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people and
pursue peace.
[*** Some or all of the material below may be omitted for space
considerations:]
JVNA would very much welcome respectful dialogues/debates with Reform and
Conservative rabbis and, indeed, all rabbis on “Should Jews be Vegetarians?”
Such discussions would constitute a kiddush
Hashem (a sanctification of G-d's
Name) because it would show the applicability of eternal Jewish teachings to
dietary issues.
Rather than directly or indirectly endorsing the general continuation of
present practices that are so harmful in so many ways, it is essential that our
rabbis and other Jewish leaders increase awareness that a major shift toward
plant-based diets is essential to avoid the unprecedented catastrophe that the
world is rapidly approaching and to move our precious, but imperiled, planet to
a sustainable path.
Further information about these issues can be found at the JVNA web site
JewishVeg.com. We will provide complimentary copies of its new documentary A
SACRED DUTY: APPLYING JEWISH VALUES TO HELP HEAL THE WORLD to rabbis and other
Jewish leaders who will contact us (president@JewishVeg.com) and indicate how they will use them to involve their
congregations on the issues. The entire movie can be seen and further
information about it can be found at ASacredDuty.com.
=========================
Richard H.
Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
Author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism," "Judaism and Global
Survival," and "Mathematics and Global Survival," and over 130
articles at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz
President of Jewish Vegetarians
of North America (JVNA) www.JewishVeg.com
and
Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV) www.serv-online.org
Associate Producer of A SACRED
DUTY (asacredduty.com)
Director of Veg Climate Alliance (www.vegclimatealliance.org)
president@JewishVeg.com