As indicated previously,
Rav Kook stated that God provided many laws and
regulations related to the consumption of meat as
a reprimand, as a reminder that animals' lives are
being destroyed, and in the hope that this would
eventually lead people back to vegetarianism in
the messianic period. He and others maintained that
vegetarianism is the Jewish ideal diet and that
God permitted the eating of meat as a temporary
concession, with many associated regulations, designed
to keep alive a sense of reverence for life.
There are other cases where laws were provided
to regulate actions that God would prefer people
not do. For example, God wishes people to live at
peace, but he provides commandments related to waging
war, because he knows that human beings quarrel
and seek victories over others. Similarly, the laws
in the Torah related to taking a beautiful captive
woman in wartime are a concession to human weakness.
We cannot conclude from this that we are therefore
obligated to make war or take captive women. In
the same way, the laws related to meat consumption
do not mean that we must eat meat.
By not eating meat, Jews are acting consistently
with many mitzvot, such as showing compassion to
animals, preserving health, not wasting, feeding
the hungry, and preserving the environment. Also,
by not eating meat, a Jew cannot violate many possible
prohibitions of the T orah, such as mixing meat
and milk, eating non-kosher animals, and eating
blood or fat.
It should be noted that the laws of kashrut involve
not only the technical details of preparing foods,
but also the blessings to be recited before and
after eating. None of these blessings would cease
with vegetarian diets, since the blessing for meat
is the same as that for several other foods, such
as soup and juice. Also, vegetarianism would not
affect "food orientated" mitzvot, such
as kiddush, Birkat Hamazon (blessings after meals),
or Passover Seder observances.
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