Parashat Tzav
When Eating Meat was a Sacrifice
It is time for the Jewish community to reconsider its diet.
By Richard H. Schwartz
This
commentary is provided by special arrangement with Canfei Nesharim. To learn
more, visit www.canfeinesharim.org.
"And that which is left thereof [from
the meal-offering] shall Aaron and his sons eat; it shall be eaten without
leaven in a holy place; in the tent of Meeting they shall eat it…it is most
holy as the sin-offering and the guilt-offering (Leviticus
6:9-10)."
When the Jewish people were in the wilderness before they entered the land of
Israel, the consumption of meat was associated with holiness. Every piece of
meat consumed came from an animal sacrificed in the Mishkan (Sanctuary),
an act meant to bring the worshiper closer to God. The word korban (sacrifice) is related to le-karev, to come close. Through the
sacrifice, worshipers felt they were giving themselves vicariously to God.
If an animal sacrifice was slaughtered in a place other than
the altar of the Sanctuary, it was deemed unlawful, and the perpetrator was
deserving of Divine punishment (Leviticus 17:3-4). Once the Jewish people
entered the land of Israel, eating meat outside holy spaces was permitted
(Deuteronomy 12:20).
In the Wilderness
In the times of the Mishkan the consumption of meat was not
something taken for granted, as it generally is today. Each sacrifice had a
definite purpose: to offer thanksgiving, to atone for a sin, to commemorate a
holy day (such as the Korban Pesach,
or Paschal Lamb), or to make one feel closer to God.
Those offering a sacrifice felt that they were giving up
something from their prized possessions. People owned animals as sources of
labor or food, as well as a form of capital; hence slaughtering them in
connection with the Temple rites was a sacrifice of a precious source of income
and food.
The animal was not considered just a distant commodity as is
generally the case in today's world of corporate agriculture; rather, it was a
creature that the owner raised and saw on a daily basis, and whose needs were a
matter of personal responsibility and even concern. Since a mother animal and
its offspring could not be slaughtered on the same day (Leviticus 22:26-28),
those who offered sacrifices needed to be aware of familial relationships among
animals to be offered as sacrifices.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief rabbi of Efrat, points out that worshipers were very
much involved in the sacrificial process. For sin offerings, they were required
to lean their hands on the animal, and make a confession prior to the act of
slaughter.
Rabbi Riskin explains that the emotional result on the one
who brought the sacrifice and watched it being killed was to contemplate that
because of their sin they deserved to be the ones on the altar. Thus they would
experience feelings of teshuvah (repentance)
and become transformed, worthy of a renewed lease on life.
The relatively small number of sacrifices performed daily meant that attention
was given to the death of each animal. Sanctity was related to physical
wholeness and perfection. The Kohanim (Priests) had to be free of bodily
imperfections, and the animals to be sacrificed had to be free of blemishes.
Hence, the notion of holiness was given physical expression in the concept of
holiness of body and limb.
Eating Meat Today
Far different is the eating of meat today. Rather than an
infrequent act, many people in modern societies consume meat daily, if not more
than once a day.
Instead of an individual sacrifice of one person's animal in
a special ceremony, animals are currently raised by mass-production procedures
on "factory farms" in huge numbers. In place of slaughter by a Kohen
(Priest) focusing his intention in the Mishkan imbued with holiness, today the
slaughter is generally done by a shochet
(ritual slaughterer) who slaughters hundreds of animals a day in an industrial
facility.
Because of these major changes, the large-scale production and widespread
consumption of meat today have negative effects that did not occur in the days
of the Sanctuary. In some cases, these negative effects violate or compromise halakhah
(Jewish law), and often contravene the ethical sensitivities that the Torah
wishes to instill in us.
For example, while the Torah forbids tsa'ar
ba'alei hayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, most farm
animals--including those raised for kosher consumers--are raised on
"factory farms" where they live in cramped, confined spaces, and are
often drugged, mutilated, and denied fresh air, sunlight, exercise, and any
enjoyment of life before they are slaughtered and eaten.
The Torah mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their
health and their lives. Yet numerous scientific studies have linked
animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and
other chronic degenerative diseases.
In addition, modern methods of raising animals have raised
new health threats including the potential for the human variant of
"mad-cow's disease," bird flu, E-coli contamination, and other
negative effects from the use of large amounts of hormones, pesticides, and
other chemicals.
Environmental Implications
Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's,"
and that we are meant to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the
world. In conflict with this ethic, modern intensive livestock agriculture
contributes substantially to global warming, soil erosion and depletion, air
and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the
destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, and other
environmental damage.
As a recent indication of just how significant this is, a
November 2006 report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization indicated
that animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (18 percent, in CO2
equivalents) than the entire transport sector.
While the Torah mandates bal tashchit,
that we are not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, animal
agriculture requires the wasteful use of grain, land, water, energy, and other
precious resources.
As one example, it is estimated that over half of the
world's population will live in areas chronically short of water by the middle
of this century; yet animal-based diets typically require up to 14 times as
much water (to raise the animals) than diets completely free of animal
products.
While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with
hungry people, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States and over 40% of
the grain grown worldwide are fed to animals destined for slaughter, while an
estimated 20 million people worldwide die because of hunger and its effects
each year.
It takes up to 16 pounds of grain in a feedlot to produce
one pound of meat. While a shift to plant-based diets would not in itself solve
the problem of widespread hunger, it would free up grain, land, water, energy,
and other resources that could make a major difference.
There is a world of difference between the consumption of meat in the time of
the sanctuary and today, with holiness replaced by speed, special events
replaced by mass production, one sanctuary replaced by many slaughterhouses,
and positive effects replaced by many serious negative consequences.
Though the consumption of kosher meat is considered entirely
permissible by the vast majority of Jewish authorities, perhaps it is time for
the Jewish community to reconsider its diet, in a voluntary way, in efforts to
restore holiness, kavannah, and other positive Jewish values.
Suggested
Action Items:
1.
Consider substituting fruits and vegetables and other plant-foods for some or
all of your meat consumption.
2.
Avoid animal products that involve especially serious violations of
tsa'ar ba'alei hayim (causing pain to living creatures), such as white veal and
foie gras (produced by force feeding ducks and geese).
3.
If you eat animal products, try to limit them to those that were raised
more humanely, such as free-range, organic chickens and beef. However, since
standards for such products are often vague, check that conditions for the
animals are actually better.
4. Support efforts to improve the treatment of animals in
animal agriculture.
