A few years ago, before I married Rabbi Ben, I found this little lost duckling and adopted it. I've always had a soft spot for animals... maybe even a little bit TOO MUCH compassion!

I love animals.  I always have.  When I was a child we always had a cat in my house and I would chase after and attempt to hug pretty much any other animal I saw, from dogs to lizards to frogs.  For a while, I even wanted to be a veterinarian (until that frog we had to dissect in 9th grade biology class!).

At some point about 5 or 6 years ago, I took it into my head that I wanted chickens.  I honestly don’t remember what gave me that crazy idea, but I told all my friends about it and next thing I knew, my friend Farmer Ben was hatching chickens and raising them in his backyard! In the meantime, I was living in a small apartment in Miami and dreaming of the day when I could have my own chickens.

The first few years that I read this week’s parsha I would become very upset when reading about the mother bird.  “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground – young birds or eggs – and the mother is roosting on the young birds or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother on the young.  You shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and it will prolong [your] days.”

My initial reaction to this was always one of compassion.  That poor mother bird! She has given life to these baby birds, or these eggs she’s waiting to hatch, and you’re taking them from her! Imagine how she must feel!  When I would share this sentiment with other people, they would tell me I have too much compassion.  Judaism is a religion that teaches a middle-of-the-road approach to all middot (character traits).  No one middah should be taken too far – compassion included.  If we feel compassion even for things or people that are undeserving of our compassion, they could end up causing increasing harm.  Showing too much compassion for a murderer could result in him being back out on the streets and doing it again, for example.

The laws about chasing away a mother bird before taking her eggs becomes suddenly relevant when you think about how we get our eggs - especially if you want to raise the hens yourself!

As the years have gone by, my perspective on the mother bird situation has changed.  Having spent time on farms and some day wanting to have chickens of my own, I understand how I will want to take their eggs when they lay them.  Farmer Ben once told us a story of when he was working in an organic egg “factory.”  The chickens would sit on their perches and lay eggs, which would land in a basket below them.  Every day, Farmer Ben would have to put his hands in and retrieve the eggs, with the chickens pecking at him the entire time.  The birds didn’t want their eggs taken! But in the afternoons, he said, the chickens would go outside to eat or get some sun and would forget their eggs.  At those times, he could stick his hand in without being pecked at.  By the time they came back, the birds had forgotten about their eggs entirely.  Although the birds experience distress when their eggs are taken from before their eyes, they don’t experience any after being shooed away.  By giving us this commandment in the Torah, Hashem has struck a perfect balance: just enough compassion, but not too much.

It’s a lesson we should carry through our lives.  Any character trait we have can be good or bad, depending on how it’s used and how much of it we apply.  And even if it’s not a bad character trait we have too much of, having excess of a good character trait really can be “too much of a good thing.”

As we work on ourselves during this holy month of Elul, as we approach the days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur when we are judged and the book of our next year is written and sealed, let us work on finding balance… in every aspect and every part of our lives.

Shabbat shalom.

Wild turkeys visited our friends' backyard, leading to the question: Is turkey kosher?

This week, Rabbi Ben and I went to visit one of his friends in New Jersey.  I was sitting in the living room, working on my laptop, when I heard his friend’s mom outside, talking to her grandson.  “Look at the wild turkeys!” she was saying. Wild turkeys?

Yes, wild turkeys! I grabbed my camera and took a few photos.  We weren’t sure what they were doing in the middle of a suburban development, but they sure were pretty.  And we were all amazed at how tame they seemed to be.  They weren’t afraid of us at all and let us get almost close enough to touch them!  Of course, someone had to suggest that we catch them and eat them.  Fortunately, nobody around was certified as a shochet (ritual kosher butcher), so the wild turkeys went free.

But wait – is turkey even kosher?

This week’s parsha includes a long list of birds we’re not allowed to eat.  According to one translation, these include: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the buzzard, the kite, all kinds of hawks, all kinds of ravens, the dark desert owl, the kestrel, the gull, all kinds of sparrow hawks, the little owl, the long eared owl, barn and screech owls, the nigh prowler, the gier eagle, the fish owl, the stork, all kinds of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat.  We learn from the Torah and from the sages that we don’t eat birds that feed off carrion, nor do we eat carnivorous birds (including those that eat fish).  We also learn that kosher birds must “have an extra toe or a crop or a gizzard that can be peeled by hand.”

The turkey certainly does seem to meet all the requirements set forth in the Torah for being a kosher bird.  However, in Judaism, we also have a concept that if we don’t have a tradition of eating something, it’s not kosher for us.  That’s why certain Jews living in Africa still have a tradition of eating locusts, but most of us couldn’t try them. (I’m so disappointed!)  Up until the European discovery of the Americas, there were no Jews in North America and, therefore, no tradition of eating turkey. So what did they do when they got here and discovered turkey, a bird with all the signs but none of the tradition?

A wild turkey foraging for food. Turkeys have all the signs of being a kosher bird.

When the Jews first came to North America, they were divided into two camps vis-a-vis the turkey.  Half the Jews took to their new home well and accepted the turkey as kosher as part of their adjustment.  The other half insisted that because there was no tradition of eating turkey, it’s not kosher.  So, where does that leave us today?

Today, turkey is considered to be a kosher bird.  Jews in North America have been eating turkey now for over 250 years, which is more than enough time to establish a tradition of eating it.  And although a few Eastern European Jews might still cling to their great-great-great grandfathers’ traditions of it not being kosher, turkey has become an incredibly popular Jewish food overall.  In fact, Israelis eat more turkey per person each year than Americans do!

So go ahead and enjoy some turkey this Shabbos! SHABBAT SHALOM!

Continued from Part 1 of “Being a Jewish Vegetarian doesn’t have to be Boring!”

We’ve been spending a lot of times lately at farms… at Eden Village Camp and farm in New York, at Farmer Ben and Lisa’s farm in Virginia, and at Kayam Farms in Maryland last weekend.  All of these farms are vegetarian: They’re not slaughtering any animals.  So what on earth will we do with all those extra vegetables?! Here are some more ideas…

Salads don't have to be boring! This one incorporates kale, apples, white beans, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Yum!

Ok, the options we explored in Part One are yummy, but you’re still wishing you had meat.  Fortunately, you can get a similar taste and texture through the use of textured vegetable protein, or TVP.  Or you can use a soy alternative, like the popular Morningstar Farms products.  I find that I get the most realistic result by using the “beef” crumbles for things like tacos or spaghetti sauce.  However, I am not a big fan of using too much processed soy, so I’ve discovered that I can get a meaty color, texture, and flavor in my cholent by adding lots of brown and red lentils, plus some fun spices like cumin and coriander.  I’ve even had meat-eating friends tell me they couldn’t believe there wasn’t meat in my cholent, and walk away convinced I was lying when I told them that not only is my cholent vegan, but it’s fat-free, too!

Of course, you should also try to put some really healthy foods, like salads, into your kosher vegetarian diet, but you should be doing that anyway, vegetarian or not!  For greens, try adding some like kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, or broccoli rabe.  You’ll find each one has a totally different flavor and texture, and you may be really pleasantly surprised!  You’ll see that salads don’t need to be boring at all – in fact, check here for 101 yummy and different salad recipe ideas.  Just remember to check everything really well for bugs because they definitely aren’t kosher or vegetarian!

As a kosher vegetarian, joining a CSA program is a great way to experiment with and try new foods. In mine, I tried delicata squash for the first time and cooked it by making a rosemary, sage, and apple cider vinegar glaze.

One final idea for avoiding slipping into boredom with a kosher vegetarian diet is to sign up for a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, program.  These are offered all over the US and Canada, although they sometimes go by different names. Each program is unique, but the basic gist of it is that you purchase a “share” in a farm.  It’s as if the farmer divides up his land into 100 equal parts and you get your 1/100 of whatever the farm produces that week.  I did one of these programs in Florida and ended up with lots of interesting vegetables.  I became a delicata squash expert when I got a bunch of them and decided to cook each differently and I learned how to use butternut squash in soups, salads, kugels, and as a standalone dish. I had my first experiences with mustard greens and okra.  Not only are you supporting the local economy, but you are eating fresher food, too!

So even if you’re not planning to be a kosher vegetarian full time, you might want to try it out just for fun… and if you’re a world traveler, you should try it out now so that when you’re jet-setting around the world, you’ll have plenty of creative ideas for what to eat!

Here are some more blog posts you may find interesting:

Why would a Jewish and kosher world traveler become vegetarian?

Why do Jews become vegetarians?

What does the Bible say about vegetarianism?

In the Amazon Rainforest of Cuyabeno, Ecuador, natives will fry and eat these giant ants - definitely not a kosher or vegetarian food.

As Jews, we have a pretty restricted diet.  As we travel around the world, we see more and more just how restricted we really are in our kosher diet.  In South America, we can’t put pork in our rice and beans.  In Germany, we can’t eat the bratwurst or rostbratwurst.  In Spain, we can’t eat the octopus or squid.  In Japan, we can’t eat the eel. There will be no frog legs or snails to eat in France. In Thailand, you can’t try the fried crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, scorpions, or worms for sale…. and in Ecuador you can’t eat the ants.  In Rajasthan, India, you can’t drink the camel’s milk and in Australia, there’ll be no kangaroo for you!  In Iceland you can’t eat the shark and in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, you’ll have to miss out on trying the nearly-mature chicken fetus cooked in its egg.  Closer to home, we can’t eat the cheeseburgers or Philly cheese-steak… plus, in the American midwest you can’t eat the snake and in Florida, you can’t eat the alligator.

Now, I know you’re salivating at that list of worldwide delicacies you, as a kosher Jew, will have to go without.  So for many kosher Jews, the thought of going vegetarian gives them chills.  After giving up all those spiders, sharks, snails, scorpions, and squids to keep kosher, how on earth can I give up even more to be vegetarian?!  How can I sacrifice chicken soup, steak, brisket, and fried chicken? If I do that, there will be nothing to eat. I WILL STARVE!!!!

Well, yes, even if you become vegetarian, there will still be plenty to eat.  And no, as a vegetarian, you will not starve.  In fact, most of the time you won’t even really miss meat, although you don’t realize that now.  The truth is that vegetarian cuisine is neither bland nor is it boring.  In fact, you may find that if you explore vegetarianism, you will get more creative and expand your food opportunities even more than before.  You might even go out on a limb and try some new veggies you’ve been too scared to try before. (I did this, and discovered that okra is actually the magic ingredient that makes my vegetable soups almost too delicious to bear.)

We’ve been spending a lot of times lately at farms… at Eden Village Camp and farm in New York, at Farmer Ben and Lisa’s farm in Virginia, and at Kayam Farms in Maryland this weekend.  All of these farms are vegetarian: They’re not slaughtering any animals.  So what on earth will we do with all those extra vegetables?!

Being a kosher vegetarian doesn't mean you have to give up eating the most delicious foods - remember that desserts are vegetarian! Don't tell me you don't want to try this triple-layer chocolate cake I made... especially when the layers inside are filled with white chocolate ganache, strawberries, and homemade whipped cream!

The best thing about being vegetarian is that you will pretty much never have to go without dessert!  Desserts rarely include meat (and if they do, it’s usually lard and that’s not kosher anyway).  In fact, the yummiest desserts typically have diary, which means you can’t eat them after you have meat anyway.  To make life even better, when your friends are sitting around eating parve chocolate chip cookies after their meaty dinner, you can run to the kitchen and dip yours in milk. How’s that for a reward for being a Jewish vegetarian?

But you can’t live on desserts, so you will have to eat some real food eventually.  What if you’ve had a hard day and you are just craving that fried-chicken-comfort-food your loving Jewish mother used to make you?  Well, there are plenty of comfort foods that don’t involve meat at all.  Just whip up some macaroni and cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich to satisfy those cravings!

Part 2 coming up soon!

Why would a Jewish and kosher world traveler become vegetarian?

Why do Jews become vegetarians?

What does the Bible say about vegetarianism?

Farmer Ben Picks Kosher Vegetables

So as I blogged about earlier this week, Last Sunday Rachel and I visited a farm where we picked vegetables with farmer Ben and his wife Lisa. http://travelingrabbi.com/2011/08/08/rabbi-ben-meets-farmer-ben/

The farm is in a beautiful area which is on a one hundred acre plot of land. There is a small pond where Rachel caught a fish, and a river that runs alongside the property. Most impressive is an old colonial home with the first parts built in the 1700’s. It has the old colonial charm to it. Walking through it is like going back in time. Some of the furniture in there must be a couple hundred years old.

Farmer Ben does not grow stuff on all one hundred acres. He uses a small area where he rotates various crops as the seasons change.

Being a traveling Rabbi, I had to check out that all was okay from a halachic point of view. There are many laws of farming that apply but more so in the land of Israel. Outside of Israel, the main two laws would be ‘Kilayim’ and ‘Orlah.’

Kilayim  is the prohibition of growing certain produce together. Grape vines may not be planted alongside grains and vegetables. Further, there are certain vegetables, legumes, and grains that are Biblically prohibited to be planted together.

The other prohibition to take into account is ‘Orlah.’ After planting a fruit tree, the fruit is forbidden to be eaten for the first three years. Fruit means anything on which we say the blessing ‘Borei Pri Ha’etz.’ Thus, grapes and blueberries are fruits and one would need to wait three years from planting before eating their fruits.

Tomatoes, though some may consider them a fruit, are a vegetable according to the Torah. One would not have to wait three years before eating them. This would be impossible. The same with bananas, on which we say the blessing  ‘Ha’adama;’ they are not considered to be a fruit according to the Torah.

Anyway, Farmer Ben’s farm was kosher and in perfect order.  And the vegetables that we are now eating  are delicious!

At the aptly named Eden Village Camp, almost all meals are strictly vegetarian. In the actual Garden of Eden, G-d gave Adam all the plants bearing seed and trees bearing fruit to eat, but no animals - rendering Adam and Eve vegetarians.

This is the second in a series of posts I am doing on Judaism and vegetarianism.

In some communities, becoming a vegetarian is a quasi-revolutionary idea.  You really have to have a lot of courage, no matter what your reasons, because you’re definitely going against the grain.  This seems to me to be especially true in some religious communities, where saying you’re vegetarian is sort of like saying you support certain unsavory political candidates.

If you’re in that kind of a situation, it’s best to know your biblical background.  After all, you have some pretty good and famous people in Biblical history to keep you company.  Not only Adam and Eve, but every single person and animal in the Torah was exhorted to be vegetarian prior to the flood.  Furthermore, the tribes of Gad and Reuven were vegetarian.  In fact, this is why they requested to be allowed territories outside the land of Israel – they had accumulated so much livestock (from not eating it) that there would not have been sufficient pastureland in Israel.  I guess if you’re vegetarian, you could kind of claim that you must be descended from the tribes of Gad and Reuven!

Of course, the Torah starts out with G-d delineating His ideal diet, saying, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit, they shall be yours for food. And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” This is before the sin of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, when Adam and Eve still had the potential to reach a state of perfection. Adam named each of the animals, giving him a closer relationship with them.  In fact, animals and humans even worked together.  Although humans were “masters” over the animals, they did not kill and eat them. That came later.

Both Biblical commentator Joseph Albo and Rav Kook explain that it was only after the Flood that G-d permitted people to eat meat, as a concession – He knew the level of depravity prior to the Flood would be repeated if concession to human frailty was not made. The  Etz Hayim affirms this, saying, “Originally, G-d expected people to be vegetarians and not kill living creatures for their food. But G-d then compromised the vegetarian ideal, permitting the eating of meat.”  Even a close look at the dietary laws as they are detailed in the book of Leviticus reveals how restricted and regulated is meat consumption in Torah Judaism – a further proof that eating animals is a compromise of sorts, according to Rabbi Samuel Dresner.  Furthermore, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that this is when animals began to fear and dread humans.  The previous positive relationship between animals and humans was lost.

Prior to the Flood, humans had a positive and reciprocal relationship with animals. After the Flood, when permission to eat meat was given, animals began to fear and dread humans (and one another!).

G-d’s preference for vegetarianism was underscored again by the provision of vegetarian manna during the 40 years the Jews wandered in the desert.  When the people later cried for meat, G-d sent them many quails… then struck the people with a plague.  If there was nothing undesirable about wanting meat, G-d would not have needed to punish them. In fact, not only was the place where this occurred called the “Graves of Lust,” but meat that is permitted to be eaten that is not part of a Temple sacrifice is called “basar ta’avah,” or “meat of lust.”  If G-d was fond of meat-eating, He wouldn’t need to associate meat-eating with such names.  In fact, the Talmud states that in order for man to eat meat, he must have a “special craving for it” and even then can only eat it “occasionally and sparingly.” (Chulin 84a)  The Talmud further narrows this down by stating that only a talmid chochom, or Torah scholar, can eat meat. (Pesachim 49b)

Not only in the beginning of humanity were all people vegetarians, but some commentaries, including Rav Kook and Joseph Albo, opine that this will be the case once again when Moshiach comes.  Isaiah famously states,  “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child to lead them. And the cow and the bear shall graze; Their young shall lie down together, And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.”  Hosea echoes this idea when he says, “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground.  And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land and I will make them to lie down safely.”

So, if you are a Jewish vegetarian (or if you come into contact with one), rest assured that you are in good company.  From Adam to Gad and Reuven to Rav Kook to the era of Moshiach, you have plenty of vegetarian company in the Torah!

Read an overview of the reasons why Jews become vegetarians.

Why do kosher Jewish travelers become vegetarians?