What We Eat - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
What We Eat - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
What We Eat - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
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een processed in a way that is both halachic<br />
and not abusive to the labor force, is an<br />
important example. <strong>Judaism</strong>’s strong opposition<br />
to cruelty to animals underlays many<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> kashrut. The Rabbinical Assembly<br />
has passed resolutions condemning hoisting<br />
and shackling animals as a means <strong>of</strong><br />
kosher slaughter, so it should be relatively<br />
easy for <strong>Conservative</strong> synagogues to insist<br />
that their caterers not use meat slaughtered<br />
in this way. Indeed, if <strong>Conservative</strong><br />
synagogues brought the full weight <strong>of</strong> their<br />
collective purchasing power to bear they<br />
could effect a major change in the industry.<br />
On the same ethical grounds, we can<br />
insure that the proper treatment <strong>of</strong> animals<br />
becomes a standard for personal practice.<br />
Families should buy eggs laid by free-range<br />
chickens. <strong>We</strong> should oppose farming practices<br />
that turn chickens into factories, housing<br />
them in tight cages, with fluorescent<br />
lights shining on them 24 hours a day, so<br />
that they will produce the maximum number<br />
<strong>of</strong> eggs with the smallest possible amount<br />
<strong>of</strong> human labor. Similarly, as much as we<br />
can we should buy the meat <strong>of</strong> free-range<br />
chickens. It is one thing to feel that eating<br />
meat is necessary, but quite another<br />
to deprive animals <strong>of</strong> their natural life. <strong>We</strong><br />
need not consume food produced through<br />
cruelty. Interestingly, Empire Kosher, the<br />
largest commercial producer <strong>of</strong> kosher chickens,<br />
proudly announces that its chickens are<br />
all free roaming.<br />
For the same reasons, we should buy grassfed<br />
beef. American cattle growers <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
use feed that cows never would eat in nature.<br />
Sometimes the feed contains ground up<br />
blood and animal products, though cows<br />
are vegetarian by nature.<br />
A congregant <strong>of</strong> mine who had thought<br />
about keeping kosher, but worried about<br />
how difficult his life would become were he<br />
to try, once saw my wife and me eating in<br />
a Chinese restaurant. It inspired him. “I<br />
didn’t realize that it was so easy to keep<br />
kosher,” he said, and went on to adopt<br />
kashrut as a standard for his own life.<br />
For <strong>Conservative</strong> Jews, keeping kosher is<br />
both easy and demanding. It is an exciting<br />
and responsible way to live in the modern<br />
world Jewishly and to live a life that<br />
is holy. CJ<br />
CJ — SUMMER 2012 13