8 — THE BULLETIN — Thursday. July 12, 1979
Some space available Second Session July 25 — August 8th
266-5366
Semi-Annual
Now in
Progress
A Pay of Fasting
9, Av, 5739
August 2,1979
—
Vegetarians and the Jewish question
TISHA B'AV gives expressionto the grief of Jews of all times and all places concerning the tragedies recorded in the history^f the.Jewish people.,^^ ^ 3^
WE MOU^N'theibss x)f tl#|aSd; tlfe^estmcli ancient Temples, the centuries of homeless wandering, of persecution and of intolerance to which our people have been subjected.
TISHA B'AV summons the^world to review the tragedies that have confronted the Jewish people; the trials and tribulations; the agony and martyrdom; during the centuries of the Diaspora. Tisha B*Av summons modem Jewry to ponder the stea<ifast loyalty of their forefathers to Judaism; to reflect on the heritage that has been preserved and handed on at the cost of infinite "blood, sweat and tears."
SIMILAR Y Tisha B'Av stirs the Jew to a keener concern for the Jews in our own time who are the victims of intolerance and persecution. It bids the Jew to assume his responsibility of bringing closer the day of peace and justice for all men.
Is vegetarianism regarded as in any way offensive to traditional Judaism, specially considering all the emphasis put on eating meat and fowl?
We do fmd Jewish ascetics who abstained from eating meat and drinking wine but this was part of their general efforts to avoid the enjoyment of worldly pleasures not because they believed it morally wrong to eat meat.
Even here Maimonides(£)eot3:1) believes that ascetic extremes are sinful and he quotes specifically the man who refuses to eat meat.
Furthermore, it is a religious obligation to eat meat on the festivals. But in addition to the legal question there is a further consideration of much importance.
If the vegetarian argues that Judaism wants us to be vegetarians because it is cruel to kill animals for food he is obviously in error since ludaism does permit the eating of meat (though it does urge us to kill animals for food in as painless a way as possible).
By arguing that it is the wish of Judaism that we be vegetarians he is
Keeping plates koslier
If one buys and uses a food product which one later discovers contained a trefa ingredient (e.g., animal fat In a cake mix), what procedure must be followed to re-kosher the utensils involved, some of which are no longer Identifiable (e.g. plates on which the cake was served)?
This column does not answer the kind of shaala for which your own rabbi should be consulted. Nevertheless, it can safely be said that you need have no qualms about using the plates.
The rule about the contamination of utensils by trefa food only applies if the food is boiling hot. Cold trefa food placed in a utensil does not render that utensil trefa so your plates are quite kosher.
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Polish Jews thank Pope
TEL AVIV — The Federation of Polish Jews has expressed its **pro-found appreciation** and thanks to Pope John Paul II for his compassionate words about the Holocaust victims when he was at Auschwitz during his visit to Poland.
Ansel Reiss, president of the World Federation of Polish Jews, said in a cable to the Holy See that the Pontiffs words at Auschwitz **will be inscribed in the annals of the world as an echo of a pure conscience, caring for truth, justice and solidarity with the oppressed and sufferers.**
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(Continued from page 1)
last week*s air combat for the first time ever.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said that it was **a matter of serious concern** to the American Government that Israel had used U.S.-supplied F-15 jets in an **offensive operation.** The aircraft ' had been supplied to Israel for defensive purposes, the official stated.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said that Syria "will be responsible" for the consequences if it shoots down Israeli planes attacking terrorist bases in Lebanon.
Addressing the closing session of the Jewish Agency assembly in the Knesset's Chagall hall, the Premier said: **Damascus should know that they can't interfere with our artillery or our air force.** Begin called Israel's downing of the five M!G-21s **legitimate national self-defence ... (the Syrians) mustn't shoot down our planes ... If they do, they'll be responsible. This is our defence policy."
Both the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 were preceded by massive aerial battles
between the Israeli and Syrian Aii Forces.
In 1967, four weeks before hostilities, Israeli jets shot down six Syrian MIGs over the Golan Heights. In 1973, as the Arabs were making the final preparations for their attack, 13 Syrian jets were shot down over the Mediterranean off northern Syria. (Jerusalem Post)
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thus guilty of misrepresenting the faith.
If, on the other hand, he admits that Judaism does not demand that we be vegetarians but wishes to improve on Judaism, he offends the doctrine of the perfect Torah.
To put this in other words, where there is discussion whether a certain course is right or wrong and Judaism has always said that it is right, to declare that it is wrong is to say that Judaism has been in error.
This is very different from, let us say, the case of polygamy. Here, while Judaism did at one time permit polygamy, there was never any suggestion otherwise than that, as in the Adam and Eve story, monogamy was the ideal.
The same applies to slavery. There was never an injunction to own slaves even when slavery was tolerated by the Torah. Consequently, the Jew today can declare without being dishonest that he has only one wife and refuses to own slaves because this is really what Judaism would have him do.
He can hardly make this kind of claim with regard to vegetarianism.
(Copyright JCN & FS)
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