wil said:
Time for some free range Kosher.
yes, why pay 3x when you can pay 5x? and how about organic, too? hehehe. this is a can of worms, it is very hard to eat meat ethically. on the other hand it is very hard to eat anything ethically and it is also very hard to get that amount of protein in an easier form; tofu just won't cut it the same way.
Is it possible to hunt kosher? For Orthodox to hunt?
i don't think so. blood sports are considered a very "roman" sort of thing, because esau is described as doing a lot of hunting, so no deer hunting, bullfighting or gladiators, eating or not. you can *trap*, but it isn't possible to hunt kosher as far as i know, so kosher venison is from domestic herds.
splain yourself Lucy! Is this a personal journey? ie can one make the destination ahead of the crowd?
anything relating to the messianic age is aggadic in nature and thus open to a multiplicity of personal interpretation, none of which is truly binding like halakhah is.
LAGoff said:
the Torah does have some things to say(explicit and implicit) against meat(and eggs and milk/cheese,etc.) consumption, I guess that's why I put: "Jews"- that is, until someone can disabuse me of this notion.
it's about mixtures. for us to eat meat, blood must be spilt, therefore it is a "domain of death", whereas milk is a "life" domain food, eggs being parev (neutral). if we are going to take life, it must be done within a positive spiritual context and minimising any harm.
Eggs and dairy products? Just fooling yourself. The animals are kept as milk and egg machines(with all the suffering this implies), and then they are killed for food.
with respect, this is probably a scientific point of view rather than a halakhic one. and what is the point of a cow if you're not going to eat it or drink its milk? it's not like they can look after themselves exactly. have you ever spent time with a chicken? i mean, i'm not saying that they should be mistreated, but the whole "respect" argument is to my mind rather a red herring.
Anyway, BABIES drink milk, not adults.
er... the science says that dairy products are a good way to get protein. babies drink breastmilk, not cow's milk. there are not many human cultures that don't benefit from dairy products, so i would say that the evidence probably isn't on your side. but, as i say, this is a scientific question, rather than a religious one, so perhaps here isn't the place for this discussion?
Gen. 1:28,29: animals and man's diet is to be plant based.
in the garden of eden, not afterwards. there was no agriculture until adam left either, so by this alone we'd still be picking stuff off the trees. as for "dominion/subduing", that actually means stewardship and responsibility, not "it's yours to ruin if you feel like it."
5. Dairy? Don't seeth a kid in its mother's milk, which the rabbis interpreted as requiring the Jew 6(3 for the Sefardim) hours between consuming dairy and meat). This is an implied rebuke: one who consumes meat and dairy is doing something reminiscent of the above abominable pagan practice.
it's also mixing the life and death domains as previously discussed. and, in fact the correct separation time is 6 hours as per the shulhan arukh, which was originally a sephardi position, albeit most ashkenazim actually keep 3 hours, for reasons which aren't terribly halakhically sound as far as i remember. besides, i follow the baghdadi custom, which is 6 hours.
6. The taking the eggs of the mother bird-law. An implied rebuke on egg eating(how much more now that we are "taking" the birds freedom and comfort away from them in factory farms, where the owners are encouraged(i.e. have to for economic reasons) to see the birds as machines.
this is your interpretation. it is more that it is cruel to let the mother bird see that you are taking her chicks away; it's far too similar to the pagan seething-a-kid custom.
The Prophets Joel(4:18) and Amos(9:14) suggest vegetarianism as a symbol for messianic days. This implies that maybe a vegetarian diet will hasten the coming of messianic days.
the operative word being "maybe".
C. There is no blessing for meat/dairy/eggs(you say the same blessing for water). This implies a rebuke.
no it doesn't. if it was less good to eat meat, dairy and eggs, they wouldn't be prescribed for shabbat and festivals. find me a traditional commentator that says this, please.
Video shows that a kosher slaughter(go to youtube) is not quick and painless: the animal is seen to be conscious for minutes after the slash.
you need to be aware of the source of these videos - documentation of one breach of the halakhah and the ethics is not proof that this is a) intentional or b) intended. there is a huge interest in this issue and the shechita authorities everywhere are extremely concerned about cruelty; stuff like this makes them look like they're not telling the truth, so it's good that it is exposed if it makes them raise their standards. nonetheless, there are some groups that are determined to outlaw both kashrut and halal slaughter and these groups are not all that concerned for a) the spiritual needs of others or b) stretching the truth if it suits them.
b'shalom
bananabrain