PURELY COMMENTARY Vegetarianism: Haggadah And Knaidlach PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus I n the generations of jubilation over the Passover, when a habitual absentee from family visits would consistently rush home for the Seder, the punning about him was: "Er maint nit die Hagode, er maint die kneidlah" — "he is not inclined for the Haggadah but for the matzah balls." This has not been a denigration and an intention to call him a gourmand (fresser). On the contrary, it is a recogni- tion of his being a gourmet, an authori- ty on good food. Furthermore, the Passover seder tradition encourages it. There is no seder without food, and the jubilation stems from the excellence of the food for which an important func- tion is assigned to the seder. Because the popular knaidle — mat- zah ball — can be prepared with dairy qualities and need not be boiled in chicken soup, the seder can gain the privilege of being vegetarian. In that fashion it can be as delicious as the meat dishes. That's the vegetarian claim, and the adherents to vegetarianism prove it in a Passover Haggadah with scores of appended Passover recipes, and an accompanying vegetarian volume that could claim the status of a textbook on vegetarianism. Ideals promulgated in advocating vegetarianism are being conducted on an extensive basis by the International Jewish Vegetarian Society. The basic principles in the extensive appeals are parallel to the relationship now incorporated as a traditional Hag- Torah expects of the Jew gadah with emphasis on vegetarianism. towards God, because Torah en- The Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb shrined its ideal human not in was edited by Roberta Kalechofsky and the image of professor, scientist, is filled with commentaries emphasiz- doctor or academician, but in ing the basic theme. the image of the shepherd. This Haggadah supplements the While this is like a replica of the earlier explanatory volume, Judaism and Vegetariansim, which was edited by idealism of the National Association Richard H. Schwartz, associate pro- Against Cruelty to Animals, it goes fessor of mathematics at the College of much farther. It quotes many Jewish Staten Island. Both works were publish- ed by Micah Publications. A new book makes a The supporting data in the vegetarian seder a vegetarian appeals are voluminous in delicious goal. both books. A specifically appealing declaration especially suitable for the personalities on the subject, with em- Passover Haggadah declares: phasis on rabbinic lore. It commences This Haggadah is both Hag- with a divine admonition from Genesis gadah and manifesto. It is osten- 1:29: sibly for vegetarians and for those whose knowledge of the suffering of animal life in this century divides them from a public which has not addressed itself to this problem, but it is also for everyone concerned with unbridled cruelty, it is for all creatures who suffer, human and animal, because any suffer- ing can never not matter to the God of Torah, because Torah legislation and Jewish tradition make a large accounting of animal life which binds the Jew in a reciprocal relationship to the animal, based on respon- sibilities and obligations And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed — to you it shall be for food?' Such Jewish traditionalists as Shmuel Joseph Agnon, Franz Kafka, Isaac Bashevis Singer, I. L. Peretz and the late Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, are listed among the vegetarian adherents. Here is the declaration of Rabbi Kook which is quoted in the vegetarian text in support of the ideal: Those cruel systems of philosophy, especially those which in their extreme abstract- ness have become disconnected from human reality . . . have, each according to its own method, instructed mankind to completely suffocate within themselves any feelings of justice or obligation toward other living things. They have naturally not suc- ceeded, nor will they succeed with all their logics and sophistries, in changing the natural proclivity toward the just which man's Creator planted within him. And even though with respect to animal life that feeling remains at the moment the sparks of a dim and flickering ember hidden beneath a great mound of ashes, it is still im- possible for the philosophers to deny the intuition in every sen- sitive heart: that it is a general moral failure of the human race that they have failed to bring to realization this right and exalted instinct — that man must not take the life of any living thing for his own needs and amusements. There could be no better support for vegetarianism than the numerous recipes in The Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb. There is no better proof than the food delicacies provided with Continued on Page 48 The State Of Israel's Ethics On Human Rights For All A ntagonism to Israel has grown with the intifada. Especially in the media, there seems to be a constant desire to accumulate ammuni- tion against the Jewish state and na- tion. The U.S. State Department's "Report on Human Rights" listing alleged abuses in Israel are utilized in the condemnations. Significantly, there are portions of that report which explain and provide the data vitally needed for fairness in judgements. These portions should have been used and must be given the pro- per distribution for the widest possible knowledge. Here is that portion of the text that has not received the necessary recognition: THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS (US PS 275-520) is published every Friday with additional supplements the fourth week of March, the fourth week of August and the second week of November at 20300 Civic Center Drive, Southfield, Michigan. Second class postage paid at Southfield, Michigan and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send changes to: DETROIT JEWISH NEWS, 20300 Civic Center Drive, Suite 240, Southfield, Michigan 48076 $26 per year $33 per year out of state 60' single copy Vol. XCV No. 5 2 March 31, 1989 FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1989 • "Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a multiparty political system and free elec- tions:' • "Public debate on issues of concern to Israelis is open and lively. A vigorous free press scrutinizes all aspects of Israeli life and politics." • "All citizens are assured freedom of religion by law." • "Israeli law and practice guarantee against arbitrary ar- rest or imprisonment?' • "The right to a hearing by an impartial tribunal with representation by counsel is guaranteed by law." • "Israel is resonsive to inter- national and non-governmental interest in its human rights situation. The ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice have specially designated Human Rights offices, and other ministries have officials who respond to human rights groups such as the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, as well as political action groups such as Peace Now, operate openly and without government interference. The government invetigates and responds to most inquiries by such organizations like Amnes- ty International?' • "The government permits visits to Israel and the occupied territories by representatives of private international human rights groups, as well as such in- ternational bodies as the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the World Health Organization, and the Interna- tional Labor Organization (ILO). In 1988, Israel accommodated a vastly increased number of visits from organizations and persons inquiring into human and civil rights issues associated with the uprising n the occupied territories?' • "Women's rights in Israel protected by the Equal Oppor- tunity Law, which forbids sex discrimination. The government includes a senior advisor on the status of women. One (previous- ly two) of 12 Supreme Court Justices is a woman. Women are drafted into the army but do not fill combat-related positions?' • "Israeli Arabs have made substantial educational and material progress since the founding of Israel:' • "Israeli workers and employers have freely establish- ed organizations of their own choosing. Israel has a powerful free trade union movement, the General Federation of Labor in Israel (Histadrut), and a much smaller rival federation. About 80% of employed Israelis (in- cluding 70% of employed Arab Israelis) are members of Histadrut trade unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements?' • "About 100,000 Palestinian workers living in the West Bank and Gaza work in Israel:' • "Israelis representing almost any point of view are free to assemble and associate." Jewish critics, more destructive in their angered misrepresentations than their non-Jewish counterparts — note the occurrences in Ann Arbor — will do well to memorize this portion of the U.S. Human Rights Report. They will help themselves and their fellow citizens by studying also the other parts of the report in which the cruel tortures revealed in many lands, notably the Arab-ruled, are the true challenges to those who dehumanize their fellow beings. Those who keep making noises that are so damaging to Israel, especially the negatives in the media, compel Israel's defenders to utilize the positives in the human rights report in compulsively defensive programs.