Berésit / vegetarianizmus

God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.

ולכל חית הארץ AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH — Scripture places cattle and beasts on a level with them (human beings: that is, it places all alike in the same category) with regard to food, and did not permit Adam to kill any creature and eat its flesh, but all alike were to eat herbs. But when the era of the “Sons of Noah” began He permitted them to eat meat, for it is said, (Genesis 9:3) “every moving thing that lives should be for food for yourselves … “even as the herb” that I permitted to the first man, so do “I give to you everything” (Sanhedrin 59b).

(3) One modern-day scholar who is often cited as looking upon vegetarianism with extreme favor is the late Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It is indeed the case that in his writings Rabbi Kook speaks of vegetarianism as an ideal and points to the fact that Adam did not partake of the flesh of animals. In context, however, Rabbi Kook makes those comments in his portrayal of the eschatological era. He regards man's moral state in that period as being akin to that of Adam before his sin and does indeed view renunciation of enjoyment of animal flesh as part of the heightened moral awareness which will be manifest at that time. But Rabbi Kook is emphatic, nay, vehement, in admonishing that vegetarianism dare not be adopted as a norm of human conduct prior to the advent of the eschatological era. Rabbi Kook advances what are, in effect, four distinct arguments in renunciation of vegetarianism as a goal toward which contemporary man ought to aspire:

BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN YOU EVERY HERB YIELDING SEED. He did not permit Adam and his wife to kill any creature and eat its meat, but all alike were to eat herbs. But when the era of “the sons of Noah” came, He permitted them to eat meat, as it is said, Every moving thing that liveth shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all; even as the green herb that I permitted to the first man, so do I permit you everything. Thus is the language of Rashi. And so did the Rabbi explain it in Tractate Sanhedrin: “And to every beast of the earth — to you and to the beasts I have given the herbs and the fruits of the trees, and every green herb for food.”
But if so, then we must explain the expression, every green herb for food, to mean “and every green herb.” But this is not so. Rather, He gave to man and his wife every herb yielding seed and all fruit of the trees [as mentioned in Verse 29], and to the beasts of the earth and the fowl of the heaven He gave all green herb [as mentioned in Verse 30] but neither the fruit of the tree nor the seeds. The food of all of them was thus not the same. However, meat was not permitted to them until the time of the “sons of Noah,” as is the opinion of our Rabbis. And this is the plain meaning of the verse.
The reason for this [prohibition of eating meat] was that creatures possessing a moving soul have a certain superiority as regards their soul, resembling in a way those who possess the rational soul: they have the power of choice affecting their welfare and their food, and they flee from pain and death. And Scripture says: Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth?
But when they sinned, and all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth, and it was decreed that they die in the flood, and for the sake of Noah He saved some of them to preserve the species, He gave the sons of Noah permission to slaughter and eat them since their existence was for his sake. Yet with all this, He did not give them permission regarding the soul thereof, and He prohibited them from eating a limb cut off from a living animal, and in addition He gave us [the children of Israel] the commandment prohibiting the eating of all blood because it is the basis of the soul, as it is written: For the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof; therefore I said to the children of Israel: Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof. Thus He has permitted the eating of the body of dumb animals after death, but not the soul itself.
This indeed is the reason for the commandment of killing [animals in the prescribed manner before eating their flesh], and for the saying of the Rabbis: “The duty of relieving the suffering of beasts is a Biblical requirement.” And this is the meaning behind the benediction which we make before killing animals: “[Blessed art Thou, O Eternal our G-d, king of the universe] Who hast sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us concerning the killing [of animals].” I will yet discuss the purport of the commandment prohibiting the eating of blood when I reach thereto, if G-d will reward me.
The meaning of the expression, every herb yielding seed… and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food, is that they should eat the seeds of herbs, such as the grains of wheat, barley, beans, and the like, and that they should eat all fruits of the tree; but the tree itself was not given to them for food, nor was the herb itself until man was cursed and he was told, And thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

Any creeping thing that lives will be for you to eat. For in the day of Adam, people's bodies were strong and the fruits had not yet been damaged and they could sustain a person like meat could. But, after the deluge, when food was damaged, and man was to be scattered to the edges of the land and far off isles for at that point hot and cold (weather) were introduced, so meat was needed for the maintenance of his health. Also, after they all lived through the actions of Noah who provided for them in the ark, they were like his acquisitions and in his possession. Also, because man originally wasn't on the level of "speaker" - only of "living" so only "growing" things were permitted to him. There was no difference between him and animals except that animals were given green vegetation to eat and man was given vegetation that produce seed, meaning fruit. Now, man was elevated to the level of "speaker." Just as there is no wrongdoing in the "living" consuming the "growing" for it is elevated in this manner as it become part of the body of the "living"thing, so too there is no wrongdoing if a "speaker" eats something "living" and it is elevated to become part of the body of the "speaker. This is what is meant by "like the green vegetation, I have given you all." Meaning: just as I prepared food for the animals to eat of the green vegetation [as is written: "and to all the animals of the field, all green vegetation for eating] because it elevates it to the level of "living," so too I have given you all, that you should eat all seed producing vegetation since you are also "living" beings and you should eat animals since you are "living speakers" and anything more lowly is fit to be the sustenance of that which is greater than it.

The Gemara stated that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s suffering came upon him due to an incident. What was that incident that led to his suffering? The Gemara answers that there was a certain calf that was being led to slaughter. The calf went and hung its head on the corner of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s garment and was weeping. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to it: Go, as you were created for this purpose. It was said in Heaven: Since he was not compassionate toward the calf, let afflictions come upon him.

It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says: When the Temple is standing, rejoicing is only through the eating of sacrificial meat, as it is stated: “And you shall sacrifice peace-offerings and you shall eat there and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:7). And now that the Temple is not standing and one cannot eat sacrificial meat, he can fulfill the mitzva of rejoicing on a Festival only by drinking wine, as it is stated: “And wine that gladdens the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15).

What is implied? Children should be given roasted seeds, nuts, and sweets. For women, one should buy attractive clothes and jewelry according to one's financial capacity. Men should eat meat and drink wine, for there is no happiness without partaking of meat,nor is there happiness without partaking of wine.
When a person eats and drinks [in celebration of a holiday], he is obligated to feed converts, orphans, widows, and others who are destitute and poor. In contrast, a person who locks the gates of his courtyard and eats and drinks with his children and his wife, without feeding the poor and the embittered, is [not indulging in] rejoicing associated with a mitzvah, but rather the rejoicing of his gut.
And with regard to such a person [the verse, Hoshea 9:4] is applied: "Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners, all that partake thereof shall become impure, for they [kept] their bread for themselves alone." This happiness is a disgrace for them, as [implied by Malachi 2:3]: "I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your festival celebrations."

The Laws of Being Joyful on a Yom Tov. Containing 4 paragraphs:
It is a holiday mitzvah to spend half the time in the House of Study and half of the time eating and drinking. One should not skimp on holiday expenses; it must be honored and enjoyed like Shabbat. Rema: It is forbidden to eat after Mincha on the day before a holiday, just like for Shabbat, and this is part of honoring it (Rambam chapter 6). However, if the day before the holiday is Shabbat, one can have the third meal and eat a bit of bread in honor of the holiday. It is a mitzvah to knead bread on the day before the holiday in honor of the holiday (Mahari"l laws of a holiday) like on Friday, as was explained above in chapter 342. It is an obligation to eat two loaves of bread and to include wine in the meal. Holiday clothes should be nicer than those for Shabbat. It is not the practice to make a third meal. And on a holiday, we tarry when going to synagogue and quickly leave synagogue because of the holiday joy (Gemara end of chapter "Hakoreh Omed").

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3. One should eat, drink, and be happy on the holiday. One should not overindulge in meat, wine, laughter, or frivolity, because laughter and frivolity are not happiness but debauchery and foolishness. We were not commanded to engage in debauchery and frivolity but only happiness that involves worshipping the Creator.

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