The Jewish Vegan

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of veganism, vegetarianism, and meat avoidance among Jews, both historical and contemporary. In recent decades, as more Jews have adopted plant-based lifestyles, Jewish vegan and vegetarian movements have become increasingly prominent. This book explores the intellectual, religious, and historical roots of veganism and vegetarianism among Jews and presents compelling new directions in Jewish thought, ethics, and foodways. The contributors, including scholars, rabbis, and activists, explore how Judaism has inspired Jews to eschew animal products and how such choices, even when not directly inspired by Judaism, have enriched and helped define Jewishness. Individually, and as a collection, the chapters in this book provide an opportunity to meditate on what may make veganism and vegetarianism particularly Jewish, as well as the potential distinctiveness of Jewish veganism and vegetarianism. The authors also examine the connections between Jewish veganism and vegetarianism and other movements, while calling attention to divisions among Jewish vegans and vegetarians, to the specific challenges of fusing Jewishness and a plant-based lifestyle, and to the resistance Jewish vegans and vegetarians can face from parts of the Jewish community. The book’s various perspectives represent the cultural, theological, and ideological diversity among Jews invested in such conversations and introduce prominent debates within their movements. “Whether looking at the pages of the Talmud, vegetarian poems written in Yiddish, lyrics written by Jewish punk rockers, or into a pot of vegan matzo ball soup, this book explores the many ways in which Jews have questioned the ethics of eating animals. Labendz and Yanklowitz achieve their stated goal of exploring ‘what distinguishes Jewish veganism and vegetarianism as Jewish.’ You do not have to be a vegetarian or a vegan (or Jewish!) in order to learn from, and indeed grapple with, the many questions, dilemmas, and readings that the contributors raise.” — Jordan D. Rosenblum, author of The Jewish Dietary Laws in the Ancient World “Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism offers theological, pragmatic, ethical, environmental, and other ways to view non-meat eating as a viable, healthy, and holy Judaic strategy to consume the world. Anyone who eats or thinks about eating should take this volume seriously.” — Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane, author of Eating Ethically: Religion and Science for a Better Diet “From the Talmud’s ambivalence about human and animal suffering to the challenges of making a vegan matzo ball, Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism offers surprising views of the many ways Jewish practice, Jewish culture, and individual Jews acted and reacted in their encounters with a vegetable diet. This important and overdue book does much to introduce a long-neglected chapter of Jewish culinary practice and to inspire and instruct future research.” — Eve Jochnowitz, cotranslator of Fania Lewando’s The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook: Garden-Fresh Recipes Rediscovered and Adapted for Today’s Kitchen

From brisket and gefilte fish to chicken soup and beyond, the Jewish diet heavily leans on meat and other animal products. And for all the good feelings and nostalgia this food provides, there is a dark component to it. The horrors of industrial meat production-including factories that supply the bulk of kosher meat throughout the world-are well-established: the profitable yet unethical methods of slaughter, the widespread abuse, and the callous treatment of livestock raised solely to die. As members of a tradition that emphasizes compassion for all living beings, the current trend towards more meat consumption endangers the fragile ecology of our planet. But more importantly, it threatens the moral sustainability of our souls. That is where THE JEWISH VEGAN comes in: To be a guide for those who are beginning to think deeply about making a significant change in their diet and lifestyle. Featuring selections from prominent, contemporary Jewish vegan thought-leaders, this tome features essays that touch upon everything from Jewish spirituality and philosophy, to holidays, and health (and much more)! THE JEWISH VEGAN is the perfect companion for the journeyer seeking a new approach to the relationship they have with what is on their plate...

Beautifully translated for a new generation of devotees of delicious and healthy eating: a groundbreaking, mouthwatering vegetarian cookbook originally published in Yiddish in pre–World War II Vilna and miraculously rediscovered more than half a century later. In 1938, Fania Lewando, the proprietor of a popular vegetarian restaurant in Vilna, Lithuania, published a Yiddish vegetarian cookbook unlike any that had come before. Its 400 recipes ranged from traditional Jewish dishes (kugel, blintzes, fruit compote, borscht) to vegetarian versions of Jewish holiday staples (cholent, kishke, schnitzel) to appetizers, soups, main courses, and desserts that introduced vegetables and fruits that had not traditionally been part of the repertoire of the Jewish homemaker (Chickpea Cutlets, Jerusalem Artichoke Soup; Leek Frittata; Apple Charlotte with Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs). Also included were impassioned essays by Lewando and by a physician about the benefits of vegetarianism. Accompanying the recipes were lush full-color drawings of vegetables and fruit that had originally appeared on bilingual (Yiddish and English) seed packets. Lewando's cookbook was sold throughout Europe. Lewando and her husband died during World War II, and it was assumed that all but a few family-owned and archival copies of her cookbook vanished along with most of European Jewry. But in 1995 a couple attending an antiquarian book fair in England came upon a copy of Lewando's cookbook. Recognizing its historical value, they purchased it and donated it to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City, the premier repository for books and artifacts relating to prewar European Jewry. Enchanted by the book's contents and by its backstory, YIVO commissioned a translation of the book that will make Lewando's charming, delicious, and practical recipes available to an audience beyond the wildest dreams of the visionary woman who created them. With a foreword by Joan Nathan. Full-color illustrations throughout. Translated from the Yiddish by Eve Jochnowitz.

Food and cooking are at the heart of Jewish life. During their 2,000 years of exile, Jews migrated across the world taking their culinary heritage and traditions with them. Wherever they settled, they adapted the dishes of their country of residence to fit their own dietary customs and laws, and as a result, Jewish food today embraces a vast variety of cuisines and cooking styles. Acclaimed food writer Paola Gavin takes the reader on a culinary journey through more than twenty countries from Poland to Morocco uncovering a myriad traditional vegetarian dishes that play such an important part in Jewish cooking. When Jews arrived in the Promised Land they became farmers and agriculturists, growing wheat, barley, rye and millet. Their diet was mainly vegetarian – based on bread, pulses, goat’s and sheep’s cheese, olives and nuts, vegetables and herbs, fresh and dried fruit. For the poor, food was made more palatable by sweetening with honey or syrup made from dates, pomegranates or carob beans. These are some of the unique tastes and ingredients that are still associated with modern Jewish cooking today. Through 150 recipes Paola leads us from North Africa to Italy, Lithuania, Turkey and beyond, examining the subtle differences and genesis of the dishes of these regions. With lavish, colourful food photography and a meticulously researched narrative, Hazana is a classic in cookbook writing.

Beautifully photographed and filled with endearing stories of the author’s inspiration behind each holiday menu, The Jewish Food Hero Cookbook is not just about the food and the final presentation. It’s also about how you feel leading up to the holiday, and the ambiance one wants to create from day one of preparation. It’s about experiencing the holiday itself and creating beloved memories with your family. Pairing both traditional and modern, healthy food, the goal of this book is to prove that together we can create a new and healthy food future for the Jewish people, one that is connected to the most beautiful of Jewish traditions while being grounded in the present.

Explains the advantages of a plant-based diet for families with children and offers a collection of family-friendly vegan recipes for breakfast foods, soups, salads, sandwiches, snacks, main and side dishes, breads, and desserts.

Don't you think it is about time Jewish food's "greatest hits" received a makeover? Beyond Chopped Liver shares new and better ways to enjoy quintessentially Jewish food with delicious, plant-based recipes- from challah to matzo ball soup!

"For over four decades, Richard Schwartz has engaged with two ethically rich ways of living that, as he charts in this book, he came to appreciate in middle age: Judaism and veganism. Having been born into a secular Jewish family, it was his marriage and an increasing commitment to social justice that propelled him to study and rediscover the essence of his Jewish faith. That sense of social justice further raised his awareness of the environmental movement, and, ultimately, to animal rights and veganism. In Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, Schwartz shows how, now perhaps more than ever, veganism offers a pathway for all of us of whatever faith (or no faith) to reduce hunger, conserve the environment, save water, reinstitute justice, and care for animals and the Earth. It is no coincidence, as Schwartz demonstrates, that many of these ideas are mandates in Jewish scripture, and that reincorporating a care for the world (tikkun olam) can itself reinvigorate the spirit of a faith and galvanize its practitioners to act"--