Mr. Schwartz, seriously, the Jewish community is addressing these issues, right here, on this blog, and through many other endeavors of Hazon. Many people here do not support factory farming, and do their best to source animal products from more ethical sources. Do you ensure that the soy you consume was harvested in such a way that no small animals living in the fields died in the process? Combines, which do most of the commodity harvesting in this country, are not gentle things.

You’re not the only one who is doing anything about global warming, factory farming, or even the Jewish community’s response to them. If Hazon is not evidence of the Jewish community (at least part of it - we’re not monolithic) responding to these issues, what is?

Of the 154 people who recently answered The Jew & The Carrot’s reader survey:
12% identified as Orthodox
9% identified as Conservadox

Meanwhile:

12% said they keep glatt kosher at home and away
33% said they keep kosher at home, but eat non-kosher food outside of their home.

So worry not, your message is reaching more observant people, from a kashrut perspective and otherwise, then you might think.

My “extreme point of view” is NOT that Jews must be vegetarians. Thankfully, we have choices, but shouldn’t our dietary choices take the realities of factory farming into account, and consider how they impinge on Jewish values and taechings and laws?

Can anyone deny that the way most animals are treated on factory farms is not consistent with Jewish teachings>?

Can anyone deny that the consumption of animal products has been linked to many diseases?

And, yes, with all the problems the world faces, is it reasonable to be raising 60 billion farmed animals annually worldwide for slaughter, using enormous amounts of land, water, energy and other resources, a;; of which are becoming increasingly scarce?

in an increasingly thirsty world, with Israel having the worst drought in its history, is it wise to have a diet that requires up to 14 times as much water as a vegan diet?

Why isn’t the Jewish community addressing these issues?

Anyone willing to view A SACRED DUTY: APPLYING JEWISH VALUES TO HELP HEAL THE WORLD? It can be seen at ASacredDuty.com.

With the world increasinly heading toward an unprecedentd catastrophe from globaal warming and other environmental threats, how can we ignore these issues?

Shabbat shalom to all,

Richard

=====

I meant that I wish frum (observant) people who still eat Rubashkin’s would read this post, so that they could consider the halakhah. I don’t think many of those people come to the Jcarrot site. I was not writing about my own work in any personal way. For the record, I teach more in Orthodox communities than any non-Ortho rabbi I know.

I was and am genuinely interested in your thoughts about the halakhic issues–so far you’ve avoided that. I am however not very interested in ad hominem attacks. If you’d like to share on the halakhic front, please do, but please stick to the substance. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take a little tincture of Kum Ba Yah first!

Shabbat shalom to you and your family,

David

I fail to see the comparison between my discreet observation as to the overall incongruity of your tirade and your table-thumping, Rambam thumping “J’Accuse” of a shout out which you fee constrained to do here as opposed to your own site.

“What are you beating your breast about, personally, to change Agri? (It doesn’t matter whether you call it a symptom or disease.)”

I guess we have a difference in style - I like working discreetly and don’t feel the need to wear my accomplishments on my sleeve but I think my personal/professional views on sustainability and living a life of “hatznea leches” are pretty well known. I believe change has to come from within and the veggies and liberals screaming paradoxically cause the wagons to circle even tighter.

“To myself - Now if I only could get the Orthodox folks I’m trying to reach to actually read any of this!” Ask yourself honestly why the Halachic community won’t engage you (or does that count as “finger pointing”?)

well I’ve got to go sing “kum Baya” (my kids are still laughing)

To Richard - I’m writing something different than the veg issues you always raise. Your tone may always be respectful, but I don’t think it’s respectful to ignore the content and just post the same thing you always post. Look at the comments you’re getting.. Ta Shma!

To Catherine - There are so many extraordinary problems in the world, and industrial meat is tied up with quite a few of them, but NOT ALL of them.

To Uri L’Tzedek - You guys (Ari Hart or whomever) need to respond to this post. Uri L’Tzedek’s choice to back down from their boycott, just because Agri hired a compliance officer, seemed almost cowardly. I think Uri L’Tzedek used the concept of t’shuvah as an excuse. Perhaps the more important reason the boycott was called off is that the project was too consuming, as Ari said. In the face of the other Agri issues and the very clear halakhah, you need to come up with a new position. Here’s one: start boycotting all OU meat for their role in sustaining Agri in its desecration of animals, workers, Judaism, and Hashem.

On Chabad - Many Chabadniks and Chabad fellow travelers are very defensive about Agri, which is run by Lubavitchers, and I understand this. No one wants to see there own guys fail. The Talmud gives a definition of chilul Hashem on Yoma 86a: someone whose friends are embarassed by his sh’mu’ato, his reputation.

To the whole Orthodox community - Some in the community are still on the defensive, claiming that the hyper-focus on Agri is due to anti-Semitism. Start paying attention to the halakhah instead of the media. It’s no accident that we don’t just forgive and let live when it comes to something like this. Kosher butchers represent observant Judaism in a way that no other professions do, except mohel, m’lamed (teacher), rabbi or cantor. The whole assumption of the halakhah is that there will be butchers, meaning, kosher, shomer shabbos, otherwise religious butchers, who will do what they can to make an extra buck. It’s not a failure of the religion, until the Jews buying from Agri choose to turn a blind eye. Shmirat Halashon (avoiding gossip or saying negative things about others) is overridden by the halakhah related to people in public roles who need to be ne’eman.

To myself - Now if I only could get the Orthodox folks I’m trying to reach to actually read any of this!

Apparently neo-chasids are quick with the finger pointing - but at others

gut shabbos

shmuel

But Hazon does just that Richard - its just that most reasonable people don’t subscribe to your extreme point of view. Your cute little curve ball “well, we should really be at a centrist position but since things are so bad, we’ve got to go all the way to the otherside to counteract. . yada yada” reeks of disingenuousness. What if I said, “well everyone should have a bit more Jewish learning and ritual in their lives and find a middle position. But since things are so “farfallen” everyone will have to be chareidi until we can find that equilibrium” - it’s an unsustainable (and dishonest) stance for you to take.

There is clearly a problem. I have spent more than a decade trying to achieve that very same equilibrium. I sincerely believe that your rigidity and insistence on being right (at least as you see it) hurts the efforts of those who would rather be effective. I am not alone in my assessment. And you wonder why no one will engage you.

I do have to hand you one thing - you manage to get your shopworn five talking points into every post no matter what the topic - you get an A for perseverence.