Passover a time of reflection for Jews worldwide.

On Saturday night, Jewish families began Passover, an important weeklong festival commemorating the Jews’ journey to emancipation as well as the birth of their nation. Passover is spent in the company of family and friends and in sharing together symbolic meals. An increasing number of Jews have been recently turning to vegetarianism (veganism) to honor this occasion.

This trend is explained by Rabbi David Rosen, chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Inter-religious Consultations, who is a vegetarian himself.

For more information about Rabbi David Rosen, please visit http://rabbidavidrosen.net/

Rabbi David Rosen, Chairman, International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations: So the Passover meal is often called a Seder, which means the order of service. And now more Jews are becoming vegetarian (vegan) for a variety of different reasons. Not least of all it’s much simpler to observe Jewish dietary laws if you are a vegetarian (vegan).

Rabbi David Rosen: There are those who say, “Well, in terms of the goal of Jewish dietary
laws, the goal is clearly anyway to become vegetarian (vegan) because the ideal societies, as described in the Bible are the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were vegetarian in the garden of Eden.

Jewish individuals find that several Passover themes highlight vegetarian (vegan) values, the main one being the theme of freedom. Many Jews see a connection between the need to offer true freedom to farmed animals, as well as freeing billions of humans from hunger.

Rabbi David Rosen: One of the reasons also for moving us in the direction of becoming a vegetarian (vegan) was an awareness of the amount of arable land that is wasted in order to provide grazing for meat consumption, and the awareness that at least a hundred times as many people could be fed on that corn, on that grain that is being wasted in this way. If you have a sense of responsibility for humankind in terms of your ethical obligations to the poor, to the needy, to the hungry, all of which are fundamental values in Jewish tradition, Biblical values, then you have a responsibility to lead a dietary life that is going to be able to provide for more of that.

Vegetarianism (veganism) is also viewed as a moral practice consistent with Jewish teachings of ecological stewardship.

Rabbi David Rosen: If we are going to be able to preserve humanity on this planet and preserve our planet as a healthy and balanced place to live in, then changing that lifestyle becomes in fact a moral imperative.

We thank Rabbi Rosen and all our Jewish brothers and sisters who are striving to grant more life and freedom in our world through wholesome plant-based diets. Wishing all a memorable and loving Passover!

US media encouraged to accurately report global warming.

At an Earth Day conference in Wisconsin, speaker Tia Nelson, daughter of Gaylord Nelson who founded Earth Day in 1970, highlighted the need for the media to convey the reality of climate change. She stated that of 900 total peer-reviewed studies published over a ten year period, every one of them concluded that global warming is a vital issue and that it is the result of human activity. Jay Gulledge, senior scientist at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in the US, said, “We… see that the likelihood of severe catastrophic outcome is actually significantly higher than we’ve been thinking that it is, based on the latest science.”

Ms. Nelson, Dr. Jay Gulledge and conference leaders, we thank you for your forthright message about the dire state of our planet. May Providence guide us in carrying out our responsibility of preserving our Earthly abode. http://www.dane101.com/current/2008/04/18/earth_day_conference_tackles_the_uncertainty_of_climate_change_predictions