The world we live in came with an instruction manual: the Torah. If we don't follow the instructions, we can't expect it to work properly.
It clearly states in the Shema prayer :
וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ
And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle and you will eat and you will be satisfied
Cattle should be in the fields, eating grass. But these days we have "industrial animal agriculture" which basically means thousands of animals are kept in tiny pens where they can stick their heads out and eat the cheapest kind of food available, laced with antibiotics to kill the diseases they carry due to their living conditions. Confined industrial animal agriculture of livestock and poultry are commonly referred to as factory farming and are criticised by opponents for the low level of animal welfare standards and associated pollution and health issues.
Remember the Mad Cow Disease? It's real name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - [BSE]. Several years ago, Dr. Bram Lazarus a"h observed that if the letters BSE are written in Hebrew -עשׂב - it is the reverse of the word עֵשֶׂב - grass.
Remember the Mad Cow Disease? It's real name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - [BSE]. Several years ago, Dr. Bram Lazarus a"h observed that if the letters BSE are written in Hebrew -עשׂב - it is the reverse of the word עֵשֶׂב - grass.
[A British inquiry into BSE concluded that it was caused by cattle, who are normally herbivores, being fed the remains of other cattle in the form of meat and bone meal]
Now we have the E-Coli problem, a result of the fertilization of vegetables with the infected waste matter of cattle locked up in animal factories, instead of being out in the fields eating grass, as G-d intended.
Maybe one day the world will understand that we need to follow the original instructions.
Factory farming is atrocious, an abomination.. I'm this close to becoming a vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Devorah. Great insight.
ReplyDeleteHow true it is that we are getting farther and farther from nature, from the good Hashem has made for us.
Why Hashem allows these inordinately wealthy corporations to monopolize and be so powerful, so greedy and unconcerned about the masses they exploit, makes no sense to me. Monsanto, for example, is pushing to become the only legal distributor of (genetically mutated) seeds worldwide. Alcoa already has successfully bribed enough governmental organizations so that their waste product, fluoride, a powerful poison, now is poured into a majority of public water systems for the masses to drink.
But far be it for me to question Hashem's ways.
Moriah: get grass fed free range beef - the same thing the avot ate.
ReplyDeleteIt is much healthier than grain fed factory beef.
And eating meat and dairy in moderation is MUCH healthier than going vegetarian.
PS a lot of the meat in Israel is grass fed from S America.
Devora:
That pasuk is also a proof against veganism. Grass is for animals, animals are for us to eat, then be satisfied and bless our Creator.
That is why eating meat is much more satisfying and filling than vegetables.