Sources from essay by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
in The Social Justice Torah Commentary
As you read the passages concerning Kashrut below, discuss and experience you have with kashrut. Does the practice have any relevance to you? What do we lose by ignoring these laws?
A commitment to the timeless ritual of kashrut is a powerful vehicle for Jewish survival and continuity. However, the fact that food is kosher does not always mean that eating it is ethical, per se. For many, kashrut involves a commitment to a Torah tradition without any deeper moral relevance. The spiritual enterprise of kashrut can be reframed to meet humanity's ethical obligation to tend to the earth and the heavens, including tending to workers' dignity and animal welfare.
At heart, kashrut is about dignity. An anecdote about a rabbinic ethicist helps us understand this concept. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter was the founder of Judaism's modern character development movement, Mussar. The story goes that one spring, before Passover, he was called to certify the kosher status of a matzah factory. As he inspected the factory, he observed the conditions thoroughly. He saw that the matzah, the unleavened bread, was made according to the letter of halachah (Jewish law). Yet, after inspecting every aspect of the factory, Rabbi Salanter refused certification. Why?
Rabbi Salanter explained that he refused to certify the factory's products because of the poor treatment of its workers. The women were overworked, their pay was
insufficient, and their needs were ignored. Because his moral compass would not allow the consumption of products prepared unethically, Rabbi Salanter refused to certify the factory's matzah as fit for use on the holiday when Jews tell the story of their ancestors' release from enslavement.
-Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
How does this fit into your understanding of kashrut? Did the treatment of workers involved in food production figure into your understanding of kashrut before?
From him [Rabbi Soloveitchik] we learned the idea that Halacha is not just a list of ritual dos and don'ts, but a comprehensive worldview that applies to everything that happens around us. The Torah prohibits the exploitation of workers-so why shouldn't that apply to migrant farm workers picking lettuce or grapes? They were being mistreated, so it was natural for us to apply the principle of non-exploitation to their situation, too. It seemed obvious.
-Rabbi Haskel Lookstein & Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg
Unlike Rabbis Kook and Albo, R. Soloveitchik has no reservations concerning vegetarianism, and affirms it both as an ideal and a practice. He believes that all life, even animal life, is sanctified. . . . Hence, according to R. Soloveitchik, vegetarianism should be practiced, yet man, too desirous for meat, refuses to stop eating animal flesh.
-David Errico-Nagar
When we read Parashat Shmini, let us be inspired by the timeless traditions to keep the Jewish people nourished. At the same time, let us reflect on the ethical dimensions of food consumption that help enable us to thrive morally.
-Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
Discussion Questions by Ariel Tovlev
- How can kashrut be seen as an ethical guide? What examples does Rabbi Yanklowitz provide?
- How do you understand Rav Soloveitchik’s concepts of the morality of majesty and the morality of humility? According to Rabbi Yanklowitz, how are they in concert with each other and not in competition?
- Rabbi Yanklowitz tells the story of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter not giving kosher certification despite adherence to kosher laws, because the organization was unethical. In what ways might our foods be treif (not kosher) due to ethical concerns? How might we make our community more kosher by increasing our ethical standards?