An Ancient Prohibition On the Dangers of Animals in Entertainment (Part One?)

My usual warning about my posts: I tend to blog about things I come across in Judaism that fascinate me. I am sure that I have preachy tendencies in my writing. If you're not interested in the preachiness, then feel free to read those tidbits that do remain.

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Two weekends ago, at a study session coordinated by the Jewish Theological Seminary and led by Jon Adam Ross, I was introduced to one text which I was shocked to have never encountered before in my studies of Judaism (and I am thankful to have finally been introduced to it).

In the 3rd century CE, Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi, discouraging Jews from participating in a culture of Roman theater which the Rabbis associated with violence (as exhibited in gladiator matches) or idolatry (such as the dramas of Greek gods) recorded a law in the Mishnah (in Avodah Zarah 1:7) that begins with the following:

אין מוכרין להם דובין ואריות וכל דבר שיש בו נזק לרבים.

It is forbidden to sell them bears, lions or anything that has the potential to injure the public.

These words, read in their traditional context, don't sound necessarily like the words of animal rights activists. But, this statement--when read in the context of what we know about the inherent abuses and dangers in using animals in entertainment--is certainly compassionate towards animals.

The passage is concerned with the well-being of these animals. Our passage lists bears and lions specifically, but the passage doesn't identify those potential customers to whom we can't sell these animals! (Of course, we presume that the Rabbinic ban is on selling animals to entertainers, to businesspeople with stadiums and to any people who make it their business to put animals on stages.) Not only are Jews so discouraged in the Mishnah from participating in a culture that utilizes animals in violent means, but Jews are forbidden from making money from and from reaping the benefits of a culture that endorses this literally inhumane practice.

When it comes to that dangerous subject of animals in entertainment, this brief dictum is unwavering in the graveness of the sin: not only are Jews forbidden from supporting animals in entertainment, Jews are forbidden from being supported by animals in entertainment.

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Although I usually like to have more to say on a subject, I am writing this blog post now because I did not want to forget this source. I hope to study this topic more in the near future and to have then a few more insights into the subject.

Also, for just a few mild introductory thoughts about the use of animals in entertainment, feel free to examine this site or this page.

Veganmofo: Vegan Brunch!

What better way to start the weekend? Pancakes, Sausage and homefries! All vegan of course.



Brunch is just one of those things you look forward to like fall and cozy sweaters.


Today brunch features, Banana pancakes from Vegan Brunch! By Isa Chandra M. , followed my rosemary roasted garlic potatoes also taken from Vegan Brunch (sort of) and to round it out we ate some yves sausage rounds.

Yum!


Adam's plate

What are you eating for brunch?

Natalie Portman on "Eating Animals"

Check out Natalie Portman's glowing review of Jonathan Safran Foer's 

just released book, Eating Animals. And while we're on the topic of 

vegan celebrities, Alicia Silverstone just came out with a veg 

cookbook/diet book, The Kind Diet. Also, Oprah's former personal 

chef just released a vegan cookbook, The Conscious Cook.  

Now here's the amazing part: all three of these books are on the top 100 

bestselling list on Amazon! I would bet that this is the first time in 

the history of the universe that two, let alone three vegan books have 

been simultaneous bestsellers. Veganism is finally coming into the 

mainstream.

The Cove Gains Publicity

Yesterday's Times published an article about The Cove, a documentary film uncovering the mass slaughter of dolphins off the coast of Taiji, Japan. The film's first public screening in Japan was held on Wednesday at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

The film and article make it clear that a vast majority of Japanese citizens know nothing of the brutal hunt, nor of the high mercury readings in the dolphin meat. Before seeing the film, I knew very little about this issue, and was glad to have expanded my knowledge of animal cruelty past the context of the American meat industry. That being said, I felt a bit powerless after watching the film, unable to take comfort in the fact that I could cast my vote as a consumer. My sentiments were somewhat lifted after reading this article in light of the fact that many of Tokyo's viewers were outraged by what they saw. They by no means see national identity as a reason to continue this brutal hunt, and are eager to help.

Was Honest Abe an animal rights advocate?

Many sources have made the claim that Abraham Lincoln supported animal rights and/or practiced vegetarianism, often citing the following alleged quotation: "I am in favour of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

Environmentalist, animal rights advocate and author Mike Hudak has scoured the evidence on the topic -- it looks like Lincoln may not have been a kindred spirit after all. Shucks.

Abraham Lincoln: Vegetarian and Animal Rights Advocate?—A Review of the Evidence
by Mike Hudak

Rescue Ink: Tough guys for the animals

Check out Rescue Ink: a tough, tattooed band of bikers who don't take no for an answer when it comes to helping abused animsl.

New York Times article: Heaven's Angels

Quick Piece from The Onion

I figured I'd pass along this piece from The Onion on God inventing a new bird.

Nothing too heavy in the article... but I think it's a good laugh for people who like animals and/or religion.

Ham and Eggonomics on "The Pollan-Singer Travesty"

Check out this quick post from "Ham and Eggonomics" (a great blog!) by Bailey Norwood, an ag economist at Oklahoma State University. It's interesting to see a pro-animal welfare critique of Pollan from a non-veg perspective. And If you haven't read Jim Mason and Peter Singer's The Way We Eat, it's really worth it. They talk about everything from freeganism and lab-grown meat to GMOs and fair-trade coffee .  

Vegan Month of Food 3.0!

Just a heads up blog-o-sphere that veganmofo (that's vegan month of food!) is back! And better then ever, over 200 bloggers have signed on so don't miss out!

Find all the round-ups-info-and-sign-ups here!

And follow all the handy dandy actions, including your's truly on this bloglines feed.

"Dominion" by Matthew Scully

I recently read Dominion by Matthew Scully, and was impressed by the author's eloquence and merciful compassion. Scully is not your stereotypical animal rights advocate: he is a prominent conservative, and has worked as a speechwriter for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, Robert P. Casey and Sarah Palin. The book should provide a refreshing perspective for anyone already familiar with standard animal rights philosophy, and would be a great recommendation for a more conservative skeptic.

An excerpt:

"Walking around a place like Farm 2149, I do not need some utilitarian philosopher to do the moral math for me, adding up and subtracting the suffering of the world to determine which lives have value and which do not. I do not need a contractualist philosopher to define for me an "appropriate object of sympathy." I do not need behavioral scientists or cognitive theorists to distinguish which pains are "real" pains and which are not. I do not need experts in evolutionary ecology or some other faddish field of the day to explain the hard and remorseless demands of natural selection. I require no advice from theologians on where mercy may be granted and where withheld. Confronted with this wholesale disregard and destruction of life, all attempts to justify it strike me as vain talk, miserable excuses that cannot cover the iniquity, the ungodly presumption of it, the scale and sorrow of it.

Only effete "urbanites," we are admonished, care about such things because we are so estranged from nature's harsh realities. But these particular realities are not of nature's design, and in every corner of our factory farms one finds the most casual disregard for the nature of the animals themselves. Nature has its own hardships, but its own kindnesses, too, like straw and room to sleep and the care of a mother for her young. When we take even those away, we are smothering the inmost yearnings of these creatures and the charity in our own hearts."