Given that I work for a vegetarian advocacy organization, you might assume I dread Passover. After all, the very name of the holiday relates to the smearing of lamb’s blood on the doorposts of the Hebrews.
It would be one thing if the lambs had willingly donated a pint or two at the local blood bank. But we all know that’s not how it happened. Furthermore, the Ashkenazi prohibition of legumes really puts a crimp in the vegan diet.
Believe it or not, though, I actually look forward to Pesach every year as a holiday whose main spiritual themes intersect with veganism. You might find that to be quite a stretch, especially if your mother is making her brisket for the seder again this year. But hear me out.
Without further fanfare, or actually any fanfare, here are the top three reasons why Passover is a vegan holiday:
1. At Passover, we celebrate our freedom, our deliverance from slavery.
It seems like a good time to abstain from meat, dairy and eggs, since the animals from which those products are derived are treated like slaves — or worse. Actually, anthropologically speaking, the very motif of slavery comes from animal agriculture. Buying and selling living beings, binding them with chains, and branding them with hot irons are all actions that we associate with slavery. And these are all actions that originated in animal agriculture.
In modern factory farming, what animals experience is even worse than slavery. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, during Passover, it would be a little hypocritical to celebrate our freedom while participating in the confinement, mutilation and killing of other sentient, soulful beings.
2. At Passover, we seek to free ourselves from our own personal mitzrayim (narrow places) such as our bad habits. And eating meat is indeed a bad habit. It’s bad for your health, and bad for the planet. And very bad for the animal involved.
Pesach provides the perfect opportunity to make changes in our lives. Reducing or eliminating animal products from your diet is one of the best changes you can make.
3. Humility. Why do we eat matzah, the bread of affliction? It’s not because we enjoy the feeling of constipation (a feeling vegans rarely get, by the way). It’s because, spiritually, matzah is humble. It is unleavened. It has not risen. We rid our homes of chametz (leavened products) and we eat matzah to remind ourselves to remain humble.
Conversely, the whole concept of killing animals for food is based on the misguided notion that we are far superior to our furry and feathered friends.
Our great sages realized that humans have an unfortunate tendency to be anthropocentric. We believe the world revolves around us and our needs. The authors of our sacred texts found many ways to make the point that if human beings are superior by animals, it’s not by much. Take, for instance, the mitzvah of feeding your animals before you feed yourself. That’s humility.
So, you see, I have good reason to engage in vegan advocacy, right there at the seder table.
If we take the spiritual significance of Passover seriously, then we must consider going vegan or vegetarian.
Jeffrey Cohan is the executive director of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (www.JewishVeg.org).