Rabbi Marc Gellman Argues for Vegetarianism

I posted on my omnivorous ways a couple of days ago, and it seems Rabbi Marc Gellman has been thinking about vegetarianism, as well. Like me, he still eats meat. Unlike me, he feels guilty about it.

I went eight years once as a vegetarian, but I ended up chiefly a dessert-atarian. I know however, that God is not finished with me, and I keep trying to love lettuce, humbled in the knowledge that when I die and am judged, a long line of chickens and cows will be clucking and mooing when I pass, “That's the man!! He's the guy who ate me!” Hey, if you want a teacher who knows what is true, stick with me. If you want a perfect teacher you'd better go somewhere else…I have burgers on the grill.

Rabbi Gellman argues that there is a high Torah and a low Torah. They are given simultaneously in the Holy Writ. In the high Torah, God allows humans to eat only fruits and vegetables (Genesis 1:29), but following Noah and the flood, God gives in and allows humans to eat almost anything they want, with a few exceptions (Genesis 9:3).

Rabbi Gellman strives to live the high Torah but recognizes that he is a weak man who loves a good hamburger.

The distinction between high Torah and low is similar to the distinction between absolute truth and relative truth for Buddhists. Many Buddhists strive to live according to absolute truths (all life forms are sacred), while others of us resign ourselves to living in relative truth (some animal flesh is necessary for some of us to be healthy).

The secondary headline for Rabbi Gellman's column is: A guilt-ridden carnivore makes the spiritual case for vegetarianism. This, I think, is where a lot of meat eating Buddhists find themselves, as well.