Vegetarianism

Q: I have recently stopped eating meat and fish because I think that living creatures (those with a nervous system and a sensation of pain) shouldn’t have to suffer just to serve as my food. But Judaism permits eating fish and animals, and does not see anything negative in it (at least it does not forbid it). Is there a profound meaning to eating meat that is hidden from me?

A: The whole of nature, including all the Upper and lower worlds, was created for man, and rise along with man. That is why we must use everything for ourselves: extinguish pests, grow and slaughter domestic animals, sow and reap, cultivate the good and extinguish the bad. This is how nature becomes included within man. Then, if man rises, he raises nature along with himself.

The purpose of creation is that man will enjoy his surroundings in the most correct way. He cannot act as he pleases: isolation, denial of pleasure, fasting and restrictions are against the practice that the Torah preaches.

If you continue to study correctly, you will understand what you must do (although there is not a single word about vegetarianism). Such is the virtue of Kabbalah: the very study builds in the student the right outlook on life.