In the last blog, I was discussing how kashrut was created to cultivate man. I ended with the beginning of a "discussion" between Nachmanides and Maimonides. I didn't let Rambam get his say in on the matter, so I will do so now:
"For in general the eggs which the bird has sat and the young that need their mother are not fit to be eaten. If then the mother is let go, she will not be pained by seeing that the young are taken away. In most cases, this will lead people to leave everything alone, for what may be taken in most cases is not fit to be eaten. If the law takes into consideration these pains [in the case of beasts and birds], what will be the case in regard to the individuals of the human species." -Guide for the Perplexed, ch. III, part xlviii
Rambam also mentions that when we perform shechita, we should make sure that the knife is as sharp as possible so as to minimize the pain to the animal (ibid, part xxvi). The Rambam's view on treatment of animals can be summarized with the following (ibid, part xlviii):
"For in these cases, animals feel very great pain, there being no difference regarding this pain between man and other animals. For the love and the tenderness of a mother for her child is not consequent upon reason, but upon the activity of the imaginative faculty which is found in most animals just as it is found in man."
To summarize Rambam's argument in a nice, little sound byte: Animals are sentient beings!
Because of this realization, we are faced with a an ethical quandry. If animals are sentient beings, and Proverbs (12:10) is indeed correct in asserting that a righteous man regards the life of an animal, how do we comprehend the notion of meat-eating in Judaism? If we are to "abhor" bloodshed and show compassion, even towards animals, how does Judaism come to terms with eating meat? An even better question: with all of this in mind, can Judaism come to terms with being omnivorous?
My final entry in this kashrut series will deal with Judaism and vegetarianism.
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