Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935)

Abstract

Widely regarded as a broad, innovative philosophical treatise, Harav Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook’s A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace sets out his ideas regarding Jewish vegetarianism. God originally intending human beings and animals to be vegetarians; following Adam and Eve’s sin he allowed humanity to eat meat under certain conditions. One of the ways in which human culture has yet to fully develop thus relates to the animal world, human beings and animals both being destined to become noncarnivores in the eschaton. This chapter presents the biblical bases upon which Rav Kook’s thesis rests—verses from Genesis and Psalms that refer to God’s mercy and prophetic texts with an eschatological tinge. Addressing the Jewish dietary laws and other commandments relating to animals, he maintains that these are intended to educate human beings to be considerate of the animal kingdom and prevent animal suffering.