We are delighted to read in this week’s Jewish News and Jewish Chronicle that the Board of Deputies, the representative body for British Jewry, is promoting a meat-free Chanukah as part of its newly launched 1-for-8 Eco Chanukah Challenge to stretch one day’s worth of fossil fuel ‘oil’ consumption over all eight days of the festival.
As well as emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, animal agriculture also requires huge amounts of water. It takes almost 2,500 litres to produce just one beef burger. In comparison, 150g of potatoes require just 38 litres of water to produce. Replacing a meat meal with a vegetarian one provides an opportunity for each of us to honour the commandment of bal taschit, a commandment central to Jewish environmental teachings, and we look forward to more community organisations joining us in connecting the dots between Jewish values and vegetarianism.