Should We All Become Vegans?

The cover story in Mishpacha magazine this past week was about these "Charedi" guys who are vegans and they are on a mission -  both corporate and ethical - to make others vegans as well. They don't even like to use our currency because it was earned by hurting animals. So they have their own currency. Mishpacha is going to get a lot of angry letters [but I don't think they mind because controversy increases sales]. 

I had a number of objections to the article that I will not send to Mishpacha and instead voice here in a very concise form. [This is based on my understanding of the article and if I am wrong I should be corrected].

Before stating them I must invoke the pasuk ורחמיו על כל מעשיו - Hashem is merciful to all of his creatures and it is thus an admirable trait to have compassion for animals.

Now to my objections:  

1] There was an implication that ALLLLLL of Klal Yisrael are unethical people because we all eat meat, fish, cheese, eggs etc. etc. We also wear leather shoes and belts etc. How DARE we!! 

The reality is that many fine upright people put milk in their coffee or eat scrambled eggs. Even if their claim is true, there is no benefit in saying that we are all doing something wrong or even cruel when nobody is going to change anyway. People are going to keep eating and using animal products. We should be saying kind things about Klal Yisrael. If mussar will help to improve our ways then there is room for mussar, but in this case nothing will change. It is סתם קטרוג. 

2] It is not true. Not ONE Rav or Talmid Chochom EVER said that we must all become vegans [as these guys seem to believe] or even that it is a middas chasidus. [Being a vegetarian is another story but also involves a bittul of the mitzva to eat meat on Yom Tov and the Minhag Yisrael to eat fish on Shabbos plus the Oneg Shabbos of meat]. Their claim is "צער בעלי חיים". They didn't invent צער בעלי חיים and Rabbonim are well aware of how the animals are treated and still don't forbid benefitting from them [or using currency that might have been earned from animals]. The reason is that even though animals are suffering, if humans benefit there is no איסור צער בעלי חיים. That is why we are allowed to experiment with rats to cure cancer even though the rats don't enjoy being laboratory rats. When humans benefit there is no איסור צער בעלי חיים and the reason the animals are treated the way they are is in order to mass produce them for human benefit. 

Ideally, of course, everybody would agree that we should do everything we can to minimize their suffering, but if the reality is that they do suffer, we are allowed to benefit. Halevai Halevai that the government get more involved and make more laws to protect them. 

3] There are HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people living in abject poverty that none of us has ever experienced for five minutes. People who need to WALK SEVEN HOURS for a clean glass of water. People who don't have basic medical treatment and die from diseases they wouldn't have had in the first place if we cared enough. 

SO BEFORE YOU WORRY ABOUT THE "POOR COWS" - WORRY ABOUT THE SUFFERING HUMAN BEINGS!!!     

Here we get to a deep psychological mechanism: We only have a certain amount of energy for every emotion. If our compassion is expended on animals, none will be left for human beings. 

Exhibit A - Pre-war Germany where they made decrees against shechitah on grounds of cruelty to animals and later brought their sick dogs to the vet after a day of sending Jewish children to gas chambers. 

Hoshea [13-2] said it best:

זֹבְחֵ֣י אָדָ֔ם עֲגָלִ֖ים יִשָּׁקֽוּן

Those who sacrifice man may kiss the calves.

Those are my objections in a nutshell.