2. Does God delight in the smell of burning bodies?

It is counter-intuitive to read Genesis 8:21 literally, to believe that the smell of burning flesh pleased the nose of God, as if God had a sense of smell akin to that of humans (“What Does Genesis 8:21 Mean?” n.p.). Moreover, divine pleasure in a dead and roasted body would seem inconsistent with scriptures that tell of God creating a vegan world, of a God of mercy and compassion, and of a God who is invested in the life and wellbeing of every living creature. 

It is, however, reasonable to understand the Creator’s pleasure (described for both flesh and grain sacrifices) as stemming from the human act of remembering God and giving thanks: The Creator finds the smell of flesh pleasing not because God has a nose and finds the smell of burning bodies pleasing, but because the Creator knows that “the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth” (Genesis 8:21), and yet Noah has remembered God and given thanks. Would not the Creator be even more pleased if, rather than destroy life, humanity gave thanks to God by doing what we have been commanded to do in Genesis 2—caretaking creation as God would do?

3. Scriptures also describe grain offerings.

Descriptions of anymal sacrifice in Leviticus 1 are followed by descriptions of grain offerings in Leviticus 2 (repeatedly noted as creating a “pleasing odor”): 

When anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, the offering shall be of choice flour; the worshiper shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil, with all its frankincense, the priest shall turn this token portion into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons, a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

When you present a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be of choice flour: unleavened cakes mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. If your offering is grain prepared on a griddle, it shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, unleavened; break it in pieces, and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. If your offering is grain prepared in a pan, it shall be made of choice flour in oil. You shall bring to the Lord the grain offering that is prepared in any of these ways; and when it is presented to the priest, he shall take it to the altar. The priest shall remove from the grain offering its token portion and turn this into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you must not turn any leaven or honey into smoke as an offering by fire to the Lord. You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor. You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

If you bring a grain offering of first fruits to the Lord, you shall bring as the grain offering of your first fruits coarse new grain from fresh ears, parched with fire. You shall add oil to it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. And the priest shall turn a token portion of it into smoke—some of the coarse grain and oil with all its frankincense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord. (Leviticus 2:1-16)

Grain offerings are clearly acceptable, and pleasing to God, yet no one argues that we ought to return to this practice or that this is in some way connected to the ethics of diet. Yet, importantly, grain offerings would align with core Jewish ethics, while the slaughter of innocents does not. In any event, ritual sacrifice performed 2000 years ago does not justify choosing to buy chicken at the local grocery store in the 21st century, especially in light of the cruelty of contemporary anymal agriculture.

Yona Sophia shares time with a resident at Freedom Farm, a vegan sanctuary in Moshav Olesh, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Freedom Farm.)

4. Bloodletting rituals were phased out and replaced more than 2000 years ago.  

In many parts of the ancient world, blood offerings were common and even “human sacrifice appears to have been widespread,” including bloodletting, drowning, strangling, burning, and casting over cliffs and into volcanoes. Over time, these bloody practices were replaced with offering of “effigies made of dough, wood, or other materials” (“Theories” n.p.). Sacred writings record this shift. The first step was that anymals replace human beings in Genesis 22 for blood-letting rituals:

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. . . .” 

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. (Genesis 22:1-14)

Two important details require attention in these passages: First, we are all living creatures, and anymals are close/similar enough to humanity to provide a bodily replacement for sacrifice purposes. Second, God does not prescribe killing the ram. Together, these details indicate that, inasmuch as we no longer sacrifice humans to God, we should no longer sacrifice anymals to God.

Descriptions of anymal sacrifice are followed by descriptions of grain offerings. More than 2000 years ago, scriptures reveal a shift to internal sacrifice, a shift to submission to religious laws and ethics. While scriptures make clear how blood sacrifice rituals were performed, the latter prophets show a definite preference for other forms of supplicating, thanking, and remembering God. They emphasize righteousness, teaching that God doesn’t want sacrifice for repentance, but rather right action in the first place (remembrance of God as a lifestyle): 

Isaiah 1:11-17

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
 says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
 and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
 or of lambs, or of goats.
When you come to appear before me,
 who asked this from your hand?
 Trample my courts no more;
 bringing offerings is futile; . . . .
When you stretch out your hands,
 I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
 I will not listen;
 your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
 remove the evil of your doings
 from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
 learn to do good;
seek justice,
 rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
 plead for the widow.

Amos 5:21-25

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
 I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals . . . 
 I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
 and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Micah 6:6-8

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
 and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
 with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
 with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
 and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
 and to walk humbly with your God?

Jeremiah 7:22-23

For neither did I speak with your forefathers nor did I command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice. But this thing did I command them, saying: Obey Me so that I am your God and you are My people, and you walk in all the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you.

Proverbs 21:3 

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 

Pam Ahern with a rescued sheep at Edgar's Mission Sanctuary in Australia (Photo courtesy of We Animals Media.

Bloodless remembrances of God align with the original Divine intent for a peaceful world as described in Genesis. In this world anymals and humans work together to tend and protect creation, while also working to bring about the coming Peaceable Kingdom (Isaiah 11, Hosea 2). Bloodless remembrances of God are also in line with the teachings of the latter prophets. 

In condoning empty rituals and standing silent in the face of immoral deeds, we make a mockery of Judaism. (Nina Natelson, CHAI and Hakol CHAI, in Schwartz, Vegan Revolution, n.p.)

5. Scriptures indicate that anymal sacrifice was not Jewish in origin, that these rituals were merely tolerated and so were restricted by God, and that they are not currently permitted.

At some point, Jews (like ancient Greeks, Babylonians, and Hindus) started to use fire to burn “human, anymal, grains, or vegetation” as ritual offerings (“Theories” n.p.). Maimonides wrote that these practices were introduced to Jews in Egypt and that God permitted this only because the practice was widespread and deeply engrained. Importantly, The Ten Commandments do not mention, let alone require, blood sacrifice—or any ritual sacrifice (Cohen 178-79). 

Scriptures expose idolatry and polytheism as major religious concerns at the time. Therefore, God required that ritual sacrifice be focused on the One God and restricted to one central location, the temple (in preference to easy-access home altars). Maimonides writes that this approach helped to quell idolatry so that “the truly great principle” of Judaism, “the Existence and Unity of God, was firmly established” (Cohen 178-79). In other words, concessions to ritual sacrifice were a compromise.

Other Jewish theologians support Maimonides on this point. For example, Jewish philosopher Abarbanel (fifteenth century commentator) cites Midrash to argue that God tolerated blood sacrifice, which was learned in Egypt, because it was a widespread and important practice of the time. God used this foreign introduction (and ingrained habit) to focus human attention on the One God by restricting these rituals to the temple. 

According to scripture and tradition, the only place blood sacrifices were permitted was at the temple. When the second temple was destroyed, blood sacrifice ended. Some Jews anticipate the rebuilding of the temple and a return to bloodletting, but many Jewish scholars predict that animal sacrifice will never be reinstated, even with a new temple, because human ethics have grown distant from killing as a form of religious ritual and supplication. Both ancient prophets and contemporary rabbis indicate a replacement with prayer and good deeds. It is not possible to defend eating anymals via a ritual that is no longer permitted, and that was an optional, foreign import, particularly in light of the moral complications of eating anymal products in contemporary times.

Rescued goat (with visitor) at Israel’s Freedom Farm. (Image courtesy of Freedom Farm.)

6. Anymals are not ours to give.

It makes no sense to offer life to God, to whom all of Creation belongs, especially to a God who scriptures tell us created and tenderly caretakes each beautiful life.

Psalms 50:9–11:

I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in this field is mine. 

Proverbs 21:3: 

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 

Neither sacrifice nor the willful consumption of flesh, dairy, and eggs are supported by scriptures, especially in contemporary times. However, tending God’s creatures (as we are instructed to do in Genesis 2) is an appropriate expression of obedience and devotion to the Creator. (For more on Genesis 2, see 4.3.I.F. “Duties Assigned by God.”)

Summary Point, Sacrifice

Ritual sacrifice in Biblical times is a completely separate topic from the ethics of eating anymal products in the 21st century, and the former therefore does not and cannot justify the latter. Any argument attempting to use ancient ritual anymal sacrifice to defend contemporary omnivory/vegetarianism is generally a red flag signaling a lack of sincere commitment to Jewish ethics. (For more on sacrifice, see “A Vegan View of the Biblical Animal Sacrifices” by Richard Schwartz.)

Jeffrey Cohan, Executive Director of Jewish Veg, talks to Dave Saxe at VegFest in Washington DC.
(Photo courtesy of George Altshuler and Washington Jewish Week.)

III. Mitzvot

Some note that consuming anymal products allows fulfilling mitzvot and therefore must be not only permissible but recommended. But the vegan diet also permits the fulfilling of mitzvot—many more mitzvot than alternative diets.

Point: Eating meat allows fulfilling of mitzvot and therefore we should eat meat.

Counterpoint: A vegan life fulfills many important mitzvot and aids in observance of food laws.

Choosing vegan allows fulfilling many important mitzvot, including acting compassionately, preserving health, protecting the environment, and helping to feed the hungry. (For more on this topic, please visit the AMORE website or read Vegan Ethics: AMORE—Five Reasons to Choose Vegan.) Additionally, the vegan life removes the possibility of “violating several Torah prohibitions, such as mixing meat and milk, eating non-kosher animals, and eating forbidden fats or blood” (Schwartz, Vegan Revolution, 159). Being vegan also makes it easier and less expensive to keep kashrut: (Kosher describes any food that complies with a strict set of dietary rules called kashrut.) Vegans don’t need to wait between eating flesh and dairy, and they don’t need to buy and keep four separate sets of dishes. This facilitates the keeping of Jewish dietary laws. (Moreover, rice and beans, lentils and potatoes, pasta and vegetables, and peanut butter/humus and bread are generally less expensive than flesh or dairy, despite heavy government subsidies for the latter.)

In an open rescue, Animal Equality saves a lamb from the goat milk and (ultimately) the meat industries. (Photo courtesy of We Animals Media.)