Center for Jewish Food Ethics

05/20/2026

Include our new resource in your Shavuot learning!

"Shavuot, Dairy, and Jewish Food Ethics" discusses where the tradition of eating dairy on Shavuot may have come from and offers explanations and reflections for each text source, connecting them to our contemporary world and food practices.

Download and share the free PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YW90BgqifPwPZPnGWM1wanu4RKLWs2-0/view?usp=sharing

05/18/2026

📣 Calling all clergy and faith leaders 📣

We've signed an interfaith letter opposing the so-called "Save Our Bacon" (SOB) amendment in the U.S. Farm Bill, and we're inviting you to join the almost 100 clergy and faith leaders who have signed in the past several days.

Despite its cutesy name, this amendment would have serious consequences. It would override 600+ established state and local laws, invalidate animal welfare protections enacted by voters in California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, and permanently strip every state of the ability to regulate how meat and eggs sold within its borders are produced.

The pork industry has tried this before, as the King Amendment, as the EATS Act, and in seven lawsuits, including one that went to the Supreme Court. It lost every time. Now it's back, and SOB is in the Farm Bill the House forwarded to the Senate.

We see this as a deeply important moral issue, sitting at the intersection of animal welfare, food ethics, and democratic accountability. Faith leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and other traditions are signing on together.

✉️ Read the letter: https://tinyurl.com/interfaith-sob

✍️ Sign as an individual faith leader: https://tinyurl.com/individual-sob
🏛️ Sign on behalf of a faith organization: https://tinyurl.com/organization-sob

Please share this with clergy and faith leaders in your networks — every signature matters. Thank you!

05/13/2026

Cheesecake may be the most recognizable (Ashkenazi) Shavuot food—but why dairy became associated with the holiday is far more mysterious, layered, and fascinating than many of us realize.

Shavuot, Dairy, and Jewish Food Ethics is designed for holiday learning at your table, in your community, or on your own, exploring the many interpretations Jewish tradition has offered for the custom—complete with sources, reflections, and discussion questions.

This resource invites us to ask what these traditions might mean in a world shaped by industrial dairy production and its impacts on animals, people, and the environment.

It also offers an opportunity to reclaim and reimagine Jewish food practices in ways that more fully reflect the values these traditions were meant to embody.

05/12/2026

📣Urgent action item for clergy📣

Join fellow clergy in signing an interfaith letter opposing the so-called “Save Our Bacon” (SOB) amendment currently advancing in the U.S. Farm Bill.

✉️ Read the letter here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DJPimM3A0JMQfu-K_mLPkVqhHZ51dPC47WVL3DRpG_g/edit?tab=t.0

Despite its name, this amendment would have sweeping consequences. It would override over 600 state and local laws, invalidate animal welfare protections passed by voters in states like California and Massachusetts, and permanently strip states of the ability to regulate how meat and eggs sold within their borders are produced.

This proposal has appeared before under names like the King Amendment and the EATS Act—and has repeatedly failed, including in challenges that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023. Now the pork industry is trying again.

At the Center for Jewish Food Ethics, we see this as a deeply important issue at the intersection of animal welfare, food ethics, and democratic process. Faith leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and other traditions are being invited to sign on.

I hope you’ll join me:

✍ Sign as an individual clergy / religious leader: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5m7U1JFqmAZAihLmZJajFFgx-8c73OzpduZ3_xTix4XehGQ/viewform

✍ Sign on behalf of a religious organization or community: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSegc5APc_uzPQ-FN7cJV0rBUfX6iRynHflrw2Kl_8laWmzdWg/viewform

We'd also be grateful if you would share this with other clergy and faith leaders in your networks who may wish to participate.

Thank you for lending your voice at this critical moment!

This form is for FAITH ORGANIZATIONS. FAITH LEADERS can sign on here. Signed by a wide variety of faith organizations, this letter urges the United States Senate to reject the "Save Our Bacon" ("SOB") amendment, Section 12006 of the Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives, now being conside...

05/01/2026

The House just passed the so-called Farm Bill, and it does nothing to address America's growing hunger crisis and the largest cut to SNAP in history.

As a direct result of last summer's Republican budget cuts, millions of Americans have been plunged into hunger as their life-saving food benefits are ripped away. States are desperately scrambling. More people are being thrown off these programs every day. This bill does not meet the moment.

The House had a chance to come together and fix at least some of the damage done.

This fight is not over. We are now calling on the Senate to stand up for those in need.

Read our full statement: https://mazon.org/news/mazon_statements/farm-bill-house-vote/

04/27/2026

This Farm Bill locks in the $187 billion in cuts Republicans made to SNAP last summer and wholly ignores the suffering of hungry Americans.

We recently joined more than 30 national faith organizations in writing to Congress with one message: feeding oneself and one's family is a matter of human dignity, and charity alone cannot make up for vast federal resources.

Hungry veterans, children, and seniors will pay the price. Congress must restore SNAP.

Help make this point heard, before it's too late, by contacting your representatives and asking that they vote no on the .

Thank you : A Jewish Response to Hunger for helping to organize and amplify interfaith community voices.

04/24/2026

Planning for an Earth Shabbat meal?

Check out our brand new resource "Earth Shabbat: A Sustainable Food Guide" with tips for sourcing, serving, and hosting!

Access here or send us a DM! https://linktr.ee/jewishfoodethics

04/17/2026

ShabBAT shalom and happy 🦇

"Bats are crucial members of the environment. They provide pest control, disease control, and even medical assistance to humans. Bats are responsible for the pollination and seed dispersal of many plant species and help with plant regrowth after fires and habitat destruction. Without bats, we wouldn’t have things like tequila, bananas, mango, and avocados." -- Lubee Bat Conservancy

04/16/2026

The future of the Jewish community and its traditions depends on the health of the planet. 🌏

If we are to live by the values of bal tashchit (prohibiting waste) and shmirat ha’adamah (guarding the earth), we must rethink the way our communities approach food.

This , is the perfect time to make sustainability a priority for your community. Our NEW Sustainable Dining Training E-Course is here to help! https://www.jewishfoodethics.org/sustainable-dining-course

Read more about how our food practices can protect the planet--as well as find the sources from the slides below--in our article, "How Our Food Practices Can Protect the Environment and Climate": https://www.jewishfoodethics.org/learn/food-pratices-can-protect-the-environment

04/10/2026

Today is . It's a day to raise the public's awareness of the realities animals farmed for food endure.

This is also an opportunity to revisit the foundational Jewish value of tza'ar ba'alei chayim, which teaches the importance of preventing unnecessary animal suffering.

One of the deeply considered applications of tza’ar ba’alei chayim is the act of killing and eating animals. While shechita (kosher slaughter) may have been a more humane method at one point in history, slaughter looks quite different on today's factory farms that produce 99% of all animal products--including kosher ones.

The practice of kosher slaughter now takes place in high-speed, industrialized facilities prioritizing speed and volume over everything else, including the well-being of animals.

What can you do?

One of the most direct ways to prevent animal suffering is by reducing your reliance on animal products produced on industrial farms. Instead, incorporate more plant-based foods whenever possible and be an advocate for sustainable and ethical food practices.

Tza’ar ba’alei chayim is more than a theoretical principle; it is a call to action. By making compassionate choices in our daily lives and communal practices, we honor this essential Jewish value and contribute to a kinder and more sustainable world for all living beings.