Turns Out, Kosher Ain’t So Kosher

As a Jewish vegetarian, I've always felt a certain amount of pride in my religion's Kosher laws. Kashrut guidelines elevate something all animals do, the act of eating, and make it holy. The laws don't imply, they state outright that, when eating meat, people must acknowledge one of God's creatures is dead. We are required to separate life (milk) from death (meat) and alter our eating habits to reflect that distinction. In other words, show some respect.

Not a bad way to break bread, huh?

I've often told goyim friends, who insist on meat with every meal (God bless those arteries!), to go the Kosher route. At the very least, I tell them, the animal was killed in the most humane way possible and the meat is as healthy as carcass can be.

I know. Vegetarian of the year.

Which is why I now say, with a sad and heavy heart, that I was wrong to give such advice. You're probably thinking, "Katie? Wrong? No!" I'm shocked, too. Check out this site and click on the video with Jonathan Safran Foer. Kosher eggs aren't even all they're cracked up to be.

Another Jewish writer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, said it best: "To be a vegetarian is to disagree - to disagree with the course of things today... starvation, cruelty - we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement. And I think it's a strong one."

At your Seder Wednesday night, try an avocado pit instead of shank bone. Make it a Vegetarian Passover. If I can whip up a delicious and healthy meal that satisfies even the most die-hard dead-animal eater, anyone can. And to my Gentile peeps - consider a cruelty-free Easter Sunday.

Let my lamb and people go.