However, it appears that, sadly, over the centuries there has been some sort of inconsistency by the interpreters of the Torah (unless I may be just naïve about it).

The sixth commandment - thou shalt not murder - and the commandment in the book of Jeremiah that thou shalt not hurt nor destroy in all of my holy mountain seems to be left out when appertaining to following a vegetarian/vegan diet. (To set the record straight, Adam and Eve were vegans, not vegetarians.)

If you study the text in detail, I am sure your columnist Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz would confirm this.

There is no commandment whatsoever to eat meat, but there is reluctant permission, as written in Genesis.

As it is written many times in the Shulchan Aruch, one should adhere to the stricter rule of Torah. Following a vegetarian/vegan diet is not advocated but skipped over by any beth din or religious authority.

I believe that following a vegetarian/vegan diet constitutes a mitzva. That would be one step nearer to the coming of Moshiach.

I very much doubt if the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, would disagree with my hypothesis.

S Miller,
Cheetham,
Manchester.

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