Aren vegetarians being more righteous than God, since God gave permission to eat meat?
There is no obligation to eat meat today. God’s first dietary law (Gen. 1:29) was strictly vegetarian; also, as discussed before, according to Rabbi Kook and others, the Messianic Epoch will be vegetarian. Jewish vegetarians believe their diet is most consistent with God’s desires that we protect our health, be kind to animals, share with hungry people, protect the environment and conserve resources. Rather than being more righteous than God, they are urging people to live up to God’s highest ideals . This viewpoint is conceded by Rabbi Alfred Cohen: “If a person tends toward vegetarianism because he sees it as a lifestyle consonant with the way the All- Mighty really wanted the world to be, there can be no denying that he has a valid point of view.
