Compassion Toward All of God's Creation: Interview with Rabbi Eliyahu Soiefer (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Rabbi Soiefer began his unique journey as a talented musician. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music and received a Master’s degree in Education from Adelphi University. Following that, he achieved Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Kol Yaacov. Later, he became the spiritual leader of the Congregation Achdus Yisroel, as well as a member of the Rabbinic Council of Jewish Veg. Today, we are delighted to introduce Rabbi Eliyahu Soiefer. He will inspire us with many interesting topics: from Judaism, veganism, youth education, to his passion for spiritual music.

“That means that God creates us with His Divine energy, and we become part, we become enveloped within Divinity. Therefore, all of creation is in a sense part of godliness and God and godly. Therefore, when we see, we have to treat all of God's creation with compassion and empathy, because it all contains holiness and godliness. So there are many, many teachings in the Torah – that's the way we refer to the first five books of the Bible – about compassion for all creation. And there are many, many rabbinic stories that are taught regarding compassion towards all creatures of God. That by the way, not just animals, but people too, we have to be kind to people as well. So the idea of compassion is central to Jewish theology.”

“Our objective, our task as human beings, who were put on this Earth for a certain amount of time is to reveal the Divine spark in all of creation. We do this through compassion, through kindness, through performing acts, positive acts, acts that reveal the harmony of the universe.”

“Judaism is based on the Bible, or more specifically what some people refer to as the old Testament. You will find that the first humans were commanded by God Almighty to only eat fruits, vegetables, and grains (Genesis 1:29-30). In other words, God's original plan for humankind was that we should partake of a plant-based diet.”

“If a person wants to live in a way that we can possibly regain that lost innocence, regain the perfection of the original plan of creation, then by participating in partaking of a plant-based diet to the best of our abilities, we are recapturing some of God's original desire and plan.”