Five Synagogues Will Go Vegan For One Year

Five synagogues in the United States will be going vegan for a year with the help of animal-rights organization VegFund, which will provide each with $5,000 for various plant-based events and programming. In addition to the financial incentive, the synagogues participating in The Synagogue Vegan Challenge will also receive educational support. “This is about saving lives,” Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, Founder and CEO of Jewish animal-welfare organization The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute, said. The participating synagogues are OHEL in Boca Raton, FL, Romemu in New York City, Agudath Jacob in Skokie, IL, Congregation Rodef Shalom in Denver, CO, and Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, VA. In recent months, the global Jewish community made several connections between its culture and the vegan lifestyle. In April, prominent rabbi and Torah-law expert Rabbi Yuval Cherlow deemed lab-grown pork as kosher and a recent feature by Forward revealed that young New Yorkers following a kosher diet are increasingly interested in vegan food.