Jeffrey Spitz Cohan, at The Blogs

Nov 21, 2022, 12:52 AM

Not stirred by animal cruelty? What about the children?

So you don’t care about animals. Dogs and cats, OK. They may even be pampered members of our families. But cows, chickens, turkeys and fishes? You might believe they were put on Earth by God for us to eat. Or that most people are consuming...

Nov 4, 2022, 3:48 AM

Rabbi Sacks Inspires Me to Create a Kinder World

Embed from Getty Images As we approach the second yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Cheshvan 20, I’m as inspired as ever by one of his core messages. It might sound ridiculous to envision a global Jewish community that fully embraces veganism as a religious...

Sep 26, 2022, 1:55 AM

When God Showed Up at My House

I would like to credit and thank author and playwright Glen Merzer as the source of inspiration for this imagined dialogue. After Rosh Hashanah services this year, I was resting at home when I heard a knock on the door. Not expecting any visitors, I...

Aug 1, 2022, 10:35 AM

Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Voice We Need Today

Somewhere in Heaven, Singer must be smiling, or cursing. For years, he wanted to compile and publish a book of his essays. Thank God it finally happened – in my lifetime, at least. “Old Truths and New Cliches” is a tremendous gift to the Jewish...

Jun 13, 2022, 11:02 PM

The Torah’s Disturbing Message

Embed from Getty Images Each Friday night, Jews all over the world rise to greet the Sabbath Bride. And so we begin our celebration of Shabbat, a day of resting from work, enjoying good food, and connecting with loved ones. But another element of Shabbat...

Feb 22, 2022, 7:22 AM

Lab-grown meat: Why?

As a leader and sometimes-spokesperson for Jewish Veg, I am often asked: What do you think of lab-grown meat? Well, I have a question for people who are investing and doing research and development in lab-grown meat, and for the many start-ups doing this work...

Oct 23, 2020, 12:56 AM

Our ‘Permission’ to Eat Meat

It seems, at first glance, to be a cruel joke, like I’ve been set up to fail. Fail miserably. What I’m referring to is the fact that every year, on the Shabbat of Parshat Noach, I’m invited to give the Dvar Torah at a synagogue,...

Oct 13, 2020, 3:12 AM

In the beginning … we have not listened.

It’s a funny thing. Not in the ha-ha sense. More in the tragic, sad sense. For Jews, our central prayer is the Shema, which commands us to hear. Then the first thing we do, when we start the annual Torah cycle, is fail to listen...

Sep 23, 2020, 9:47 PM

During these Days of Awe, one change is especially important.

During these Yamim Noraim, these Days of Awe, we Jews are called upon to scrutinize our behavior, to become our best selves and to align with Judaism’s highest values. There is no end to the positive changes we can make: We can resolve to treat...

Aug 20, 2020, 12:54 PM

Preventing Another Pandemic Starts with Our Plates

COVID-19 has been a miserable, even tragic, experience. Another killer pandemic? It’s certainly not something we want to experience again anytime soon, or ever. But here’s the good news. If we’re serious about greatly reducing the chances of a second, quite possibly worse, pandemic, the...

About Me

Jeffrey Spitz Cohan is the executive director of Jewish Veg, an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and assist our fellow Jews to transition to plant-based diets.

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