Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and the Jewish Case for Vegetarianism and Veganism

Many meaningful connections link vegetarianism and veganism (hereafter, “veg*ism”) with the Jewish festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah. Together, these festivals offer an opportunity to reflect on Jewish teachings about food, compassion, gratitude, humility, environmental stewardship, and concern for all humanity.

1. Sukkot commemorates the 40 years during which the ancient Israelites lived in the wilderness, dwelling in temporary shelters and being sustained by manna. Isaac Arama (1420–1494), author of Akedat Yitzchak, and other Jewish commentators understood the manna as a return to humanity’s original plant-based diet.

This interpretation has particular significance because, when the Torah describes God’s original provision of food for humanity, it states:

“Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, on which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food.”
—Genesis 1:29

On Simchat Torah, Jews complete the annual Torah-reading cycle and immediately begin again with Genesis. Thus, at the very beginning of the Torah, we are reminded that humanity’s first divinely ordained diet was plant-based.

2. Sukkot is the biblical “Feast of Ingathering,” celebrating the completion of the agricultural harvest. It can therefore inspire reflection on how efficiently humanity uses the world’s food-producing resources.

Modern animal agriculture requires enormous quantities of land, crops, and water to produce food for humans. Much of the world’s cropland is devoted directly or indirectly to feeding livestock. Because converting plant calories into animal calories involves substantial losses, shifting toward plant-based diets can enable humanity to use agricultural resources more efficiently.

This matters especially in a world where many people lack adequate food. A Jewish commitment to tzedakah, compassion, and concern for the hungry should encourage us to consider whether our food choices use the earth’s resources as responsibly as possible.

3. Sukkot is known as Zman Simchateinu, “the Season of Our Rejoicing.” After the uncertainty of the agricultural year, the harvest provided reason for gratitude and celebration.

Good health can help one enjoy life and rejoice. A well-planned veg*an diet can provide many health benefits, while also avoiding the ethical and environmental concerns associated with the intensive raising and slaughter of animals.

Thus, for those who choose veg*ism, a plant-based diet can express gratitude for God’s blessings—combining concern for personal health with concern for animals, other people, and the natural world.

4. Sukkahs are traditionally decorated with representations of the harvest—fruits, vegetables, and other products of the earth. These decorations reinforce one of Sukkot’s central messages: gratitude for the food and natural abundance that sustain us.

The principal ritual symbols of Sukkot also come from the plant kingdom. Leviticus 23:40 commands:

“On the first day you shall take the fruit of a goodly tree, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.”

The etrog, lulav, hadassim, and aravot connect the celebration of Sukkot directly with trees, vegetation, and the agricultural bounty of the Land of Israel.

5. Shemini Atzeret includes Tefillat HaGeshem, the prayer for rain. The importance of rainfall to agriculture is obvious, but the prayers can also remind us of water’s extraordinary value.

The Talmud teaches that on Sukkot the world is judged concerning its water supply (Rosh Hashanah 1:2). During the Temple period, the joyous Simchat Beit HaShoevah, the water-drawing celebration, highlighted the centrality of water to life and agriculture.

Modern intensive livestock production places substantial demands on water, including water used to grow feed crops. Consequently, our food choices have environmental consequences that extend far beyond our plates.

Bal tashchit—the prohibition against needless destruction—as part of our responsibility toward God’s creation, reducing the environmental burden of our diets can be an important expression of Jewish stewardship.

6. Sukkot has a strikingly universal dimension. Jewish tradition connects the 70 sacrifices offered during the Temple’s Sukkot observance with the 70 nations of the world. The waving of the lulav in different directions has also been understood as symbolizing God’s sovereignty and concern extending throughout the world.

Even the sukkah itself can inspire a broader perspective. Leaving our permanent, comfortable homes and living temporarily in a fragile shelter reminds us of our dependence on forces beyond ourselves. Looking through the open roof toward the heavens can encourage humility and awareness of the natural world.

This universal perspective is highly relevant to veg*ism. A plant-based ethic concerns more than an individual’s health. It can encompass the welfare of animals, hungry people, future generations, and the global environment.

7. The sukkah is deliberately temporary and vulnerable. Wealthy and poor alike are commanded to leave their permanent homes and dwell in structures that emphasize the temporary nature of material security.

This can challenge the assumption that greater consumption necessarily means greater success or happiness. Food, too, can become associated with wealth, prestige, and status. Choosing a simpler, plant-based diet can, for some Jews, be one way of resisting excessive consumption and emphasizing gratitude rather than status.

The sukkah teaches that our lives ultimately depend not on material possessions but on something greater than ourselves.

8. Jewish concern for animals provides another important connection. The Torah and rabbinic tradition contain numerous teachings that require compassion and forbid unnecessary suffering to animals. The principle of tza’ar ba’alei chayim—the prohibition against causing unnecessary suffering to living creatures—is a significant part of Jewish ethical tradition.

While Judaism has historically permitted the consumption of meat, permission does not necessarily mean that meat consumption is the ethical ideal under all circumstances.

Indeed, Jewish tradition contains a recurring tension between permission and ideal: the Torah may permit something while simultaneously restricting it because of its potential harms. Since we can obtain adequate nutrition without using animals for food, this raises an important ethical question: Should we continue practices that are permissible if they are no longer necessary?

9. The prophetic readings associated with Sukkot also point toward a universal transformation of the world.

Isaiah describes a future in which:

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb… the lion shall eat straw like the ox… and none shall hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain.”

Isaiah 11:6–9 presents a vision of reconciliation extending even into the animal world. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, interpreted this prophetic vision as pointing toward a future in which humanity’s relationship with animals would be transformed and violence toward them would disappear.

Moving toward greater compassion for animals can be viewed not merely as a dietary change but as a step toward the kind of peaceful world envisioned by the prophets.

Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah celebrate harvest, gratitude, joy, humility, nature, water, and universal concern. They invite us to ask not only what we are permitted to eat, but also what food choices best express the values we claim to cherish.

A shift toward vegetarianism or veganism is not the only way to express Jewish commitment to these values. But for many Jews, it can be a powerful one—linking the original plant-based diet of Genesis with compassion for animals, concern for hungry people, protection of the environment, conservation of resources, and the prophetic vision of a world without violence.

As Jews begin the Torah anew on Simchat Torah, Genesis 1:29 offers an especially thought-provoking starting point: God’s first food provision for humanity was the produce of the earth.

The festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah can inspire us to move toward a more plant-based way of eating as a meaningful way to bring our contemporary lives into greater harmony with some of Judaism’s deepest values.