Roberta Kalechofsky (May 11, 1931 – April 5, 2022) was an American writer, feminist and animal rights activist, focusing on the issue of animal rights within Judaism and the promotion of vegetarianism within the Jewish community. She was the founder of Jews for Animal Rights and Micah Publications or Micah Books, which specializes in the publication of animal rights, Jewish vegetarianism, and Holocaust literature.

Biography

Kalechofsky was born in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn College, receiving her B.A. in 1952, followed by an M.A. in English literature from New York University in 1956, and a Ph.D. from the same university in 1970, also in English literature. She taught at the University of Connecticut and Brooklyn College.

Kalechofsky was married to Robert Kalechofsky—a retired mathematics professor from Salem State University who was also a vegetarian—until his death in December 2020.

Jews for Animal Rights (JAR)

Kalechofsky founded Jews for Animal Rights (JAR) in 1985 with the aim of upholding and spread the Talmudic prohibition against causing suffering to living creatures, known as tza'ar ba'alei hayyim. The group promotes the ideas of Rabbi Abraham Kook on vegetarianism, and campaigns to find alternatives to animal testing.

She was a member of PETA, but has been critical of their "Holocaust On Your Plate", linking the consumption of animals to the Holocaust.

Selected publications

Nonfiction

  • Autobiography of A Revolutionary: Essays on My Life as an Animal Rights Activist (1991)
  • Judaism and Animal Rights: Classical and Contemporary Responses (1992)
  • Haggadah for the Vegetarian Family (1993)
  • Journey of the Liberated Lamb: Reflections for a Vegetarian Seder (1994)
  • Rabbis and Vegetarianism: An Evolving Tradition (1996)
  • The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook (1997)
  • Vegetarian Judaism: A Guide for Everyone (1998)
  • Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem With Comparisons (2003)
  • The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook (2010)

Novels

  • Justice, My Brother (1972) aka Justice, My Brother, My Sister: Life and Death in a Mexican Family
  • Stephen’s Passion (1975) aka The Martyrdom of Stephen Werner
  • Orestes in Progress (1976)
  • Bodmin, 1349: An Epic Novel of Christians and Jews in the Plague Years (1988)
  • The Book of Anonymities (2020)

Short stories

  • Solomon's Wisdom and Other Stories (1978)
  • K'tia, a Savior of the Jewish People and Other Stories (1995)
  • Job Enters a Pain Clinic and Other Stories (2005)
  • Four Women from Ravensbruck: 5 Stories from the Shoa (2011)

See also

  • Animals and the environment in Jewish ethics
  • Animal cruelty and the Holocaust analogy
  • List of animal rights advocates
  • Jewish vegetarianism

References

Further reading

  • "The Evolution of An Independent Publisher," Judaica Book News, 1983
  • Berry, Rynn "Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover", 2004,
  • Cohen, Noah J. Tsa'ar ba'ale hayim: The prevention of cruelty to animals: its bases, development, and legislation in Hebrew literature, New York: Feldheim, 1979.
  • Kaganoff, P. "An Independent Woman of Words," The Jewish Monthly, 1988
  • Kalechofsky, R. Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem with Comparisons, 2003.
  • Kalechofksy, R. (ed.) Judaism and Animal Rights: Classical and Contemporary Responses, a collection of 41 articles by rabbis, doctors, veterinarians, and philosophers on animal rights and Judaism, 1992.
  • Kalechofksy, R. Vegetarian Judaism: A Guide for Everyone, 1998.
  • Patterson, C. Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust, 2002.
  • Schwartz, R. The Schwartz Collection on Judaism, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights.
  • Walden, D. (ed.) "American Jewish Writers", Dictionary of Literary Biographies, vol. 28, 1984.
  • Kalechofsky, Roberta. Book Review by Urrutia of "A Boy, a Chicken, and the Lion of Judah: How Ari became a Vegetarian".
  • Jewish Vegetarians of North America
  • Guide to the Roberta Kalechofsky Papers 1896-2009