“If you are to take an egg or young from the mother’s nest, you must first send the mother away so that she does not feel the loss of her young and is left to be free. By fulfilling this mitzvah, one will lengthen their days.”
– D’varim 22:6-7 (Deuteronomy)
The Torah recognises the harm caused to a mother if she feels the loss of her young, alongside the importance of letting the mother be free. The justification and interpretation of taking a mother’s young is much contested and debated by scholars. Many would agree that this is an allegorical depiction of the importance of compassion towards a mother animal, rather than justification of taking eggs or young at all.
Unequivocally, this verse forbids the suffering of a mother animal by human actions. Yet, when we consume dairy, we support an industry which commits this atrocity daily. In dairy farms, mother cows are forcibly inseminated, and their calves repeatedly taken from them after birth so humans can drink the mother’s milk. A female calf will suffer the same life as her mother, while a male calf is to be treated as a ‘waste product’.
This directly violates the mitzvah of Shiluah Haken; not only does the mother cow repeatedly suffer the devasting loss of her calves, but she is never set free. Dairy cows live this life until they can no longer give birth, after which they are given to the meat industry. The dairy industry is simply not compatible with Jewish values; indeed it is not ethical justifiable at all.
We have so many milk alternatives available, including oat, almond, soya, coconut, rice and more.
So why not choose compassion instead of violence?