Reply To: What have you "given up" to be frum?

One of the most important followers of the derech of Rav Kook z’tz’l today is Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. He writes:

“Some vegetarians explain that they do not eat meat in order to be compassionate to animals. That is certainly important, but we first need to master compassion towards human beings, which we have not yet done. After we finish being merciful and righteous to human beings, we will move on to animals. We cannot skip stages. We are not criticizing those who are vegetarians. If a person wants to be a vegetarian, he may do so, but it is impossible to define it as a mitzvah or even as a stringency. “

He also notes that despite the favorable opinion of Rav Kook towards vegetarianism, neither Rav Kook nor his son Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook actually became vegetarians. Rav Kook also wrote that a talmid chacham should learn how to properly shecht animals.