Reply To: know any frum vegetarians or vegans?

Curiosity, from my understanding Rav Moshe just answered the questions asked of him. Anyway, I don’t have the psak in front of me so we don’t really know what was in it and what wasn’t.

One thing to consider is that the obligation of relieving the suffering of animals is a mitzvah d’oraysa, while the teachings about the rectification of souls are kabbalistic hashkafa (and authors within the same hashkafah caution against eating meat — see below). So I think it’s legitimate to lean in favor of fulfilling the mitzvah, by refusing to support the farmers engaging in mass animal cruelty (and working for better laws, etc.), instead of acting in accordance with one selective reading of the kabbalistic tradition. I think it’s odd that people have no problem with boycotting Target for promoting toevah but oppose boycotting factory farms for all the unnecessary cruelty and abuse they cause.