As many of you know, award-winning documentary filmmaker Lionel Friedberg, in collaboration with Professor Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, recently released a film entitled A Sacred Duty - Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World. You can read a synopsis here: http://www.asacredduty.com The film has just been uploaded and is now ready for viewing and downloading on the internet! It is available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9RxmTGHZgE After you've viewed the film, they would love to hear your comments. A SACRED DUTY Can Now Be Seen On the Internet Hi, all. I'm forwarding this to you at Richard Schwartz' request, since he isn't subscribed on either of these lists (and the emails bounced back to him). From: RSchw12345@aol. com Greetings, The documentary features interviews with leading Israeli and American environmental, health, vegetarian and animal rights activists as well as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and secular leaders. Blurbs Supporting A SACRED DUTY A SACRED DUTY has received a very favorable response from the vegetarian and animal rights communities. Some blurbs are below. We would like to have an even wider variety of blurbs from key people, to help support and promote the documentary. Please let me know if you have suggestions re others whom we should contact re getting additional blurbs. Please feel free to use these blurbs and any other information in this or past or future JVNA newsletters to help promote A SACRED DUTY. Many thanks. BLURBS A Sacred Duty should be mandated viewing for all people on planet Earth. Great job! Howard F. Lyman, the Mad Cowboy "A Sacred Duty" is a tour de force. Anyone who watches with an open heart and an open mind will leave the theater deeply moved and called to action. --Bruce Friedrich, Vice-President, PETA. A Sacred Duty melds modern science with Jewish religious teachings to make a compelling case for vegetarianism that conscientious viewers will find hard to resist. A cheekier title might have been "What Would Moses Eat Today?" in the face of catastrophic global warming and environmental degradation, world hunger and needless violence to billions of helpless animals every year. I hope A Sacred Duty will help redefine kosher for the 21st century Jew, for vegetarianism - a diet infused with kindness and blessedly free of bloodshed - is our Biblical root ("behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed") and our moral destiny ("and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb"). Syd Baumel, writer and animal activist, publisher of eatkind.net I can't find the words to tell you how deeply I was moved by A Sacred Duty. I've seen similar factory farming footage for decades, but in the context of this extraordinary film, it was particularly compelling--.very moving. Poignantly written, beautifully filmed and perfectly executed, it was enlightening without being admonishing. A truly monumental film not only for those of the Jewish faith, but for people of all faiths or none, and it will certainly benefit the animals. Another, very subtle impression was the fact that you were able to bring together representatives from all corners of the Jewish faith. While just by nature of their categories, there are things that separate them, their words around this topic had great unison, sounding as though they came from one voice. >From the first scene to the final word, this film is absolutely brilliant! Thank you, Lionel, Richard, and all who were involved, for the legacy of this contribution to our planet, its people and its animals. Kris Haley Manager of Multifaith Outreach/Animals & Religion Best Friends Animal Society A Sacred Duty makes a crystal clear argument for taking action to end factory farming. How could any person of faith and conviction remain indifferent after seeing this film? Humane Society Animals & Religion was created out of the belief that religious people can do much to end the current state of industrial animal agriculture in this country. At a time when people are searching for ways to apply their spirituality to their daily lives, what better cause than ethical, mindful, compassionate food choices? Karen L. Allanach Associate Director, Animals & Religion The Humane Society of the United States kallanach@humanesoc iety.org humanesociety.org/religion A SACRED DUTY is a wake-up call for Jews and all others who care about the fate of our planet. A deep love for Earth, for humanity, and for our animal cousins shines through it. This documentary shows how compassionate dietary choices can unite Jews and other people of faith in taking action to rescue and heal our precious, imperiled earth. Gracia Fay Ellwood Editor, THE PEACEABLE TABLE A Quaker Online Journal A SACRED DUTY is beautiful and poetic, inspiring and optimistic, good in all possible senses. The image of the tear shedding cow was so moving, that I couldn't restrain myself and burst out crying! The quotations from Tanach [the Jewish scriptures] were very wisely selected and inserted in well-suited places. Congratulations for all the team who prepared the movie. Keep on assuring a good distribution of it! Luiza CAROL - writer, Israeli delegate of TEVA (Tutmonda Esperantista Vegetarana Asocio) (World Association of Esperantist Vegetarians) Even knowing the issues and arguments, being a long-term environmentalist and vegetarian, I was taken in by the beauty and power of this remarkable film. A Sacred Duty is a must see and a must do, so that we and our children may live. I have already shared the film with rabbis and others and am in the process of scheduling screenings at my synagogue, other synagogues, the Jewish Community Center, and my local vegetarian society.- --Dan Brook, Ph.D. (The Vegetarian Mitzvah) Dear Richard, I enjoyed the video so much that I am planning to teach two courses on Tikun Olam next semester: one for a 4 part adult ed series and another for a 12 part high school program. Keep up the great work. Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg Temple Emanu-El Waterford, CT My gut feeling is that because of the major impression this video will make on the world the battle to save the lives of billions of animals has just turned in favor of the animals. The battle to reach the goal of shutting down animal factory farms and slaughterhouses is now clearly and really within reach, within a much shorter period of time then anyone thought possible. In my opinion this is a "A MAJOR MASTERPIECE" and officially marks the real beginning of the end of animal factory farms and slaughterhouses throughout the world. I cannot imagine any rational person in the world, no matter what his or her religious or spiritual beliefs may be, who will watch this video and not be extremely moved and strongly persuaded to stop eating animal flesh. You only have to watch the film to understand and agree with my conclusion. In my opinion, soon to be shared by millions of people, the film A Sacred Duty is the most brilliant, intelligent, thought provoking, and heart wrenching film ever produced for the benefit of humans, farm animals, the earth, and the earths atmosphere. In only "one hour" because of the quality, the content, and the magnificent presentation, the film "A Sacred Duty" will reach out and grasp you in your heart and soul. Because A Sacred Duty is such a powerful and convincing presentation it has the potential of persuading a large number of people throughout the world to become vegetarians or vegans soon. At least 90% of the people that initially watch the DVD will probably be extremely happy to promote it any way they can. For this important reason the DVD needs to be provided to many government leaders in every country. Several copies of A Sacred Duty should be provided to every high school, college, and church in the world, as well as a large number of newspapers. The video should be viewed by every man, woman, and mature child in the world. Arthur Poletti, Author Lionel, I salute you and then some. A Sacred Duty is a powerful piece of work, a magnificent achievement. George Shea Author/Screenwriter /Animal Activist Chairman, Animal Welfare Committee Studio City Neighborhood Council Studio City, CA I received my copy of the "Sacred Duty" DVD yesterday. My wife and I, along with my two youngest children (Sam and Jacob, 15 and 12) screened the movie last night. All four of us were deeply moved by the film. The impact of the material is unquestionably powerful from any perspective. We agreed in our discussion afterwards that we did not want anything to do with food whose source we could not verify as cruelty free. This morning, we discarded all the eggs and cheese in our refrigerator and replaced everything with locally farmed products whose sources we could actually visit and see with our own eyes. I surely hope the publicity efforts will result in a large viewing audience. My entire family thanks you for your personal efforts to shift the world away from meat-based diets. Steve Schuster, CEO Rainier Communications - "Technology's Most Credible Voice" In a message dated 1/9/08 8:40:03 PM, sue@episcoveg. com writes: To "all that is, seen and unseen": organisationsto join, even, on appropriate occasions, banners tocarry."
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