Shavuot is coming up soon, beginning at sunset on Sunday, June 1 and ends at sundown on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Rich with meaning- and butter- Shavuot is one of Judaism’s three pilgrimage festivals, honoring the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It’s celebrated with all-night Torah study, known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, the reading of Megillat Ruth, and eating dairy-filled food like cheesecake, blintzes, and lasagna.

Despite dairy being the unofficial flavor of Shavuot, this holiday has always aligned naturally with plant-based values. At its core, the holiday is not only about receiving Torah but also about celebrating the bounty of the earth, the wheat harvest and the offering of the season’s first fruits at the Temple. In ancient Israel, this was a festival rooted in gratitude for fresh, ethical abundance. Enjoying seasonal foods like apricots, cherries, peas, and fresh herbs connects us back to these agricultural roots at the heart of the holiday.

So, why do we eat dairy on Shavuot?

Some teach that upon receiving the Torah and its kosher laws, the Israelites were not prepared to properly slaughter animals and therefore ate dairy instead. Others link it to the Torah description of Israel as “a land flowing with milk and honey”¹. Another tradition notes that the Hebrew word for milk, chalav, has a numerical value of forty, corresponding to Moses’s forty days on Mount Sinai²³.

But Shavuot presents a deeper opportunity: a chance to rethink how we celebrate in ways that honor not just tradition, but also values like compassion for animals, care for our health, and responsibility for the planet. 

When we step back and consider how most dairy products are produced today, it becomes clear that there is a tension between this tradition and core Jewish ethical principles.

Judaism commands us to avoid causing unnecessary suffering to animals, known as tza’ar ba’alei chayim, a value deeply rooted in halakhah. Maimonides and other sages emphasized humane treatment of animals not just as a recommendation but as a Torah obligation. Yet today’s industrial dairy farming practices — such as forced insemination, early calf separation, and cramped living conditions — often stand in sharp contrast to that vision of compassion⁴.

Leading Israeli Scholar, Rabbi Asa Keisar, argues inVelifnei Iver⁵ that the conditions of modern animal agriculture violate Jewish law’s prohibition against cruelty. Even if extracting milk from a cow, or using a sheep for wool, doesn’t kill the animal, the appalling treatment in modern factory farming simply goes against all the Torah stands for.

Facts

• It’s standard practice in the dairy industry to separate calves from their mothers within 24 hours of birth.
• Just like humans, mother cows form strong maternal bonds with their babies.
• Consuming dairy is not necessary to meet calcium needs.
• There are many plant-based sources of calcium, including fortified plant milks, certain leafy green vegetables, tofu, almonds, oranges & more.

We can even look at the environmental argument. According to a 2023 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, the livestock sector accounts for approximately 14.5 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions⁶. It clearly conflicts with Judaism’s prohibition of wasteful destruction, or bal tashchit.

Of course, Jewish tradition does not mandate veganism, although pre-Flood, it was believed vegetarianism was the original blueprint. But the Torah permits eating animal products when done with care and ethical consciousness. Even Shavuot’s dairy traditions themselves came from sensitivity to new dietary laws.

Still, the heart of Judaism is ethical mindfulness. Shavuot is an opportunity to revisit basic vegan principles in the Torah and question how our actions align with our values.

Celebrating a Vegan Shavuot

So how can we celebrate Shavuot as vegans without losing the holiday’s rich meaning? First, the most iconic Shavuot dish, cheesecake, can be beautifully made into plant-based versions. Cashew-based or coconut milk cheesecakes are creamy and remarkably close in texture and flavor to the classic version. Tofutti cream cheese, available kosher certified, makes an easy substitute. There are endless recipes online for baked and no-bake vegan cheesecakes that do Shavuot justice!

Look for the following vegan & kosher brands in stores for delicious non-dairy milks, cheeses, ice creams, yogurts, butters & more to enjoy for Shavuot:

vegan cheesecake recipes we love:

Creamiest Vegan Shavuot Cheesecake – The Jewish Vegan
No-Bake Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake – Elavegan
Vegan Lemon Cheesecake- Kenden Alfond of Jewish Food Hero (pictured above)

Some delicious blintzes recipes you can’t skip:

Another crowd favorite, blintzes, are easily adaptable. Fill crepes with almond-based ricotta from Kite Hill or cashew cheese from Miyoko’s. Top with fresh strawberries or a homemade fruit compote.

Vegan Blintzes – Nosh With Micah
Vegan Blintzes – Jewish Veg
Vegan Blueberry Blintzes – Reform Judaism

Here are some other recipes you have to try:

Vegan Cheese- dates- pistachio bourekas- Neesh Noosh

Try something savory like a vegan lasagna layered with roasted vegetables and almond ricotta. Or bake a plant-based quiche using JUST Egg, spinach, and dairy-free cheese.

Vegan Lasagne – Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegetable Lasagna with Vegan “Ricotta” – Kosher.com
Easy Vegan Quiche – Nora Cooks

For a lighter option, remember that Shavuot traditionally celebrates the harvest season. A crisp, colorful salad with nuts, fruits, and vinaigrette makes a beautiful and refreshing addition to the table.

Resources

To learn more about the connection between Judaism and caring for animals, visit our collection of informative blog posts, podcast episodes & other downloadable resources on our website.

Happy Shavuot!

Even the simple act of studying Torah can be a conscious part of your vegan Shavuot. Dive into Jewish texts on compassion for animals. Explore writings from key figures like Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who envisioned a future world where humanity would transcend meat-eating altogether. Kook taught that vegetarianism, and by extension veganism, represents a messianic ideal of peace and nonviolence, though it was not fully required in his era⁷.

There is beauty in knowing that Shavuot celebrates not just the Torah we received thousands of years ago, but the living Torah we shape today through our actions and our ethical choices. Shavuot celebrates revelation, but revelation is not a one-time event frozen in history. It is an ongoing conversation between eternal values and each generation’s needs.

Remember that being vegan on Shavuot isn’t about rejecting tradition, but embracing tradition’s deepest calls to compassion, to justice, and responsibility for all of Hashem’s creations.

Whether you grew up with cheesecake and blintzes or are hosting a holiday for your family and your community, there is space within Shavuot’s timeless spirit for a plant-based celebration.

This year, may we all receive Torah anew — with joy, with awareness, and with the courage to make choices that honor both our ancestors and our hopes for a more compassionate world.

Footnotes

1.  Exodus 3:8 ↩︎
2. “Why Dairy on Shavuot?” — My Jewish Learning, myjewishlearning.com
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3.  Exodus 24:18 ↩︎
4. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “Plant-based diets and chronic disease risk,” 2023, hsph.harvard.edu ↩︎
5.  Rabbi Asa Keisar, Velifnei Iver, 2018 ↩︎
6. “Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options” — FAO Report, updated 2023, fao.org ↩︎
7.  Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace ↩︎