Vegan, Cruelty-Free Tefillin? Is that a Mitzvah?

I came across this $372 Amazon listing of a guy selling vegan, cruelty-free Tefillin – Handmade with kavana, no less. And, of course, Twitter did not disappoint. One user quipped:

“It should also be noted that these are unfortunately mitzvah-free. Though one could argue that charging $300 for make-believe Teffilin is a form of cruelty. 🤷🏻‍♂️”

Ouch.

Then there’s the review on the listing, which really nails it:

Beth W – 1 star
“This doesn’t perform the Mitzvah. It is very important not to be a cruel person but on the other hand, Mitzvah means commandment and therefore in order to fulfill the Mitzvah you need to listen to the command. The commandment when it comes to Teffilin includes using real leather and therefore this box doesn’t work.

There is an unbroken attachment to the heritage that comes from using the same construction that was historically used by Jews throughout the ages. This breaks that attachment to heritage and therefore should be avoided.
Lastly, wearing these without marking them as different is like wearing a fake diamond ring. When wearing Teffilin it defeats the purpose and the Kavanah if its a lie.”

The listing tries to frame this as “intertwining tradition and tikkun olam,” but some people are clearly taking the wellness trend too far. One can only imagine the next version: gluten-free Tefillin, non GMO, fair trade… maybe with organic kavana on the side. I mean, I had a play set just like that – it cost $18.

The seller should understand that true cruelty is preventing the animal from achieving its ultimate purpose, which is to be elevated and used as a holy object.

There are some nuances, though: One can make Tefillin boxes from an animal that dies of natural causes, which might be called vegan (I’m no meyvin in veganism), though the parchment still must come from a kosher-slaughtered animal, while this one comes from some organic, plant-based parchment – go figure.

As for lab-grown leather, there can be a very good argument allowing it to be used as it’s chemically identical to real leather, however it would likely not fulfill the mitzvah, because it lacks both the chain of tradition and the spiritual elevation that comes from using an actual kosher animal hide.

Yes, “vegan Tefillin” might sound cute, but it misses the point. Tefillin is a mitzvah with deep meaning, not a craft project. Calling it “cruelty-free” doesn’t make it kosher, and charging $300+ for something that can’t fulfill the mitzvah – that’s real cruelty.

So go buy the real deal and maybe not shopping for Tefillin on amazon is a good start!