About this person
Asa Keisar is an Israeli rabbi, religious scholar, scribe and advocate of veganism. In his work, he interprets Jewish religious texts in relation to modern industrial animal farming and argues that contemporary animal production is incompatible with Jewish law because of the suffering it causes.
He was born on 1 September 1973 and grew up in a religious family in Kiryat Ono. He is of Yemeni descent, served in the Israeli military and studied at a Haredi yeshiva. He was raised vegetarian and later adopted a vegan diet after learning about the conditions of animals on intensive farms producing eggs and milk.
In 2015, he published the book Velifnei Iver, whose title refers to the biblical prohibition against placing a stumbling block before the blind. Drawing on the Torah, Talmud and halakhic sources, he develops the view that eating meat was a concession, while a vegan way of life corresponds to the ideal of the Torah. An expanded edition, Velifnei Iver Hashalem, followed in 2018.
Keisar lectures on religious veganism, and his appearances have received millions of views online. His book was distributed to yeshivas, and in 2017 Israeli president Reuven Rivlin thanked him for his work. In 2020, he founded the Vegan Kosher certification and also appeared in the documentary Holy Vegans. He lives in Petah Tikva and has four children.