Yom Kippur's Prohibition Against Leather

Last night and today for Yom Kippur, I wore non-leather sneakers to shul. I have dress-shoes that are non-leather (all my shoes are), but I chose to make the point as glaringly as possible: Jews are prohibited from wearing leather on Yom Kippur.

On Yom Kippur, we beg for God's mercy. We pray for atonement. We recognize that we have sinned, and we repent for it. And to walk the walk, we realize that it would be hypocritical to plead for forgiveness and compassion when dressed in the clothes of suffering, for which compassion is lacking. Jewish Vegetarians of North America president Richard H. Schwartz explains, "One reason is that it is not considered proper to plead for compassion when one has not shown compassion to the creatures of God, whose concern extends to all of His creatures." An e-rabbi adds:

Many people abstain from wearing leather on Yom Kippur, as required by tradition, since an animal died in order that the leather garment could be produced. Yom Kippur is a time for being especially sensitive to life and death concerns, including the lives of animals.

Leather is not a byproduct of the meat industry but rather a coproduct. Cattle killed for their leather are the same cows raised by the beef and dairy industries. They are subject to the same routine branding, dehorning, tail-docking, and castration--all without any pain-killers. Cows in the dairy industry are forced to give 10 times as much milk as they did a mere half-century ago, and between a fifth and half of them suffer from mastitis, a disease in which their udders have become so swollen that they hang toward the ground. Annually in the U.S., 37.5 million cows are stunned, hung upside down, bled to death, and skinned in slaughterhouses. The leather industry warrants opposition all 365 days of the year, not just when we are most desperate for forgiveness.

On Yom Kippur, we apologize for our transgressions in the previous year, and we hope to not repeat our mistakes. So why is it that after today, it becomes permissible to most Jews to again not show "compassion to the creatures of God"? If we are honest with ourselves on Yom Kippur and seek to avoid sins, and if we aspire to be compassionate beings so that God may treat us likewise, we should cease promoting suffering in our attire and daily decisions on a regular basis, not just one day a year.