Sure its kosher?
Animals rights folks protesting kosher slaughter isn’t anything new, but today’s story in the New York Times shows that in one case, protesters may be on to something:
An animal-rights group released grisly undercover videotapes today showing cows in a major kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa staggering and bellowing in seeming agony long after their throats were cut.[...]
A spokesman for Shechita UK, a British lobbying group that defends ritual slaughter against the protests of animal-rights activists, said after watching the tape with a rabbi and a British shochet that he “felt queasy,” and added,”I don’t know what that is, but it’s not shechita.”
[...]
Asked how prominent authorities could disagree over such a fundamental issue, he replied: “Well, we don’t have a pope. You do find rabbis who interpret things in different ways.”
(Note: This is kind of gory article for the Times, but interesting if you eat kosher, shop kosher, and care about how its done.)
[Update] Related links: The PETA video. Seattle PI story. Eco-kashrut.
Hey-when you post a link to the New York Times, include your user ID and password, so we can read the article, without filling in the lengthly sign-up form.
—snake-fish · November 30th, 2004 at 8:55 pm
If you need user ID’s, you can always refer to
http://www.bugmenot.com/
Regards,
—Adamchik · November 30th, 2004 at 10:44 pm
See the video (if you have the stomach for it) at http://www.goveg.com. Bloghead has been discussing this for 2 days at http://bloghd.blogspot.com/200.....ville.html and http://bloghd.blogspot.com/200.....an_30.html.
—Miriam · December 1st, 2004 at 12:05 am
I don’t have the stomach for it, but it seems to me that tzar ba’alei chayim is a much more important concept than microscopic copepods. The Kosher police need to have inflexible standards as to how shechita is carried out.
—Ronen · December 1st, 2004 at 6:43 am
Yeah, no kidding, what a chillul hashem.
Obviously it’s never going to be a great situation when an animal is being slaughtered but there is no need to make it any worse than it needs to be.
—shifra · December 1st, 2004 at 7:01 am
Isaac Bashevis Singer was asked once at a Chicago restaurant if he wouldn’t eat the chicken that was recommended because of health reasons. He answered, “Yes - for the health of the chicken.”
(Of course, Singer was just another loony leftist secular Jewboy, so let the ridicule and character assassination begin!)
—Zionista · December 1st, 2004 at 7:45 am
Worked in the turkey coops on kibbutz. Was warned that I’d go vegetarian by the end of my stay, but instead whereas beforehand I ate little turkey, afterwards, I crave it.
‘to your heart’s desire you may slaughter and eat meat’ Devarim 12:15
—josh · December 1st, 2004 at 8:09 am
I wonder if this is this is the same slaughterhouse featured in Stephen Bloom’s fascinating book: Postville: A Clash of Cultures in the Heartland?
—Joshua · December 1st, 2004 at 8:22 am
That video is horrific. So much for my lame excuse that kosher shechita is necessarily more humane than ordinary slaughter. Ugh.
Off to make myself a nice vegetable sandwich…
—AngerBoy · December 1st, 2004 at 9:27 am
I love meat (kosher). So the video doesn’t change anything. But the next time a rabbi goes on and on about the holiness of our methods, I’ll send him the link. Yeeesh.
—shtreimel · December 1st, 2004 at 11:11 am
Joshua: yes. yes it is.
—lerxst · December 1st, 2004 at 8:47 pm