Jewish ritual slaughter
- Not to be confused with Jewish ritual murder
Jewish ritual slaughter, also known as shechita, shehitah, shechitah, or shehita, is the kosher slaughter of certain mammals and birds for food. Because of the cruelty of Jewish ritual slaughter, there has always been opposition against it by non-Jews. During various historical periods, there have been prohibitions against Jewish ritual slaughter in a number of nations. Nowadays, however, because of a concerted campaign of manipulation by Jewish supremacist organizations such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti Defamation League many countries allow the practice of Jewish ritual slaughter of animals. A recent example of such Jewish manipulation is the letter sent by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to Geert Wilders.
History
The practices of handling, restraining, and unstunned slaughter have been criticized by, among others, animal welfare organizations and veterinarian organizations. There are also related criticisms regarding Muslim halal slaughter. Jews have rejected the criticisms, and also claimed that the criticisms are at least partially due to anti-Semitism. Israel has lobbied against bans.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommended in 2004 that "due to the serious animal welfare concerns associated with slaughter without stunning, pre-cut stunning should always be performed". Regardless, most European countries have not implemented such laws.
Procedural aspects
The following description is based on a text written by Arnold Leese. Before the throat-cutting can be done, the bullock has to be thrown to the floor, or “cast,” as it is called. Various methods of doing this are used, the usual procedure being to rope the feet together, pass the end of the rope through a ring in the wall, and pull the rope until the animal falls. Naturally, on the hard floor of the slaughter-house, this is rough treatment, and when, as sometimes happens, the animal’s horns are broken in the fall, it causes acute suffering, for a broken horn means a broken bone in the case of cattle, the horn having a bony core. To mitigate the violence of casting, indiarubber or straw mattresses have been employed, but are not in general use.
A Jew named Weinberg adapted the invention of a Veterinary Surgeon to the purpose of painless casting of bullocks for Jewish slaughter. This resulted in what is known as the Weinberg Pen, into which the bullock is driven and secured; then the pen, like an operating-table for horses, is rotated until the bullock is upside down, ready for the cut. But, as the Jewish B’nai B’rith in Leeds reported in 1927, the Weinberg Pen is not used, even when provided, unless visitors are expected. When the throat is cut, the wound in an ordinary bullock is twelve inches long and gapes twelve inches wide when the head is forced back. Thus forcing back of the head to tense the throat tissues is done by means of a lever.
Legal aspects
Jewish ritual slaughter has been banned throughout history:
- Switzerland, banned Jewish ritual slaughter in 1893
- Norway, banned Jewish ritual slaughter in 1930
- Germany, banned Jewish ritual slaughter in 1933
- Norway, banned Jewish ritual slaughter in 1937
- Poland, banned Jewish ritual slaughter in 1939
In a number of countries, Jewish ritual slaughter is currently banned:
- Sweden, Jewish ritual slaughter is currently banned.
- Switzerland, Jewish ritual slaughter is currently banned.
- Norway, Jewish ritual slaughter is currently banned.
- Iceland, Jewish ritual slaughter is currently banned.
