Shechita (shechitah or shehitah) (Hebrew:שחיטה) is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. Ritual slaughter is the practice of slaughtering livestock for meat in a Ritual manner e Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. [1] The act is performed by drawing a very sharp knife across the animal's throat and allowing the blood to drain out. Exsanguination (also known colloquially as bleeding out) is the fatal process of total Hypovolemia (blood loss Islamic dietary laws require a similar procedure. This is a sub-article to Hygiene in Islam, Healthy diet and Food and cooking hygiene. The Islamic dietary laws ( Dhabiha Halaal) and the Jewish dietary laws ( Kashrut) are both quite detailed and contain both points of similarity and
The animal must be killed with respect and compassion by a "shochet" (ritual slaughterer), a pious Jew who has in mind the life of the animal as he draws the knife across its neck. The animal can be in a number of positions; when the animal is lying on its back, this is referred to as shechita munachat.
If the hindquarters (or sirloin) of kosher mammals are to be eaten by Jews, they must be 'porged' - stripped of veins, fats[2] and sinews[3] in accordance with a strict procedure. sirloin steak is Beef Steak cut from the lower portion of the ribs continuing off the tenderloin from which Filet mignon is cut [4] Because of the expense of porging and the skill required to properly separate out the forbidden parts, a large portion of the meat of kosher mammals slaughtered through shechita in the United States winds up on the non-kosher market.
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Preparation
The animal must be kosher (i. e. animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves). Before slaughtering, the animal must be healthy, so the animal is inspected as carefully as possible without being invasive. The shochet may feel the area around the lungs, for scabbing or lesions, which would render the animal not kosher. Stunning the animal before slaughter is forbidden.
Process
Though referenced in the Torah, the vast majority of the basic practices of shechita are not described in great detail there. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Instead, they are found in Judaism's traditional Oral Torah, and have been codified in halakha in various sources, most notably the Shulchan Aruch. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition ( is the oral tradition received in conjunction with the written Torah Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law The Shulchan Aruch (שולחן ערוך literally " Set Table " (also Shulhan Aruch or Shulchan Arukh) is a Codification In order to fulfill the basic law of shechita, the majority of the esophagus and trachea of a land animal, or the majority of either of them in the case of birds, must be sliced through with a back and forth sawing motion without violating one of the five major prohibited techniques, or various more detailed rules. The five major forbidden techniques include: Pressing, Pausing, Tearing, Piercing, or Covering. A shochet must have studied these laws and demonstrate a thorough understanding of them, as well as have been carefully trained, before he is allowed to shekht meat unaided.
Pressing is accomplished when the shochet pushes the knife into the animal's throat, chops rather than slices, or positions the animal improperly so that either its head presses down on the blade as it expires or the shochet must push the knife into the throat against the force of gravity. There are those who feel that it is forbidden to have the animal in an upright position during shechita due to the prohibition of pressing. They feel that the animal must be on its back, laying on its side, suspended upside down by a rope or chain, or - as is done in most commercial slaughter houses - placed in a barrel like pen that restrains the animal's limbs while it is turned on its back for slaughter. However, an expert shochet can slaughter the animal while it is upright without pressing the knife. This method is employed in most smaller operations in America.
Pausing is performed by the shochet if he stops the slaughtering process after either the trachea or esophagus has been cut but before they have been cut the majority of the way through. Pausing can happen accidentally if muscle contractions in the animal's neck pull one of these organs out of contact with the blade. The latter case is especially common in turkeys.
Piercing is the result of stabbing the animal in the throat, slicing the trachea or esophagus with a serrated knife, slaughtering with a rusty knife or one that has an imperfection that rises above the blade's surface, burning the animal's throat, or slaughtering with a knife that is so hot it would cause a person to not touch it. Burning is always considered piercing in shechita, regardless of the motion of the knife.
Tearing is caused by using a knife with an imperfection on the blade, such as a scratch or nick, that causes a section of blade to be lower than the surface of the blade.
Covering is accomplished by either cutting into the animal's throat so deeply that the entire width of the knife disappears in the wound, using a knife that is too short so that the end disappears in the wound, or by having a foreign object fall over the knife so the shochet loses sight of the incision.
Minor rules
The animal's blood may not be collected in a bowl, a pit, or a body of water, as these resemble ancient forms of idol worship. If the shochet accidentally slaughters with a knife dedicated to idol worship, he must remove an amount of meat equivalent to the value of the knife and destroy it. If he slaughtered with such a knife on purpose, the animal is forbidden as not kosher. It is forbidden to slaughter an animal in front of others, or to slaughter an animal and its young on the same day, even separately. This is forbidden no matter how far away the animals are from each other. An animal's "young" is defined as either its own offspring, or another animal that follows it around, even if of another species.
The knife
The knife used for shechita is called a hallaf by Ashkenazim or a sacin by Sephardim. By biblical law the knife may be made from anything not attached directly or indirectly to the ground and capable of being sharpened and polished to the necessary level of sharpness and smoothness required for shechita. The Minhag now is to use a metal knife. Minhag ( Hebrew: מנהג "custom" pl minhagim) is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. Anything but a metal knife today would render the animal unfit to eat except in certain narrow circumstances.
The knife must be minimally 1. 5 or 2 times as long as the animal's neck is wide, depending on the species of animal and the number of strokes needed to slaughter the animal, but not so long that the weight of the knife exceeds the weight of the animal's head. If the knife is too large, it is assumed to cause Pressing. The knife must not have a point. It is feared a point may slip into the wound during slaughter and cause piercing. The blade may also not be serrated, as serrations cause tearing.
The blade may not have imperfections in it. All blades are assumed by Jewish law to be imperfect, so the knife must be checked before each session. The shochet must run his fingernail up and down both sides of the blade and on the cutting edge to determine if he can feel any imperfections. He then uses a number of increasingly fine abrasive stones to sharpen and polish the blade until it is perfectly sharp and smooth. After the slaughter, the shochet must check the knife again in the same way to be certain the first inspection was properly done, and to ensure the blade was not damaged during shechita. If the blade is damaged, the meat may not be eaten by Jews. If the blade falls or is lost before the second check is done, the first inspection is relied on and the meat is permitted.
In previous centuries the hallaf was made of forged steel, which was not reflective and was difficult to make both smooth and sharp. The Baal Shem Tov, fearing that Sabbateans were scratching the knives in a way not detectable by normal people, introduced the Chasidische Hallaf. Rabbi Yisroel (Israel ben Eliezer (רבי ישראל בן אליעזר August 27, 1698 (18 Elul &ndash May 22, 1760) often called Also not to be confused with Subbotniks or Sabbatarians. Note Most Sabbateans during and after Sabbatai Zevi were Jews Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew The Chasidische Hallaf differs from the previously used knife in that it was made from molten steel and polished to a mirror gloss in which scratches could be seen as well as felt. The new knife was controversial and was one of four reasons listed in the Brody Cherem for the excommunication of the Chassidim. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew
Today the Chasidische Hallaf is the only commercially available knife for shechita and is universally accepted.
Carcass preparation
Bedikah
An animal must be checked again after it has been shekhted to see if there were any internal injuries that would render have the animal unhealthy before the slaughter, but were simply not visible because they were internal. The inspector must check certain organs, such as the lungs, for any scarring which would render the animal treif (not-kosher)
Glatt
In the case of a scab or lesion on a cow’s lungs specifically, there is debate between Ashkenazic customs and Sephardic customs. Ashkenazic Jews hold that if the patch can be removed and the lungs are still airtight (a process that is tested by filling the lungs with air and then submerging them in water and looking for escaping air) then the animal is still Kosher, while Sephardic Jews hold that if there is any sort of scabbing or lesion on the lungs, then the animal is not kosher. “Glatt” meat would literally mean that the animal has passed the stringent Sephardic requirements, although today the word is rarely used in that context.
Removal
After the animal has been thoroughly inspected, there are still steps that have to be taken before the animal can be sold as kosher. The Torah prohibits the eating of certain fats and organs, such as the kidneys and intestines, so they must be removed from the animal. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to These fats are typically known as “Chelev”. Chelev prohibition only applies to domesticated animals, such as cows and sheep. For wild animals, such as deer, this prohibition is not applicable. There is also a biblical prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve (Gid Hanasheh) so that too, must be removed. The sciatic nerve (also known as the ischiatic nerve) is a large Nerve that starts in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the Lower limb The removal of the Chelev and the Gid Hanasheh is considered complicated and tedious, and even more specialized training is necessary to perform the act properly. While the small amounts of Chelev in the front half of the animal are relatively easy to remove, the back half of the animal is far more complicated, and it is where the sciatic nerve is located. In countries such as America, where there exist a large non-kosher meat market, the hindquarters of the animal (where many of these forbidden meats are located) is sold to non-Jews so as to simplify the process. On the other hand, in countries like Israel, specially trained men are hired to prepare the hindquarters for sale as kosher.
Blood
The blood must also be removed from the meat, as there is a biblical prohibition against the eating of blood as well. All large arteries and veins are removed, as well as any bruised meat or coagulated blood. Then the meat has to be purged of all remaining blood (kashering). The process is generally done by letting the meat soak for around 30 minutes, covering it with salt and then allowing it to drain. In Sephardi traditions, one generally leaves the salt on for a full hour and then rinses the meat thoroughly. The meat is then considered kashered. However, if the meat has been left for more than three days after being slaughtered without being kashered, or if the meat was frozen before being kashered, then the blood is considered to have “set” in the meat, and it is no longer salvageable to eat except when prepared through broiling with appropriate drainage.
Animal welfare controversies
- See also: Bans on ritual slaughter
The prohibition of stunning and the humane attitude towards the slaughtered animal expressed in shechita law limits the extent to which Jewish slaughterhouses can industrialize their procedures. The legal aspects of ritual slaughter include the regulation of Slaughterhouses Butchers and religious personnel involved with traditional Shechita (Jewish The most industrialized attempt at a kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors of Postville, Iowa, became the center of controversy in 2004, after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released gruesome undercover video of cattle struggling to their feet with their tracheas and esophagi ripped out after shechita. A slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (from the French verb abattre, "to strike down" or freezing works ( New Zealand Agriprocessors is the Corporate identity of a Slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory that is in an incorporated area of Postville, Iowa The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Some of the cattle actually got up and stood for a minute or so after being dumped from the rotating pen. [1][5]
The Orthodox Union, the leading certificating body for kosher food in the USA, concluded, however, that AgriProcessors was observing proper procedures [2], though some changes could be made in consideration of marit ayin - community perceptions. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (UOJCA more popularly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU, is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish The OU pointed out:
- While unnecessary cruelty to even one animal is intolerable, one has to look at the total picture before judging the matter. To those unfamiliar with the slaughter industry-kosher or non-kosher-scenes showing post-shechita movement of several animals, such as are shown on the video, can be very disturbing. But it must be realized that during the six or seven weeks during which the video was taken, approximately 18,000 animals were slaughtered by the plant in question. With such numbers, it is inevitable that aberrations do sometimes occur, and those shown in the video represent only a tiny percentage of the total number processed in that time span. [3]
PETA was rebuked by several parties in the Jewish community for mounting what they considered to be a vindictive campaign so soon after Jewish organizations had criticized the group for its "Holocaust on your Plate" ad campaign promoting veganism. [4] Leading rabbis of the non-Orthodox movements in Judaism, allied with a small number of Orthodox rabbis including David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, sided with PETA and condemned what they viewed as the inhumane methods used at AgriProcessors. Rabbi David Rosen is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland (1979-85 and currently serves as Chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world [5]
European history and Shechita: controversies and legislation
The first instance of anti-Shechita legislation occurred when obligatory stunning of animals was introduced in the Swiss canton of Aragon (Aragau) in 1850 with a dispensation for shehitah that was rescinded ten years later. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. A ban was introduced in the Kingdom of Saxony. The Kingdom of Saxony (Königreich Sachsen lasting between 1806 and 1918 was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Later the Swiss ban in Aragon applied to the whole country after a referendum on the question; the Catholic cantons voted against and the Protestant cantons supported the ban. Shehitah was banned in Finland when it was part of the Imperial Russian Empire. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The ban was lifted when Finland won its independence as a result of the Communist Revolution. In 1936 there were only bans in Switzerland and Saxony. The aim of preventing shehitah being practised because if offended the sensibilities of the gentile population was pointed out as a valid grounds for introducing anti-shehitah legislation in the Swedish riksdag in a proposal for legislation in 1937:
- "Regardless whatever the case may be concerning the degree of suffering inflicted on the animal, there are other circumstances which support a schächten ban. Thus, we cannot disregard the fact that schächten makes a more disgusting and brutal impression on the observer than does slaughter by stunning. (. . . ) Not only that, we have to take into consideration that, undoubtedly, for large sections of our population, it appears offensive to them that this kind of slaughter is legally permitted. [. . . ]"[6]
Germany, Antisemitism and shechita
In Germany post 1880 the Tierschutz (animal welfare (literally: animal protection) movement took on an antisemitic aspect. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Shechita and vivisection were both protested. The Tierschutz and the related Völkisch movement were not endorsed by the Kaiserreich elite but were embraced by the Nazis. The völkisch movement is the German interpretation of the populist movement with a romantic focus on Folklore and the "organic" Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The anti-Shechita and animal welfare laws introduced by the Nazi regime after 1933 also affected Jews because they limited shechita. Today, animal welfare is a controversial topic in the Jewish community in Germany due to its associations with the Nazi regime. [7].
In 1939 when Germany invaded Poland shehitah was banned there and in other areas under direct German governance between 1939 and 1945. Mussolini banned shehitah in Italy. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Allied command removed the bans together with other anti-Jewish legislation (Nuremberg laws) when they liberated Europe in 1945. The Nuremberg Laws ( German: Nürnberger Gesetze) of 1935 were denaturalization laws passed in Nazi Germany.
Current laws
The Swedish government commissioned a report from the Veterinary College in the 1920s that concluded that shehitah could continue but this was later ignored in later legislation by the Swedish government. The government of Sweden is a Constitutional monarchy based on Parliamentary democracy. Shechita slaughtering is also prohibited in Norway and Iceland. According to Swedish law it is permitted to slaughter fowl for private consumption.
The United Kingdom forbids shechitah munachat, on animal welfare grounds. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located [8]
In the shehitah debates feeling has been inflamed at times and there were strikes of slaughterhouse workers in Germany and in Malmö, in southern Sweden, protesting that shechitah was practised at all.
References
- ^ Deut. 12:21, Deut. 14:21, Num. 11:22
- ^ Mishneh Torah Kedushah, Forbidden Foods 8:1
- ^ Mishneh Torah Kedushah, Forbidden Foods 6:1
- ^ Eisenstein, Judah David (1901-1906). The Mishneh Torah ( Hebrew: משנה תורה subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka (יד החזקה is a code of Jewish Religious law The Mishneh Torah ( Hebrew: משנה תורה subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka (יד החזקה is a code of Jewish Religious law "PORGING". Jewish Encyclopedia. LCCN:16014703. Retrieved on 2006-07-23. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France.
- ^ Aaron Gross: When Kosher Isn't Kosher. Tikkun Magazine, March/April 2005, Vol. Tikkun is a bi-monthly English-language magazine published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture politics religion and history 20, No. 2.
- ^ Judd, Robin. The Politics of Beef: Animal Advocacy and the Kosher Butchering Debates in Germany Jewish Social Studies - Volume 10, Number 1, Fall 2003 (New Series), pp. 117-150
- ^ Hanna Rheinz, Kabbala der Tiere, Tierrechte im Judentum, in Tierrechte, eine interdiszinplinäre Herausforderung (Animal Rights in the Jewish Tradition), Hrsg IATE, Heidelberg 2007, S. 234-252
- ^ Judd, Robin. The Politics of Beef: Animal Advocacy and the Kosher Butchering Debates in Germany Jewish Social Studies - Volume 10, Number 1, Fall 2003 (New Series), pp. 117-150
See also
External links
- Shechita - The Jewish Religious Humane Method of Animal Slaughter for Food
- Shechita - A Photo Essay
- Shechita UK
- PETA's investigation of AgriProcessors
- Temple Grandin's recommended ritual slaughter practices page
- Shackling and Hoisting A unanimous teshuvah by the Conservative movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards opposing shechita munachat as a violation of Jewish law
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