Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Shechita dispute festers
By: MARILYN H. KARFELD Staff Reporter
The recent controversy over what an animal rights organization calls inhumane treatment of cattle at a kosher slaughterhouse refuses to die.
Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis and lay leaders have circulated a petition online pressing for more changes at the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. Shechita (ritual slaughtering) can be more humane than other methods of slaughter when done right, they say in the statement.
They urge Agriprocessors to desist from what they call abuses recorded on an undercover videotape. The footage shows a number of animals writhing, kicking and struggling to stand after shechita. One cow even gets up and wanders off.
Several Cleveland rabbis contacted by the CJN say they are troubled by the ritual slaughter methods at Agriprocessors and support calls for additional changes.
"Whatever the amount of slippage in a good system, which I believe kashrut generally is, we ought to feel obligated to tighten that system so it's maximally humane," says Reconstructionist Rabbi Jeffrey Schein, director of the department of Jewish education at Siegal College of Jewish Studies. "That's the underlying intent of the laws of kashrut."
Among those national figures who have signed the online petition are Rabbi Janet Marder, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform); Rabbi Elliot Dorff, bioethicist and rector at the University of Judaism (Conservative) and vice-chair of the Conservative movement's committee on Jewish law and standards; Rabbi Arthur Green, dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and former president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; and Rabbi David Rosen, former chief rabbi of Ireland and international director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee.
The Orthodox Union, the nation's largest kosher certification agency, says it is satisfied that changes instituted at Agriprocessors in the wake of the video will result in humanely slaughtered kosher beef that meets all Jewish and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards.
The controversy at Agriprocessors, the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world, began late last year when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a secretly taped video showing cows that appeared to be conscious after shechita. The animal-rights group filed a complaint against Agriprocessors with the USDA, accusing the company of violating the humane slaughter act. The USDA is still officially investigating the complaint.
Kashrut experts maintain that the shochet's (ritual slaughterer's) single cut to the carotid artery causes massive bleeding and sudden loss of blood pressure, almost instantly rendering the animal insensible to pain.
Two Cleveland Orthodox rabbis, Naphtali Burnstein of Young Israel of Greater Cleveland and Doniel Shur of Heights Jewish Center Synagogue, told the CJN recently that Agriprocessors is following the proper kashrut procedures. The fact that an animal writhes or kicks or attempts to stand after shechita does not mean the animal feels anything. These are reflex responses, they say.
In the PETA video, a worker prods each animal into a rotating restraining drum that is then inverted. The shochet quickly cuts the cow's throat, resulting in profuse bleeding.
In last week's online statement, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish leaders urged Agriprocessors to begin using an upright pen to restrain the animals before slaughter. These pens, they say, are preferred by the Orthodox Union, the Rabbinical Assembly (the umbrella group for Conservative rabbis) and animal-welfare experts.
Use of electric prods to herd cows into the pens should be ended, the rabbis say. They also called on the OU and other kosher certifying agencies to make public their guidelines for humane treatment of animals.
While insisting that methods at Agriprocessors have always produced kosher meat, the Orthodox Union did ask the slaughterhouse to shoot with a captive-bolt or stun gun any animal that appears to survive shechita.
They also asked the slaughterhouse to stop removing the trachea following shechita. In the undercover video, a worker makes a secondary cut of the carotid artery and then pulls out the trachea and esophagus, which dangle from the cow's neck.
This secondary cut, which accelerates the bleeding, initially troubled many Orthodox rabbis. But the OU said in a statement that the second cut is both "approved and encouraged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)." Agriprocessors will continue to make the second cut, but will not excise the trachea, the OU said.
"I expect that kosher slaughter is undertaken with respect for the animals," says Rabbi Edward Bernstein of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (Conservative), who called the PETA video shocking. While he praised the OU for its quick response to the situation, he agreed with the latest calls for more humane treatment of animals.
Bernstein also concurs that it would be more humane to use an upright pen for slaughter and that the electric prod should be discontinued. "I hope the controversy around this shines more light upon the kashrut process," he says.
Agriprocessors is not "meeting the Jewish ethical requirement that slaughtering animals for food needs to be done humanely," says Rabbi Edward Sukol of Congregation Bethaynu (Conservative).
The authors of the online statement consulted the research of Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University, whom Sukol called the leading expert in the best way to slaughter animals. "I think it's reasonable to call on the OU to institute guidelines to treat animals as humanely as possible," Sukol says.
The changes the OU has instituted thus far are not enough, says Aaron Gross, a graduate student in religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who coordinated the rabbis' online statement.
"The only thing the OU did was to ask them (Agriprocessors) to stop dismembering the animals while still alive," says Gross, who is a vegetarian and non-paid consultant for PETA.
A training scenario posted on the USDA's website indicates that the government regulatory agency continues to have issues with Agriprocessors' methods. The detailed advisory memo, without mentioning Agriprocessors by name, refers to the walking-cow incidents captured on the PETA video.
The training scenario advises inspectors to immediately shut down a slaughterhouse if they witness any additional cutting of tissue or dressing procedures before the animal is unconscious.
The fact that the USDA is still investigating Agriprocessors for what the advisory memo calls "this egregious violation" of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, signals the seriousness of the issue, says Gross.
The controversy has divided the Jewish community, which Sukol deplores. "Unfortunately, this appears to pit the non-Orthodox against the Orthodox world. The letter of (kashrut) law may not be in keeping with the spirit of the law. That needs to be fixed."
Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis and lay leaders have circulated a petition online pressing for more changes at the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. Shechita (ritual slaughtering) can be more humane than other methods of slaughter when done right, they say in the statement.
They urge Agriprocessors to desist from what they call abuses recorded on an undercover videotape. The footage shows a number of animals writhing, kicking and struggling to stand after shechita. One cow even gets up and wanders off.
Several Cleveland rabbis contacted by the CJN say they are troubled by the ritual slaughter methods at Agriprocessors and support calls for additional changes.
"Whatever the amount of slippage in a good system, which I believe kashrut generally is, we ought to feel obligated to tighten that system so it's maximally humane," says Reconstructionist Rabbi Jeffrey Schein, director of the department of Jewish education at Siegal College of Jewish Studies. "That's the underlying intent of the laws of kashrut."
Among those national figures who have signed the online petition are Rabbi Janet Marder, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform); Rabbi Elliot Dorff, bioethicist and rector at the University of Judaism (Conservative) and vice-chair of the Conservative movement's committee on Jewish law and standards; Rabbi Arthur Green, dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and former president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; and Rabbi David Rosen, former chief rabbi of Ireland and international director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee.
The Orthodox Union, the nation's largest kosher certification agency, says it is satisfied that changes instituted at Agriprocessors in the wake of the video will result in humanely slaughtered kosher beef that meets all Jewish and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards.
The controversy at Agriprocessors, the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world, began late last year when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a secretly taped video showing cows that appeared to be conscious after shechita. The animal-rights group filed a complaint against Agriprocessors with the USDA, accusing the company of violating the humane slaughter act. The USDA is still officially investigating the complaint.
Kashrut experts maintain that the shochet's (ritual slaughterer's) single cut to the carotid artery causes massive bleeding and sudden loss of blood pressure, almost instantly rendering the animal insensible to pain.
Two Cleveland Orthodox rabbis, Naphtali Burnstein of Young Israel of Greater Cleveland and Doniel Shur of Heights Jewish Center Synagogue, told the CJN recently that Agriprocessors is following the proper kashrut procedures. The fact that an animal writhes or kicks or attempts to stand after shechita does not mean the animal feels anything. These are reflex responses, they say.
In the PETA video, a worker prods each animal into a rotating restraining drum that is then inverted. The shochet quickly cuts the cow's throat, resulting in profuse bleeding.
In last week's online statement, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish leaders urged Agriprocessors to begin using an upright pen to restrain the animals before slaughter. These pens, they say, are preferred by the Orthodox Union, the Rabbinical Assembly (the umbrella group for Conservative rabbis) and animal-welfare experts.
Use of electric prods to herd cows into the pens should be ended, the rabbis say. They also called on the OU and other kosher certifying agencies to make public their guidelines for humane treatment of animals.
While insisting that methods at Agriprocessors have always produced kosher meat, the Orthodox Union did ask the slaughterhouse to shoot with a captive-bolt or stun gun any animal that appears to survive shechita.
They also asked the slaughterhouse to stop removing the trachea following shechita. In the undercover video, a worker makes a secondary cut of the carotid artery and then pulls out the trachea and esophagus, which dangle from the cow's neck.
This secondary cut, which accelerates the bleeding, initially troubled many Orthodox rabbis. But the OU said in a statement that the second cut is both "approved and encouraged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)." Agriprocessors will continue to make the second cut, but will not excise the trachea, the OU said.
"I expect that kosher slaughter is undertaken with respect for the animals," says Rabbi Edward Bernstein of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (Conservative), who called the PETA video shocking. While he praised the OU for its quick response to the situation, he agreed with the latest calls for more humane treatment of animals.
Bernstein also concurs that it would be more humane to use an upright pen for slaughter and that the electric prod should be discontinued. "I hope the controversy around this shines more light upon the kashrut process," he says.
Agriprocessors is not "meeting the Jewish ethical requirement that slaughtering animals for food needs to be done humanely," says Rabbi Edward Sukol of Congregation Bethaynu (Conservative).
The authors of the online statement consulted the research of Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University, whom Sukol called the leading expert in the best way to slaughter animals. "I think it's reasonable to call on the OU to institute guidelines to treat animals as humanely as possible," Sukol says.
The changes the OU has instituted thus far are not enough, says Aaron Gross, a graduate student in religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who coordinated the rabbis' online statement.
"The only thing the OU did was to ask them (Agriprocessors) to stop dismembering the animals while still alive," says Gross, who is a vegetarian and non-paid consultant for PETA.
A training scenario posted on the USDA's website indicates that the government regulatory agency continues to have issues with Agriprocessors' methods. The detailed advisory memo, without mentioning Agriprocessors by name, refers to the walking-cow incidents captured on the PETA video.
The training scenario advises inspectors to immediately shut down a slaughterhouse if they witness any additional cutting of tissue or dressing procedures before the animal is unconscious.
The fact that the USDA is still investigating Agriprocessors for what the advisory memo calls "this egregious violation" of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, signals the seriousness of the issue, says Gross.
The controversy has divided the Jewish community, which Sukol deplores. "Unfortunately, this appears to pit the non-Orthodox against the Orthodox world. The letter of (kashrut) law may not be in keeping with the spirit of the law. That needs to be fixed."
 |
 |
|
| Lorain native doing good in Africa | Mt. Sinai Health Care alters grant guidelines |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of clevelandjewishnews.com.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments. Registration is free.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
anonymous wrote on Apr 8, 2009 2:17 PM: