Kosher meat under the grill
THE ethics of Jewish ritual slaughter have once again been put on the agenda following the publicaton of a series of prominent newspaper articles at the weekend.
THE ethics of Jewish ritual slaughter have once again been put on the agenda following the publicaton of a series of prominent newspaper articles at the weekend.
Melbourne’s Age newspaper published a front-page story on ritual killing, focussing on kosher and halal meat, as well as an editorial calling for it to be banned. Sydney’s Sun-Herald also published the story.
The articles quoted animal rights lobbyists and Australian Meat Industry Council chairman Terry Nolan who said: “I personally don’t believe in unstunned slaughter.
“I kill animals for a living. I believe that they need to be processed in the most respectful way for the animals, he said.’’Specific concerns about the processing of sheep were raised. At the moment, Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughterers have an exemption, allowing them to slit a sheep’s throats without stunning.
However, despite the public attacks on the practice. a spokesperson for federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig told The AJN a review into ritual slaughter for the domestic market was not on the agenda.
Senator Ludwig’s spokesperson said only that an independent review into live exports had been launched.
According to the spokesperson, the small number of Australian abattoirs with exemptions to slaughter without stunning only trade domestically and are therefore regulated by state authorities.
Angered by the “ill‐informed assertions” in the newspaper articles. Jewish community leaders were quick to respond.
“These pieces conflated kosher slaughter with other forms of ritual slaughter and repeated many of the myths about kosher slaughter of livestock which have circulated over the years, and some new ones,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Dr Danny Lamm said in a statement.
The statement – sent to the newspapers which originally published the articles – goes on to debunk a series of common misconceptions about shechita.
Following a review in 2009 by the the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Rudd government agreed that ritual slaughter practices could continue.
In line with the review, the law currently gives an exemption to shochets from stunning cattle and from stunning sheep both before and after slaughter. This ruling is consistent with halacha.
Calling the link between shechita and animal cruelty “untenable”, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) also rejected claims kosher ritual slaughter of sheep should be banned.
“Whilst the RCV recognises that many who are pushing for a ban on shechita in Australia may be well intentioned, their statements are unfortunately misguided and misinformed,” president Rabbi Yaakov Glasman said.
Caption: Steve Morley at Hadassah Kosher Butcher in Sydney. Photo: Ingrid Shakenovsky
DALIA SABLE
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