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Shechita (Hebr. שחיטה šəḥīṭā) is the Jewish ritual slaughter of animals, or the prescribed method of slaughter of animals and birds under Jewish dietary laws. The act is performed by drawing a very sharp knife across the animal's throat and allowing the blood to drain out.
The practice is based on the Biblical law that men must not eat the blood of animals, one of the seven Noahide Laws incumbent on all Noah's children, not only the Jews. The animal must be killed with respect by a shochtim 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, for example, lying on its back - 'shechita munachas'. The aim is to sever all the major blood vessels in the neck, causing blood pressure in the brain to drop as instantaneously as the pain signal travels to the brain. With the animal rendered unconscious, the heart must continue to pump to aid the removal of blood from the rest of the carcass.
For these latter reasons, prior stunning by humane bolt or other methods are not permitted. The animal must be in good health, and is inspected after death to confirm that it was. The few animals which are not cleanly killed by shechita are declared non-kosher.
If the unclean hindquarters (or sirloin) are to be eaten by Jews, they must be 'porged' - stripped of veins, fats and sinews in accordance with a strict procedure. [1] (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=453&letter=P)
Animal Welfare controversies
The humane attitude towards the slaughtered animal expressed in shechita law limits the extent to which Jewish slaughterhouses can industrialize their procedures. The most industrialized attempt at a kosher slaughterhouse, AgriProcessors of Postville, Iowa, became the center of a controversy in rabbinical interpretation in 2003, after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released undercover video of cattle struggling to their feet after shechita.
The Orthodox Union, certificating body for kosher food in the USA, concluded that AgriProcessors was observing proper procedures [2] (http://www.oukosher.org/index.php?/articles/single/setting_the_record_straight_on_kosher_slaughter/), though some changes could be made in consideration of marit ayin - community perceptions. 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] (http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20041210/10dec2004120301.html)
PeTA was rebuked by several parties, such as the Anti-Defamation League, for mounting what might appear 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] (http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Shechita_Controversy.asp)
The Nazi Party banned shechita in Germany in 1933. Some European countries have introduced effective bans on animal welfare grounds, requiring their Jewish populations to import kosher meat.
See also
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