The Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary Service has announced regulations that are intended to safeguard the safety of the public, minimize suffering of chickens and protect the minhag of kaporos ahead of Yom Kippur. Officials stress they are in no way seeking to interfere with the minhag, but they do plan to enforce regulations for the good of the general public.
The regulations begin by announcing the transportation of chickens must be in accordance with the law, particularly pertaining to the health of the chickens to avoid the spreading of any illness and to minimize their suffering. This includes transporting chickens only in approved vehicles supervised by an approved inspector. Transport vehicles must travel from point to point without making stops along the way.
Areas approved for kaporos must be shaded against rain and the sun and there must be a continuous air flow in the direction of the holding boxes containing the chickens. There must also be running water and proper drainage in additional to meeting other criteria. A ministry veterinarian must be among the officials giving a stamp of approval for a kaporos site to operate. Each chicken that is used for kaporos must also be approved by veterinary officials to safeguard the public. Shechita outside of authorized areas will not be tolerated and agents will be tenacious in enforcing the law.
Officials hope to prevent pirate kaporos stations from operating as they have in past years.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Good luck with this one(sic). How about investing the money into funding more productive matters?
This is bad news for many Moisdos but I can’t comment whether it is a real necessity or just another chicane against the chareidim.
Attention all paranoid complainants to whom no government move can possibly be without anti-Chareidi motive: Here are several reasons why you could look at this quite approvingly: 1)Tzaar Baalai Chayim is actually an Issur DeOraysa. Every one of the stipulations of the ministry put forth in the article actually assures (whether they intend it or not) that the incidences of being oiver this issur will be greatly reduced. Hence a nice fringe benefit of avoiding being machshil thousands of well-meaning Yidden who want to practice their minhag in a way that is not “yotzei scharo behefseido.” 2)In the same vein, there are certain forms of treatment of these chickens that can actually cause them to become treifos! Or safek treifos, such as wing or leg damage, or dehydration/heat exhaustion, which will now be prevented. 3)Here is a health benefit: The less fear and stress caused to the chickens the healthier they will be at the time of slaughter. A surge of stress and fear in an animal prior to slaughter causes a surge of adrenalin and other hormones released into the animal’s meat, and has been scientifically linked to health risks to human consumers. Is that the kind of chicken we want to provide the poor of our nation for their Yom Tov meals? Conclusion: 1) Not everything is because they can get the Chareidim. 2)Veterinarians are caring folk. Cut them some slack.
About time! Kaparos is just a minhag. Tzarbeh Lechayim is a De’raysa