The European Parliament this week backed a proposal for a new regulation on the provision of food information to consumers which discriminates against shechita. Wednesday’s vote includes an amendment to the regulation labelling all meat and meat products derived from animals that have been slaughtered by shechita ‘meat from slaughter without stunning’.
Henry Grunwald QC, Chairman of Shechita UK said the move would have “a significant impact on the kosher meat industry across Europe.”
The European Parliament’s vote represents a new low in the denial of civil liberties of Jews all over Europe. It firmly places a “yellow star” on meat slaughtered by shechita with the intention that consumers will now be able to identify such meat and refrain from buying it.This in turn means that the parts of the animal which the Jewish Kashrus Authorities reject as non-kosher i.e. the hind quarters and animals that have been adjudged treifoh, will no longer be acceptable on the general meat market as hitherto.
Until now this meat has had ready buyers because there has been no derogatory labelling on it, but from now on because such meat will be labelled that the manner of slaughter is not “humane”, buyers will not be forthcoming. The consequence will be that the price of kosher meat will sky-rocket in order to offset the loss of being unable to sell the 70% of non-kosher meat which Jews do not consume but is sold on to the general market. The viability of the kosher meat industry will now be untenable.
It has been suggested that the reintroduction of porging of the kosher hind-quarter may go some way to alleviating the problem, but this contingency would need the necessary permission of all the Bottei Din in Europe and would not be acceptable to all.
There will be a second vote by the European Commission in the near future and in order for the amendment to pass into European Law it must be passed by both the EU Parliament and the EU Commission.
(Chanoch Kesselman – Jewish Tribune – London)
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14 Responses
As usual WYN leaves out critical facts.
They do not explain what “porging” is, and I never heard that word, before.
As for the story in general it shows that the antisemites
are using the “animal rights” garbage in order to help vilifty and attack religios Jews.
Comparing this to the yellow star is a perfectly valid comparison, because that is the kosher meat version of exactly what they are doing.
Not only does this help try and ruin the kosher meat industry, but anyone seen buying kosher meat with that label on it, could G-d forbid, be subject to physical attacks by these animal rights wackos, who are getting more and more violent on an almost daily basis as their sickness is spreading as fast as radical Islam is.
Even the Talk Radio supposedly ‘conservative’ host Mark Levin has on his web pages, all kinds of links to these pro animal anti human and anti semitic, terrorists.
Moderators Note: “As usual WYN leaves out critical facts.”….As usual, YWN quotes the source where the article was taken from. Send them an email or a letter with your complaints and concerns directly please.
THIS IS THE EUROPEAN VERSION OF THE CONSERVATIVE RABBIS’ “HECHSHER TZEDEK” CERTIFICATION.
I guess the Conservative Rabbinate is serving as a “Light unto the nations.”
OK Mod that might be true in this case, but often the source, IS, a WYN reporter.
The Conservative religion is NOT Judaism.
Judaism is Torah, and the Conservat8ive and Reform religions are NOT Torah.
‘Conservative’ and ‘Rabbi’, do not belong togeher.
Huh? A tempest in a teapot? As a general rule, who but Yidden buys Kosher meat anyway? I don’t see gentiles in any of the markets where I buy meat – Can Europe be that different?
It seems to me that this is analogous to the “Dolphin Free” label on tuna – something we didn’t care about because it did not affect us. So what, the “meat from slaughter without stunning” affects us – but that doesn’t mean it’s Anti-Semitic. Stunning probably is more “humane,” and in today’s western society such concerns are increasingly important – a good thing when not warped out of proportion by extremists.
Oy – I can just hear the howls from the rationalists who seek to justify shechita on grounds that it is the “most humane” method of slaughter – when in fact it’s simply a requirement of Torah – period.
Porging is called “treibling” in Yiddish and means removing the GID HANASHA from the hind part.
Aryeh Zelasko
Beit Shemesh
@Hereorthere –
“porging” is the English word for nikur (hebrew) or traibering (Yiddish) – removal of the gid hanasheh (sciatic nerve) and cheilev (forbidden fats) so the rest of the hindquarters can be eaten.
to #4 the issue is not as you say. The issue is that any kosher meat products which are not kosher, either because the animal is found to be so after death or from the non-kosher gidim etc. is sold to the non-kosher market. Were this meat not to be sold kosher costs would increase dramatically. This labelling will scare off non-kosher conusmers from buying kosher meat and push up the cost astronomically
deepthinker: Chas Veshulem! this has NOTHING to do with conservative or reform. the Jewish Tribune is a Chareidishe paper in London. bekitzur, the European parliament want geshochtene rejects to be labelled so that “sensitive” goyim can identify “Jew-Meat” and refuse to buy it. Yidden only use 30% of geshochtene meat, the rest i.e. treifois and the chelek achorayim are sold onto the general market. it is not labelled as kosher because it’s not kosher so the European parliament want it to be labelled as “meat from unstunned slaughter”.
Further to my comment above, you’ll notice the time 8.04pm, that’s in the USA, in london where i’m writing this Shabbos went out two hours ago
I’m surprised that hereorthere has never heard of porging (nikkur). if you’ve never heard that word before your Yiddishe chinuch is sadly lacking. but maybe you’re only a youngster.
#’s 8-10 (Inclusive)Chanoch;
I am a Baal Teshivah who never had much money to learn in yeshivah.
in the two years I managed to be in a baal teshuvah yeshivah they did not teach us the all the details with all the detailed words of kosher slaughter.
Now if you want to give me $50,000.00 or more to cover my rent and all other expenses and inventments I would neded to support myself after getting out of Yeshivah a second time, when I have no work skills and no job after I would quite to go back to yeshivah, I would be glad to do so.
#2 & #3:
Hechsher Tzedek has nothing to do with Kashrut per se.
It has everything to do with rules conduct in running a business in a decent fashion. (Menshlichkite)
Obviously, your remarks wouldn’t earn you that appellation.
Further, most are taking a very short sighted view of the problem which if thought about might even be an asset.
More and more people are purchasing Kosher meat because they think it is a healthier and better product. I am not commenting on whether that is true or not. Also, do you really think that food manufacturers really care about how the meat was slaughtered? No, only that it passes inspection.
So in conclusion, if meat is labeled “Kosher Slaughter”, it even might increase sales.
Written Wellington, NZ where we have our own tzuris.
BS”D
This could backfire right in the face of the soinim, the very descendants of the Nazis YMS and their collaborators who indeed did care more about animals than humans, IF the kosher industry could explain the truth about stunning which is that:
1) It is not humane in any way and causes more pain than shechita.
2) It renders the meat less healthy as infected brain tissue can spread throughout the carcass when the animal is stunned.
nmk:The Whole yiddisher world is reeling from the nasty decision of the NZ Minister to ban shechita AND not to allow import of chicken either. Problem is that other countries look at NZ and get “chizuk” from the “good move” they did in banning shechita, New Zealand’s Massey University are the leaders in anti-shechita research. Iv’e read the research papers (about 90 pages)and I can tell you and the world that their “scientific” findings are based on pure anti-semitism. Meantime the NZ Jewish Community are looking for a way to get the minister to change his mind. So far it seems that’s not going to happen.