Rabbis and organizations
certifying kosher slaughter, including the Orthodox Union and the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel, fully support the practices at the
AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Ohio. Now there is
a list of
new demands by PETA which many spokesmen of the Orthodox
Jewish community call a blatant and flagrant intrusion into
the prerogatives of religious liberty.
The statements followed the highly publicized release of a
secretly filmed video alleging animal abuse at the
AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Ohio.
One Jewish leader said: "Not one PETA representative ever
rebuked the disturbing and warped statements equating animal
slaughter with the Holocaust or the protest to PLO chairman
Yasser Arafat of his use of a donkey in a suicide bombing in
Israel."
Last year PETA launched a worldwide campaign against all
forms of slaughter (not just kosher), comparing the preparation of meat to the
Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews and more than 10 million
others during World War II. Millions felt that the comparison
was grossly inappropriate and an insult to the memory of the
millions of humans slaughtered.
Also, once when a donkey was used to carry explosives to
attack Jews, PETA protested to the Palestinian leadership
about the loss of the donkey's life, but made no mention of
the attacks against Jewish people.
Members of a high level Orthodox Union delegation that
visited the Agri plant cited discussions with USDA officials,
including inspector Dr. Henry Lawson, all of which
confirmed that the conditions there are humane and that the
shechita method of slaughter employed there renders
the animal insensate almost instantly.
Israel's Chief Rabbinate, through Rabbi Ezra Harari Raful who
heads its imported meats division, denied that the
shechita on the video was not kosher and that meat
from such shechita would not be accepted in Israel.
All of the rabbis involved in the shechita at the
plant, as well as the Chief Rabbinate, said the slaughter was
kosher.
PETA also tried to have a resolution, adopted at a national
convention of Agudath Yisroel of America condemning PETA,
withdrawn.
In a letter responding to the demand, David Zwiebel,
Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel of America, wrote,
"The way in which PETA is waging war against AgriProcessors
further compounds PETA's credibility problem in my eyes.
"I am troubled by the deceptive and possibly illegal manner
in which PETA surreptitiously videoed the AgriProcessors
plant.
"As indicated above, I am also troubled by the incendiary
manner in which reflexive movements that are consistent with
the humane treatment of animals are misleadingly portrayed by
PETA as conscious expressions of pain and suffering.
"And I am most troubled by PETA's latest letter to
AgriProcessors (dated December 6), which lists a series of
demands for changes in the way shechita is done at
AgriProcessors, including changes that AgriProcessors'
rabbinical authorities may see as contrary to Jewish law, and
threatens further action against AgriProcessors if those
demands are not met.
"AgriProcessors will surely respond directly to that letter
and those demands, but I can tell you in no uncertain terms
that we at Agudath Israel, and the broad constituency of
Orthodox Jews we represent, will do whatever we can to
preserve the foundation principle that the right to establish
guidelines for Jewish ritual practice must remain within the
exclusive domain of Jewish religious authorities."
Last week, 12 rabbis and organizations
certifying shechita called the practice of
shechita humane, explaining that nothing in the video
rendered the shechita unkosher.
The statement ended with a strong commitment to "the Jewish
mandate of avoiding tzaar baalei chaim, unnecessary
pain to any creature. We reiterate that the shechita
process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves
to the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance
with all religious and federal laws governing kosher
slaughter."
The Orthodox Union issued a major statement on the issue,
explaining that there was no abuse and that the meat is kosher.
The statement noted: "We continue to vouch for the kashrut of
all of the meat prepared by AgriProcessors, Inc., which was
never compromised."
