Dei'ah veDibur - Information & 
Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi 
World

12 Kislev 5772 - December 8, 2011 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

OBSERVATIONS

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

POPULAR EDITORIALS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Chareidi.org
Chareidi.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS
Dutch Senate to Consider Shechita Ban

By Eliezer Rauchberger

A bill to ban shechitah could come up for a vote in the Dutch Senate this week, though it is expected to be brought only for discussion at this point. Ratification of the proposed law would carry widespread ramifications for other European Union countries. Passage in one country makes it more likely that others will follow suit.

Information and Diaspora Minister MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud), speaking before a meeting of the Knesset to discuss the Dutch move, said the bill was introduced by a small parliamentary party and was supported even by parties that consistently back Israel. The legislation was ostensibly intended to protect animal rights and not based on antisemitic motives, although some of the backers may harbor antisemitic motives.

He related the government's efforts to block this piece of legislation, which is similar to an existing Norwegian law that compels Jews to import their meat, adding that efforts to counter it are being made in the European Parliament and the European Council, as well as other organizations in which Israel has observers, delegations and MKs who are involved. He also noted that Knesset members' efforts to lobby their counterparts in the European Parliament and Holland can be more useful than a phone call or a letter from the Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister, because the bill was floated by members of the Dutch parliament, not the Dutch government.

Nevertheless, the Foreign Minister will also do what he can to prevent the bill from passing into law, said Edelstein, adding that he hopes that the various diplomatic channels, in combination, will bear fruit — not only in Holland, but also in New Zealand and Scandinavian countries, where similar legislation is under consideration.

MK Rabbi Uri Maklev, addressing the Knesset meeting, stressed that shechita is not some sort of ancient Jewish custom, but a fundamental aspect of Judaism that has been a central part of Jewish life since time immemorial. Throughout the 350 years during which Jews have lived in the Netherlands, community life was based on the local shochet, the rabbi who ruled on the shechita, etc.

"If there is no kosher shechita, Jews cannot eat meat," he said. "Just as no community can form and survive without water, and cannot rely on imported water, likewise every place, every Jewish community that lacks shechita does not have sustainable communal life and it cannot survive."

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.