Maran HaRav Eliashiv shlita warned against any changes
in the shechitoh tradition, even if obtaining kosher
meat becomes harder as a result. Maran's remarks came in
response to an inquiry from Jews living in Germany, where the
current law bans any slaughter before stunning the animal.
HaRav Yitzchok Eliezer Jakob, the rov of the beis
medrash and the rosh kollel of the Tevuos Shor
kollelim for the study of the halochos of
shechitoh, bedikoh and nikur, recently paid a
visit to the home of HaRav Eliashiv to mark the publication
of a new elucidated edition of Simloh Chadoshoh Vetevu'os
Shor. During the course of his visit HaRav Jakob asked
Maran to clarify matters in several sugyos and asked
in particular about the situation in Germany, where animals
receive an injection that stuns them to spare them the pain
of slaughter. The law was passed following pressure by animal
rights groups. In the past gedolei Yisroel came out
against stunning the animal before shechitoh and this
practice of stunning is not followed in any shechitoh
in the world.
Recently a number of prominent members of the Jewish
community in Germany met with members of an animal rights
organization, telling them that the halochoh does not permit
stunning the animal before shechitoh. The animal
rights advocates said they would be willing to compromise by
allowing local anesthesia of the neck using a special spray
rather than by injection. The kehilloh members then
asked HaRav Jakob to consult on the matter with Maran HaRav
Eliashiv.
Maran replied that there is no way of knowing whether this
type of anesthesia affects the animal's viability, making it
impossible to clearly determine whether the animal has been
rendered a neveiloh or treifoh. Maran also
said, "How do we know? The non-Jews may draw other
conclusions from this with regard to Jewish shechitoh.
They may draw inferences with regard to other things, if it
appears to them that Jews are prepared to loosen
shechitoh requirements. This could lead to further
problems.
"Everything is cause for concern," said HaRav Eliashiv. "Even
if it can be argued that it is theoretically permissible
according to halochoh, we cannot change accepted practices
and the [traditional] shechitoh practices must remain
and should not be touched in the slightest."
When told the Jews of Germany have to work very hard to find
kosher meat and the difficulty they have leads many Jews to
eat non-kosher meat, Maran replied, "Jews work hard in every
place over everything, but when legitimization is given to
such a thing nobody knows where it could lead. Therefore one
must not agree to it."
