[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[sgtbono2002]

Please send me a 2 lb. Porterhouse--Thank you.

[Keith in Iowa]

"If done correctly under kosher law, the technique ensures quick and painless death," according to officials quoted in the Des Moines Register, an Iowa newspaper.

You forgot "that's not even worthy of using to wrap fish in" after the word 'newspaper'....

[Alouette]

"The rabbis slaughtering the chickens were much more gentle than my grandmother was on our farm when I was a child."

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[pillbox_girl]

Hmmm. PETA freaks out over Jewish Kosher meat processing. That's typical. But has anyone seen a single PETA protest against the inhumane treatment of sacrificial animals at the hands of Islam?

Anyone?....

[weenie]

As an animal lover and meat eater...great article.

I used to live on the West Side in NYC and ate lunch every Saturday at Fine & Shapiro on W. 72nd because I trusted kosher food.

I am one of those Zionist Christians that considers himself a red-headed stepchild of the Jews.

[sinanju]

Hmmm, I wonder how accurate was the scene in Cold Mountain when Renee Zellweger rips off the head of the obstreporous rooster. It was certainly quick.

[nothingnew]

Hey, I'm all for Kosher meat....so does this mean the peta tape was a hoax? I never saw the tape, and always take a pound of salt about anything they report. Just wondering, is all.

FMCDH(BITS)

[hlmencken3]

A close friend who works for a major kosher food distributor, and knows many people and details involved, told me this:

"I think it is a Hannukah miracle, 12 kashrut agencies agreeing."

http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita2-65.htm

Statement of Rabbis and Certifying Agencies on Recent Publicity on Kosher Slaughter

As rabbis and certifying agencies involved in the supervision of kosher meat slaughter in the United States, we are deeply concerned that the recent publicity surrounding the videotape released by a group called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals may lead to misconceptions about the practices depicted on the videotape and, more generally, about the shechita process itself. We therefore wish to state as follows:

1. Shechita involves the slicing or cutting of the trachea and esophagus with a sharp knife without nicks in a manner which has been established over centuries to be the most humane form of animal slaughter. Shechita typically renders the animal insensible almost instantaneously.

2. After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain, and they do not affect the kosher status of the slaughtered animal's meat. There may be exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and walk around. Cases when animals show such signs of life after the slaughter process are extremely rare, and even such an event would not invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in the shechita cut.

3. With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common practice. We wish to make clear that nothing in any such post-shechita "second cut" or excision in any way undermines the validity of the shechita itself or the kosher status of the slaughtered animal's meat. We further note that regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture explicitly approve a second cut to facilitate bleeding.

4. We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding "tzaar baalei chayim," 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.

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Halachic Consultant
Orthodox Union

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane
Kashruth Administrator
Chicago Rabbinical Council

Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrus Division
Orthodox Union

Rabbi Asher Hatchuel
Rabbinic Head
Sephardic Beth Din of America

Rabbi Moshe Heinemann
Rabbinic Administrator
Star-K Certification

Rabbi Emanuel Holzer
Chairman, Kashrus Committee
Rabbinical Council of America

Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
Khal Adas Jeshurun

Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz
Head of Beth Din
Chicago Rabbinical Council

Rabbi Yitzchok Stein
Rabbinic Head
Beth Din of Karlsburg

Rabbi Yechiel Steinmetz
Rabbinic Judge
Monsey, NY

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum
Nirbater Rav
Rabbinic Supervisor
Alle Processing Corporation

Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl
Rabbinic Head
Nitra Beth Din of Monsey

www.ou.org

[BobS]

I want some beef ribs. I have this amazing sauce to put on them before they're smoked. You will drool within a mile and jump on them like a vampire:)

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.