Religion & Beliefs
Naked Chef Jamie Oliver Becoming a Kosher Slaughterer
By Tamar Fox / February 14, 2008
Naked Chef Jamie Oliver is working on some PETA style exposes that would condemn shechita, the kosher slaughtering process, and the Jewish community in Britain is freaking out. I've received this email from a number of friends at home and abroad in the past few days:
It has become apparent that Jamie Oliver and Channel Four are in the process of filming a new series about food production. This time, Jamie will be focussing on ritual animal slaughter. Jamie Oliver's next series is set to be an examination of shechita, the method of ritual slaughter used by Jews and Muslims. Reports suggest that Oliver will condemn the practice as barbaric, and argue that animal rights must take precedence over religious sensibilities. It is thought that the programme will show animals being slaughtered under Jewish and Muslim auspices, with footage showing great pain and suffering, rather than it being a painless method, as its supporters have claimed. Although all the details are not yet clear, it appears that Oliver will actually be undergoing full training to become a Shochet, or Kosher slaughterer. Channel Four then intend to show in graphic detail the slaughter of a cow involving Oliver cutting through the jugular vein. Obviously, the spilled blood will make the practice appear cruel and inhumane without taking into account the skill and precise work of a real Shochet. If shown, the programme will be a shocking attack on religious freedom in Britain, and an example of gross anti-Semitism. Shechita is a humane method of slaughter, and, more importantly, the Jewish community has the right to continue to practice its ancient traditions. If the idea of banning shechita gains popular approval (and Oliver certainly has the capacity to do this, following his recent campaign on the welfare of battery hens) other Jewish practices such as circumcision are sure to soon be under threat. We have to mobilise now, to prevent this programme from being aired, and safeguard religious freedom in the UK. Signing this petition will send a clear message to Channel Four – together we can stop this show and preserve our rights. Sign the online petition
The tone of this email is a bit more hysterical than I think it needs to be. If shechita really looks awful, can’t we consider the possibility that it is awful? And though I would never condone anything that could have detrimental effects on the UK's Jewish community, it sounds like Oliver is going to do his best to portray things as accurately as he can. If it really isn’t inhumane, then the Jewish community needs to figure out a way to make that clear. And if shechita is being carried out in an inhumane fashion, then the community needs to put a stop to it.
Update: Turns out it was all a hoax on the part of those British pranksters Jewdas!
POST A COMMENT
Ringleader
I'm just guessing you haven't read that much about how this procedure is supposed to work. Whenever there is pain or injury, the sympathetic nervous system leaps into action, given the cues from the point of injury. Shechita is supposed to insure those cues are never triggered. Hence, the animal, because no blood will be getting to the brain, will fall asleep.
And did you really have to use someone else's words as if they were mine? After your first sentence, that's what you did.
The only question is, do things actually go like this in kosher meat plants? I don't know the answer to that. But that's not a problem with the law.
First: I like when Dave Strauss posts because he uses .. good .. words to say .. things .. I want to say.
Anyway, Naftali, I don't know where you get the assertion that the animal is "feeling the onset of sleep" just prior to falling unconscious and collapsing. I imagine this could only be true for you if "Feeling the onset of sleep" involves "violently gushing blood," "being in unspeakable pain," "and collapsing in on yourself" prior to convulsing and scrabbling about to stand up, despite the physical wherewithal to do so.
It's absurd to start with the premise that shechita is the ideal method of slaughter. It creates all sorts of errors:
(1) No true Scotsman: naftali argues that shechita is defined as a painless method, so anything that doesn't get the right results must not be the correct method. The failure to accept the reality of shechita prevents shechita from being subject to criticism.
(2) Double standards: as naftali states, shechita is pretty hard to do properly because "the knife has to be so sharp, the cut so clean [...]." Yet, Michal criticizes the conventional method of stunning for being "often incorrectly applied." If the argument is against incorrect application of the conventional method, application of a more difficult, ritualistic method isn't going to solve any problems. (And this error is Michal's, not nafali's.)
This was a hoax by Jewdas, the UK based radical Jewish collective
see here:
http://jewdas.org/news/shechita.htm
"If shechita really looks awful, can’t we consider the possibility that it is awful?"
How something looks would be worthy of judgement if it weren't for the (very human) aversion to the sight of blood, particularly a lot of blood. When shechita is done correctly, there is a lot of blood flow, which is pretty gory to see. On the other hand, when shechita is done right, the artery is severed immediately causing the blood to the brain to cease flowing, rendering the animal unconscious and without pain. Compared to the less-bloody method of stunning the animal, which is often incorrectly applied and can not only cause pain in the main blow, but also if it fails to cause a total loss of consciousness. Whether or not any animal slaughter is "humane" is open for debate, but focusing on shechita will absolutely make it "look" like the more painful alternative – regardless of the facts.
I think pressuring the channel not to air the ep is shortsighted, though. Insisting that it be a fair documentary (showing expert opinions that back up the Orthodox method – which DO exist in sufficient numbers, as the science behind it is palpable), would be a smarter solution. We have nothing to hide. I believe kosher slaughter is one of the most humane methods there is. Again, once you can accept eating animals in the first place.
"If the idea of banning shechita gains popular approval…other Jewish practices such as circumcision are sure to soon be under threat."
I sincerely doubt that. What someone does to themself (or their children) is a different issue that what someone does to an animal. Kaporos might be in jepoardy, but I always thought that was cruel to the chicken. In addition, the Muslim community would be equally distressed if circumcision was banned (and not even mentioning halal), and there are a lot more of them to yell wolf than there are Jews. Let's not lose sight that there are some bad examples of everything in the world, including shechita. (See films of Postville, Iowa, for example.) Perhaps we should just take this as a wake up call to clean up our act.
Wanna post your own comments? Gotta log in first!