Chief rabbi criticises compromise on ritual slaughter
Wednesday 17 October 2012
The Netherlands will become an unsuitable country for orthodox Jews if the government presses ahead with plans to place restrictions on ritual animal slaughter, according to the country’s chief rabbi.
The NRC has a copy of a letter written by rabbi Aryeh Ralbag to farm minister Henk Bleker who is in charge of the plan. In the letter, Ralbag says the future of the Jewish ritual is at stake.
Earlier this year, the minister, slaughterhouses and Islamic and Jewish organisations reached agreement on a covenant to improve animal welfare during ritual slaughter, heading off an outright ban.
Seconds
Ralbag himself is not involved in the discussions.
The draft covenant involves exempting abattoirs from the ban if they can show animals died within 40 seconds.
Earlier this year, Amsterdam's orthodox Jewish community temporarily suspended Ralbag from his position after he signed a controversial document describing homosexuality as an illness which can be cured.
What do you think about the debate? Have your say using the comment box below.
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How would the rabbi like having his throat slit and then taking 40 seconds to die? Quite a long time due to the curcumstances in the name of religion. Animal deserve better treatment on all aspects of their lives. Only humans abuse them.
By AL | 18 October 2012 8:33 AMI don't think anything further needs to be said. You can also google the various videos on line......
http://www.peta.org/features/agriprocessors.aspx
By Roland | 18 October 2012 7:21 PMI wonder what would the animals say if they were capable of making a choice between a life indoors inside a mega-stall and dying in an industrial abbatoir versus a life in a field and dying in a better place inside 40 seconds?
By mojo | 18 October 2012 8:50 PMIt's a myth, that animals killed in religious slaughter are breed in better environments than the ones killed in industrial abbatoirs. They are breed the same way, fed the same way, treated in the same way - the only difference is that animals killed in conventional abbatoirs are killed after stunning which causes (if correctly applied) instantaneous unconsciousness, and animals killed for kosher and halal meat die sometimes not in 40 seconds but in 4 minutes.
Why nobody asks rabbis: why 40 seconds when you claim that animals die instantaneously during ritual slaughter (sometimes it is said to be up to 2 seconds)?
By urti | 20 October 2012 12:12 AM