In an essay in Mosaic, Eric Mechoulan addresses the threat against European Jewish communities posed by debates over banning religious ritual slaughter for animal-welfare purposes. Noting that animal cruelty is forbidden by Jewish law, he gives a meaningful history of Jewish ritual slaughter (shechita), which has created a culture that demands the slaughterer (shochet) be learned and trustworthy.
Unfortunately, progressive “animal rights” legislation has failed to recognize the Jewish imperative of humane slaughter. The mandate of stunning an animal before slaughter (which is forbidden in Jewish law) has been creeping toward a universal requirement of stunning that does not exempt Jewish methods of slaughter. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2019 that animal products from animals that were not stunned before slaughter cannot be labeled “organic”; this implies that kosher slaughter does not completely uphold animal welfare. The court ruled in 2020 that the Flemish government’s mandate of stunning before ritual slaughter strikes a “balance” between animal welfare and religious freedoms. Mechoulan lists the many European nations moving toward effective bans on kosher slaughter.
Bans on shechita have a disturbing history, having occurred under the Nazis from 1933 through the years of World War II. The recent regulations, of course, are being pursued in a completely different context, on the basis of animal welfare and not religious persecution. But despite the supposedly modern sensibilities of animal-welfare groups and the legal bodies entertaining their arguments, current restrictions on long-standing religious rituals target important cultural traditions. Those pursuing these restrictions should think twice.
One last note: It takes only a couple of minutes to find questionable headlines on the website of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that generalize about Jewish practices and even draw connections with greed. For instance, an article called “The Hidden Cost of Cheap Kosher Beef” includes a section titled “Shekels, Lies, and Videotape.”
It’s important to remember that what may be viewed as progress by some runs the risk of being oppressive toward others.