http://www.jwire.com.au/news/nz-jewish-community-in-fight-for-its-existence/12507
NZ Jewish community in fight for its existence.
October 25, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
In a statement headed “Save the Future of Judaism in New Zealand”, the leaders of the two largest communities are preparing for the fight to legalise Shechita…and safeguard the future of NZ Jewry.
The statement issued by the Auckland Hebrew Congregation President Garth Cohen and Claire Massey, the Chair of Wellington Jewish Community Centre, reads:
The prospect of a permanent ban on shechita, resulting in no more kosher meat in New Zealand is very real.
New Zealand recently became the first country in the world to outlaw kosher slaughter since the Nazis enacted similar legislation in Europe over 70 years ago. New Zealand Jews may soon be the only Jews in the world who can no longer eat chicken. Your children or grandchildren may never experience a Passover with chicken soup and matzah balls, or ask the meaning of the lamb shank on your family’s Seder plate.
Some kosher meat (but not chicken) may be able to be imported, for a limited period. It is likely however that if we lose the right to practise shechita, then the ability to import kosher meat will soon follow.
The absence of kosher meat will mean we can’t engage Rabbis or Youth Leaders. It will mean our religious families will be forced to leave New Zealand. Few Jews will want to migrate here. We will be seen as a country where Jews are not welcome, and where our traditions and beliefs are not respected or valued. Our rich New Zealand Jewish history and culture, dating back over 170 years to the earliest days of New Zealand settlement, may soon become a distant memory.
The leaders of the Jewish communities in New Zealand feel so strongly about this that they are going to Court to challenge the Government. From a legal perspective they have a good deal of confidence, but only in the Court can the issue be determined.
We need the support of every Jew in New Zealand. Whether you keep kosher, observe Shabbat, or not, we must stand together. Your religious, cultural and social future is under threat.
What you can do to help?
Make a donation: Everyone can help and for the continuity of your family, your friends and your community you must help. We want every household to donate $150. We want you to ask your friends and families if they have given yet. We need your help and we need to help each other.
Please make your donation now to the following account: New Zealand Shechita Appeal, Account Number: 01-0297-0024731-27 (use your family name and initials as a reference), or post your cheque to the Wellington or Auckland shul offices (marked “Shechita Appeal”).
Write a letter: You can write to the Minister of Agriculture (David Carter), the Prime Minister and your local MP. Please also encourage your friends to write. A short email in your own words is most effective. The Minister’s email address is david.carter@parliament.govt.nz. The Prime Minister’s email address is john.key@parliament.govt.nz. You can also copy in your local MP – a list of MPs is available on the Parliament website at http://www.parliament..nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs
Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence is the spiritual head of Sydney’s Great Synagogue, a position he formerly held in Auckland. He told J-Wire: “Australian Jewry should be properly informed about Shechita. It has been highly commended as humane by international experts. The New Zealand ban is a manifestation of an international campaign to deligitimise Shechita…and Jewish life. Consider that international scientific evidence used to support the ban has been shown to be faulty in methodology and conclusion. Australian Jewry should stand shoulder to shoulder with our New Zealand neighbours in defending our religious practices.”
The President of the New Zealand Jewish Council, Stephen Goodman, added: “Following the granting of interim relief for Shechita the New Zealand Jewish Council, together with the rest of the Jewish Community, hoped that the government would agree to a permitting kosher killing in New Zealand. Unfortunately this has not eventuated and a full hearing is necessary. This will cost the community a significant amount both in cash and time that should have been able to be spent reinforcing its existence rather than fighting for basic rights.”
Shechita Q&A
What is shechita?
Shechita is the Jewish method of humanely slaughtering meat for it to be kosher (acceptable) for consumption.
How is shechita performed?
Shechita is performed by a highly-trained slaughterer (called a shochet) who stuns and kills the animal with a single quick cut to the throat with a special long sharp knife sharpened between every use.
How are ‘shechita’ and ‘shochet’ pronounced?
The ‘ch’ in ‘shechita’ and ‘shochet’ is pronounced like the ‘ch’ in the Scottish ‘loch’ or the German ‘Bach’, and not like the ‘ch’ in ‘cheese’.
Is shechita humane?
Animal welfare is extremely important in Jewish law and custom. Jewish law ensures animals farmed for meat suffer as little as possible, being treated humanely before slaughter as well as being slaughtered as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Shechita both stuns and kills the animal with a single cut to the neck, resulting in an instant and irreversible drop in blood pressure to the brain, causing the animal to lose consciousness and die.
Experts have concluded that shechita is at least, if not more humane, than other methods of humane slaughter. Furthermore, shechita is more humane than pre-stunning (now required by the Government) which local research has shown has a failure rate of around 9%.
How and why did the Government ban shechita?
The Government introduced the Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare in 2010, requiring stunning for all commercial slaughter.
The code was developed by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee which also recommended an exemption for shechita “to allow the New Zealand Jewish community to manifest its religion and belief (as provided for in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990)”.
The Minister of Agriculture chose not to include the exemption in the final code which was then approved by Cabinet. The Minister has not adequately explained why he chose to disregard the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee recommendation to allow the Jewish community to continue to practice shechita.
The Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare 2010 and the report of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee are available online at:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/animal-welfare/codes/commercial-slaughter
What evidence did the Government rely on?
The Government appears to have relied heavily on a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry funded Massey University study, which the international expert on the issue, Dr Temple Grandin has criticised.
The Massey University study was flawed for a number of reasons. It did not use the same method as shechita, trained shochets, or even the same kind of long knife. It then extrapolated results from calves to cows, sheep, and even poultry -- even though their physiognomy is fundamentally different.
Dr Grandin’s review of the Massey University study is available online at:
http://www.grandin.com/ritual/slaughter.without.stunning.causes.pain.html
Haven’t other countries banned shechita?
Very few countries have banned shechita. Most bans date back to the 1930s -- some to NAZI occupation -- or even earlier. In every case, either the Jewish population is negligible or has easy and affordable access to imported kosher meat. New Zealand is the first country to ban shechita without a public mood of anti-semitism behind it.
What impact is the ban having?
The ban on shechita effectively bans home-grown kosher meat for New Zealand’s Jewish community. Kosher beef and lamb can be imported from Australia but it is not widely available and prohibitively expensive for most.
Further, poultry cannot be imported due to food safety regulations and so no kosher poultry is available at all once stocks from before the ban run out.
Can’t the exemption for home kill be used to continue supply of kosher meat?
The Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare requirement for stunning only applies to commercial slaughter and does not apply to home kill. However, home kill is not a practical option for the Jewish community because:
● shechita can only be performed by a trained shochet (often a rabbi with additional training in shechita) with special knives
● most of the Jewish community lives in urban areas where raising livestock is not practical and in many areas not even permitted
● home kill meat cannot be traded or sold.
Why doesn’t shechita allow stunning before slaughter?
Animal welfare is a primary consideration in Jewish law, which requires animals to be healthy and uninjured at the time of slaughter. For example, chickens with broken bones or ligaments (a common problem in cage raised chickens) will not be kosher even if slaughtered using shechita methods.
Current methods of stunning -- such as brain-bashing percussive bolts, electrocution, and gassing of poultry -- all injure the animal, sometimes painfully when it goes wrong. It is estimated that around 9% of stunning fails in New Zealand. Stunning also delays slaughter, prolonging the animal’s distress.
Why do Muslims allow stunning before slaughter?
Traditionally, Islam does not allow stunning before slaughter. Some authorities now permit stunning before slaughter and all halal meat in New Zealand is stunned before slaughter.
However, other authorities do not permit stunning before slaughter and consider this meat haram (unsuitable).
Why can’t shechita simply adapt and permit stunning?
Animal welfare is already a primary consideration in shechita. So called ‘modern’ methods of stunning are not as humane as they sound.
Animal welfare organisations and veterinarians have complained continually about the ineffectiveness of stunning and how the animal can regain consciousness while being killed.
Often animals have to be re-shot or re-electrocuted because the stun was ineffective first time round, causing unnecessary suffering. (Research has shown that stunning in New Zealand has a failure rate of around 9%.)
Shechita irreversibly stuns and kills the animal in one action without any mechanical or electrical parts to fail. Shechita may have a long history but it is not outdated.
Isn’t all slaughter inhumane?
The Government hasn’t banned all slaughter. It has only banned shechita. Some argue that all slaughter of animals for food is wrong and should be banned. However, the New Zealand Government has not banned slaughtering animals for food, only a particular method of slaughter.
Since when has shechita has been practiced in New Zealand?
Jews have been amongst the earliest settlers and subsequent immigrants. The Jewish presence in New Zealand predates the Treaty of Waitangi and includes noted prominent early settler, trader, explorer, and cartographer Joel Samuel Polack.
Shechita has been practiced since at least 1843 with David Isaacs’ arrival in Wellington where he served as the community’s shochet. Over the intervening years a wide range of kosher animals have been shechtered for the local Jewish population. At the time of the ban, most local kosher meat has been chicken and lamb, with some turkey and duck.
Who has kosher meat been supplied for?
In recent years kosher meat has been supplied exclusively for local consumption by the New Zealand Jewish community and visitors. No kosher meat has been exported.
Posts
