Israel's Chief Rabbinate, Orthodox Union Refute Charges Against Agriprocessors
NEW YORK, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel
and the Orthodox Union in the US, the world's largest kosher certifying
agency, issued strong statements yesterday clarifying statements attributed to
them in the media as being critical of Agriprocessors, the object of an attack
by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Rabbi Ezra Harari Raful, Director of Overseas Schechita and Meat Imports
for Israel's Chief Rabbinate, in a statement denied that he said that an
animal after schechita is not dead for 30 seconds. "I never said that, the
truth is exactly the opposite. I said and stressed that after some 2-3 seconds
following schechita there no longer is any blood supply to the brain and the
animal is absolutely dead." Rabbi Raful added: "I never said that the
schechita seen in the [PETA] video is not kosher. What I did say is that the
Chief Rabbinate does not approve of an animal that gets up after schechita
because of 'marit ayin' (perception) but that the animal is kosher! I also
never said that that the Rabbinate will not accept schechita where the
arteries have not been severed."
In another letter sent to Rabbi Chaim Kohn of Khal Adas Jeshurun, which
certifies schechita at Agriprocessors, Rabbi Raful notes: "The manner of
slaughter known as 'schechita munachas' (where the animal is on its back) is
the accepted schechita practice by the Chief Rabbinate. This is also our
requirement for all animals slaughtered in plants abroad for export to the
State of Israel."
Rabbi Meir Rosenthal, assistant to Israel's Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger,
denied that the Chief Rabbinate had in any way intervened in schechita matters
at Agriprocessors. His statement read: "I wish to make clear that the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel does not interfere in schechita matters in the United
States" because of the continued ban on the import of US meat to Israel as a
result of Mad Cow Disease. He noted that meat produced by Agri was in the
past authorized to sell in Israel and expressed the hope that the ban would be
lifted and the Agri meat would again be brought into Israel. (Letters are on
file and available on request.)
Orthodox Union Clarifies Position
In a sweeping statement posted on its Web site (http://www.ou.org), the
Orthodox Union expressed satisfaction with the schechita practices at the
Agriprocessors. The statement was signed by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU
Executive Vice President, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kashrut Rabbinic
Administrator. The OU statement noted: "When this story broke, several
rabbis, in Israel and Europe as well as in the United States, at first
commented negatively on the kashrut of this schechita. Almost all of them,
including the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, have now said that their initial
statements were based on misinformation, and have retracted them."
The statement continued: "After carefully studying the video, Rabbi
Menachem Genack, Rabbinic Administrator of the OU Kashrut Division, and Rabbi
Yisroel Belsky, one of its distinguished poskim (rabbinic decisors), traveled
to Postville, Iowa, to review the procedures at the AgriProcessors plant.
They found that these procedures meet all OU standards to the highest degree,
and that the shochtim (rabbinic slaughterers) are all highly proficient,
skilled and knowledgeable. Nevertheless, the OU and AgriProcessors, Inc. have
worked together to make certain changes, namely that the trachea will no
longer be removed following shechita, and that any animals that appear to have
survived the procedure will be promptly stunned or shot [and not sold as
kosher]."
The Orthodox Union continued: "While unnecessary cruelty to even one
animal is intolerable, one has to look at the total picture before judging the
matter. To those unfamiliar with the slaughter industry-kosher or
non-kosher-scenes showing post-shechita movement of several animals, such as
are shown on the video, can be very disturbing. But it must be realized that
during the six or seven weeks during which the video was taken, approximately
18,000 animals were slaughtered by the plant in question. With such numbers,
it is inevitable that aberrations do sometimes occur, and those shown in the
video represent only a tiny percentage of the total number processed in that
time span. Viewers of the video will also note that it does show regular
instances of shechita where the animal expired rapidly, without the apparent
suffering observed in other animals.
It is also important to understand that such occurrences are not unique to
the AgriProcessors plant, but happen in every abattoir, whether kosher or
non-kosher. According to the USDA, a slaughterhouse in which up to 5% of
animals killed by any method -- including the "humane bolt" and
shechita-survive the first shot or cut, is still considered an approved plant.
From now on, however, when this occurs at AgriProcessors, Inc., the animal
will be promptly stunned or shot, so as not to prolong its suffering. Such
animals will not be sold as kosher."
The United States Department of Agriculture, with which we have a very
cooperative working relationship, supervises this slaughterhouse and has found
nothing amiss in its practices. Its on-site inspector, Dr. Henry Lawson, has
confirmed to us his opinion that the conditions there are humane and that the
shechita method of slaughter employed there renders the animal insensate.
Other USDA officials have also visited the plant subsequent to the release of
the video, and will be issuing a report. The new statements of the Chief
Rabbinate and the Orthodox Union follow a united statement by rabbis and
certifying agencies confirming the high standards of kashrut and humane
treatment at the Agriprocessors plant.
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