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Thursday, December 09, 2004
Message from Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kashrut Rabbinic Administrator
An animal rights group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently released an undercover video showing scenes of cows staggering in apparent agony for several minutes after their throats were cut by the shochet. PETA focused its attention on one particular plant, AgriProcessors, Inc., but these accusations have implications for all kosher shechita, particularly because the video has received attention in the media world, beginning with an article in The New York Times, on Tuesday, November 30th, 2004.
The Orthodox Union is very concerned about these accusations. We are sensitive to the inhumane treatment of animals, and empathize with those who are upset by the images of apparent cruelty recorded on this video. As is well known, Judaism abjures cruelty to animals and enjoins us to be as humane as possible in our legitimate utilization of them. That shechita is a very humane method of slaughtering animals has been substantiated over the past century by numerous scholarly articles and scientific opinions.
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. These changes are described more fully below.
The following facts will help provide a perspective on this matter:
1. Slaughtering animals for human consumption is never a pretty sight. An abattoir is obviously a place where one will see living, vibrant animals transformed into meat. This is generally a bloody and unpleasant experience, but this is universal. Indeed, PETA acknowledges that the shechita process is better than most general slaughtering.
2. 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.
3. The Orthodox Union is committed to maintaining the highest ritual standards of shechita without compromising the halacha one whit. In keeping with these standards, we will strive to the best of our ability to see to it that animals are treated humanely and to see to it that, at all the plants we supervise, any halachically unnecessary practices which may be seen to be objectionable, are ceased.
During shechita, the carotid arteries, which are the main supplier of blood to the brain, are severed. This results in an immediate and massive drop in blood pressure, which renders the animal insensate in a matter of seconds. At AgriProcessors, Inc., as at other plants, a second cut is made in the carotid arteries to facilitate and accelerate the bleeding. This secondary cut is both approved and encouraged by the USDA. The OU and AgriProcessors, Inc. have concluded that this cut will now be made without excising the trachea.
4. 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.
5. We continue to vouch for the kashrut of all of the meat prepared by AgriProcessors, Inc., which was never compromised. Like all the more than 6,000 plants—producing all kinds of foodstuffs—that are certified by the OU, it has always been under our regular supervision. 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 shechita. Almost all of them, including the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, have now said that their initial statements were based on misinformation, and have retracted them.
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator, OU Kashrut Division
As rabbis and certifying agencies involved in the supervision of kosher meat slaughter in the United States, we are deeply concerned that the recent publicity surrounding the videotape released by a group called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals may lead to misconceptions about the practices depicted on the videotape and, more generally, about the shechita process itself. We therefore wish to state as follows:
1. Shechita involves the slicing or cutting of the trachea and esophagus with a sharp knife without nicks in a manner which has been established over centuries to be the most humane form of animal slaughter. Shechita typically renders the animal insensible almost instantaneously.
2. After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain, and they do not affect the kosher status of the slaughtered animal’s meat. There may be exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and walk around. Cases when animals show such signs of life after the slaughter process are extremely rare, and even such an event would not invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in the shechita cut.
3. With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common practice. We wish to make clear that nothing in any such post-shechita “second cut” or excision in any way undermines the validity of the shechita itself or the kosher status of the slaughtered animal’s meat. We further note that regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture explicitly approve a second cut to facilitate bleeding.
4. We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding “tzaar baalei chayim,” unnecessary pain to any creature. We reiterate that the shechita process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves to the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with all religious and federal laws governing kosher slaughter.
Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Halachic Consultant
Orthodox Union
Rabbi Sholem Fishbane
Kosher Administrator
Chicago Rabbinical Council
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrus Division
Orthodox Union
Rabbi Asher Hatchuel
Rabbinic Head
Sephardic Beth Din of America
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann
Rabbinic Administrator
Star-K Certification
Rabbi Emanuel Holzer
Chairman, Kashrus Committee
Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
Khal Adas Jeshurun
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz
Head of Beth Din
Chicago Rabbinical Council
Rabbi Yitzchok Stein
Rabbinic Head
Beth Din of Karlsburg
Rabbi Yechiel Steinmetz
Rabbinic Judge
Monsey, NY
Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum
Nirbater Rav
Rabbinic Supervisor
Alle Processing Corporation
Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl
Rabbinic Head
Nitra Beth Din of Monsey
Thursday, November 25, 2004
IN 2005 the Aquathin Corp. USA will celebrate its Silver Anniversary,
and among those wishing the firm a Happy Anniversary is the Orthodox Union, given the close working relationship they share.
Aquathin, based in Pompano Beach, FL, manufactures a broad spectrum of unique and patented water purification, softening and filtration systems servicing the residential, commercial and laboratory
markets both domestic and international.  Established in 1980 by the
father and son team of Mitchell and Alfred Lipshultz, Aquathin now
produces over 70 patented and trademarked devices for markets
around the world through more than 600 authorized dealers.
Aquathin is an E.P.A. Registered manufacturer, ISO 9000 Compliant
and recipient of the prestigious President’s Excellence Award in
Export from the U.S. Commerce Department. It addition, it received
the Nation’s Blue Chip Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.
Aquathin is truly a rags to riches story, with the firm starting out
with a 900 square foot warehouse and seed money of $14,000 and
going through a period when it was not certain it could meet its payroll
– one employee – to its current statusfeaturing a 60,000 square foot
facility complete with training schools, plus an excellent industry
and international reputation.
The company has a very impressive global client list, which includes
the military, embassies, museums, hi-tech factories, hospitals and bottled water companies around the world. Recently Aquathin launched
two projects several years in the making: for Authorized Aquathin
Dealers to provide total home air and water security; and for “Sweetwater” water dispensing sites, with Texaco as a prominent client in the Caribbean.
Much of this success results from Aquathin’s ties with the OU. In 1992 Aquathin became the first manufacturer of water treatment equipment to receive kosher certification and it chose to do so through Orthodox Union. Mitchell Lipshultz recognized that there was a substantial domestic market for kosher certified products, and that in order to establish a base in Middle East and Muslim nations, kosher certification would be an extraordinary addition to company’s already impressive resume of achievements.
Domestic dealers are trained at “Aquathin University” to understand
the benefits of kosher certification and that such certification appears
on the labels of high quality products wherever food is sold. During several Aquathin University classes, OU rabbis have been present, leading students to remark that they found their presence to be astonishing, moving and noteworthy. Aquathin Corp. USA is a member of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s “Kosher From Florida” and “Fresh From Florida” marketing programs.
The Lipshultz Family is delighted with Aquathin’s ties to the Orthodox Union and is pleased to receive the OU’s congratulations on the firm’s Silver Anniversary and its longstanding commitment to excellence and water quality.
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