The Shehitah

Norman Solomon outlines for us the Torah's view of meat-eating. In his essay, he states that people of the Jewish faith are not to consume meat unless the shehitah has been performed on it. Norman Solomon states that this process of slaughter involves, "...a single sharp cut across the trachea and esophagus" (281). Furthermore, it can only be performed by a 'qualified religious expert' within a special area which is to eliminate undue stress on the animal in its last moments. Furthermore, this method is said to be used by the Jewish faith because we owe animals the dignity of a painless slaughter. This method gives that, because they allegedly lose consciousness before the pain from the cut sets in upon them.

I guess I'm bringing this up partially because we discussed it in class today, but also because I find the whole thing to be a big charade. As you all know, I have qualms with religion as it is, but I will try to keep those separate from the argument I am about to make.

First, the justification for the method itself is completely ludicrous. The Jewish faith considers this slit in the animal's throat to be the most humane and painless way of death for an animal. Now I'm no expert on the slaughter of most animals, but I have seen the slaughter of a chicken. And I've seen this firsthand, so I can speak to it. In the "most humane" of circumstances on a local family farm where I'm from, chickens are hung upside down to have their throats cut in almost the same way as the Jewish process. The one difference is that their jugular vein is usually cut so that they bleed out faster. But the end goal is the same: a bled out chicken who has had its throat slit.

Now I can tell you that chicken felt that cut. And he/she felt it for a solid two to three minutes. They twitch about and make a terrible gurgling noise as life leaves their body. The blood drains into a bucket below the chicken, which they can no doubt see, regardless of if they can understand it or not, for that is another debate in entirely. But I can ultimately say, this is in no way humane. There is a good deal of suffering here, so I can assume there is suffering in the Jewish tradition as well. Now if you have scientific evidence saying otherwise, then by all means post away. In absence of that, I'll stick to my assertions.

Second, I wonder if Jewish people believe this is more humane because it does not simply reflect the factory farming system we have adopted on a mass scale today. However, I'm also wondering if Jewish people will consume animals raised on a factory farm as long as the shehitah is performed upon it. And if they did, I wonder if you could really consider this humane or justified. Does tradition trump morality? We touched this briefly today, but here's an application of it.

And I guess that's my question for all of you here: Is the shehitah morally justifiable because it is part of a longstanding tradition? Does tradition give credence to wrong?