Agudath Israel of America today informed Senator Hubert Humphrey that he was “ill advised” in accepting the views of the Reform and Conservative rabbinical groups who endorse current legislation in the Senate regarding humane slaughter, which is opposed by all Orthodox groups as a potential danger to shechitah.
Sen. Humphrey, a leading figure on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, had written to Agudath Israel that he supports this legislation because it has received the endorsement of the Rabbinical Assembly of America (Conservative) and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform) and their synagogue affiliates.
The Agudah asserted that the “problem of Jewish ritual slaughter affects primarily the Orthodox Jewish population in the United States, because it is the Orthodox Jew who considers these ritual requirements a fundamental tenet affecting his very life. “
The House of Representatives has already passed a humane slaughter bill, and the legislation now on the agenda of the U.S. Senate is opposed by all Orthodox organizations. The American Jewish Congress has joined the Reform and Conservative rabbinic groups in endorsing this legislation, because the bill carries an amendment safeguarding shechitah. The Orthodox groups contend that any bill circumscribing humane slaughter, according to historic experiences, poses an ultimate danger to the practice of shechitah.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
