Chief Rabbi Repudiates Allegation Schechita is Prohibited in England

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The Chief Rabbi, Dr. J. H. Hertz, has issued the following statement in connection with the anti-Schechita campaign which is now being carried on in Warsaw.

The anti-Schechita agitation in Warsaw is being conducted with great bitterness and utter disregard of the truth. The rumor has been spread in the anti-Semitic press in Poland that the Weinberg machine is a machine to replace Schechita; that Dr. Hertz had declared that use of the pistol before Schechita is quite permissible; and that, furthermore, Schechita is altogether prohibited in England.

In reply to a request from Professor Dr. Schorr, the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Warsaw, for an official statement, the Chief Rabbi wrote:

“The Weinberg machine, which is still in an experimental stage and cannot yet be taken into consideration for practical purposes, deals only with laying down the animal in position for the ritual act of slaughter. The use of any machine, or process, that might interfere with, or replace the act of slaughter itself would, of course, religiously invalidate the act, and thus render the meat unfit for Jewish consumption.

“The rumor that either I, as Chief Rabbi, or my Ecclesiastical Court (the London Beth Din) has sanctioned-or ever could sanction-the use of the pistol or any stunning instrument prior to the act of ritual slaughter itself, is both untrue and absurd. The alleged necessity for such shooting or stunning prior to the ritual slaughter, is based on the absolutely unwarranted assumption that Schechita is inhumane. This has been denied by, literally, hundreds of the world’s greatest experts in physiology and veterinary science. I enclose a recent opinion to that effect by a leading British as well as a summary of the opinions of 447 Continental experts on this question.

“Men of good will, of whatever creed or race, will realize that municipal or State regulations which would prohibit or interfere with the hallowed and immemorial observance of Schechita would inflict cruel hardship upon the Jewish population, and would in effect constitute a grievous religious persecution.”

In response to a further request from the President of the Warsaw Jewish Community, the Chief Rabbi wrote:

“I categorically deny that Schechita is prohibited in England. No difficulties of any sort are placed either by the State or by the various municipalities in the way of the due observances of Schechita, and any allegation to the contrary is an insult to free England and a libel on the English people.”