Jewish Representatives Oppose Shechita Bill at Senate Hearings

Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey today declared he would never support any offense to the Jewish religion and that he would revise the wording of his bill providing for humane slaughtering of animals.

The Minnesota Senator made this statement following a Senate agricultural subcommittee hearing after receiving testimony from Jewish spokesmen Rabbi Isaac Lewin, speaking for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, pointed out that Jews have long required humane slaughter He pointed out that the special exemption mentioned in the Humphrey bill for Jewish ritual slaughter might by implication suggest that the Jewish method was not humane.

A similar view was expressed by Leo Pfeffer, testifying for the American Jewish Congress. He presented a proposal which would define the various humane methods of slaughtering and would include in that definition slaughtering according to the requirements of the Jewish religious faith.

Jewish spokesmen objected to the present wording of the bill referring to Jewish ritual slaughtering which reads as follows: “The requirements . . . shall not apply to any individual who is duly authorized by an ordained rabbi of the Jewish religious faith to serve as a schector, while such individual is engaged in the slaughtering of livestock or poultry in accordance with the practice of such religious faith.”