Ritual Animal Slaughter According to Jewish and Islamic Law

Sorry to say, New Haven, but the very first thing that came to mind upon reading your topic is the slaughter of Daniel Pearl. You will recall, I'm sure, he was forced to say, "My Father is a Jew, my Mother is a Jew, I am a Jew" and then they beheaded him - I doubt he had been in any way anesthetized, including 'stunning' and so I have a terrible time differentiating between that and the Islamic way of slaughter.

Yes, I have fastened my seatbelt for the onslaught of crap that will be pitched my way ... oh, well: .

I agree with you completely!

You'd think that the religious authorities could just decree that stunning an animal to reduce its pain is not an injury within the meaning of the law and it is therefore kosher. But when has religion ever had anything to do with truth or logic?

You could be callous and say that animals have no souls so their pain does not matter to God. All of their memories simply vanish from the universe when they die, just as if they never existed. So why should we care whether they are painfully aware of being slaughtered? They would suffer far worse being chased and slashed by the teeth of a predator, the original killing method devised by God.

I like meat. I would prefer that it was grown in factory tanks of mindless cells, but until then I think that we should stop allowing religious exemptions from stunning laws.

I don't think you can stun an animal without hurting it in some way.
Needless to say, this is a hot topic for the Rabbis.

Let's take a look at the lobster. The supposed "humane" way to kill them is to make a decisive cut through the head before tossing them into the pot. I can tell you from experience that, much like chickens, they crawl around and try to escape for some time after said cut has been made. Also, even when cut in half some time later, the raw flesh twitches once a little salt has been put on it. Pop them in boiling water, it is over much quicker. I say quicker is better.

The twitching is only a reflex action of the neurons to the salt ( ionic) gradients.

As far as chickens and others, the faster the better.


Remember the novel, The Jungle? The men, who worked in the Chicago stockyards stunned the cows with a large piece of timber, which they put throught the middle of the forehead of the animal to damage the brain?

Reflex or not, it is still done faster if they just go into the pot. Doesn't matter anyway, lobster is not kosher As for chickens and other food species of a supposedly higher order, I agree, the quicker the better.

I can't eat shellfish! Allergic...

I once caught a big lobster by accident and since I didn't know what to do with him.....I put him in my freezer so that he'd gently sleep away his little last breath of life.
After that, we boiled him with some awesome Cuban spices..hmm..hmmmm...good!

Re: Ritual Animal Slaughter According to Jewish and Islamic


I'm not sure I understand your question.
If an animal is injured prior to killing it, it is NOT Kosher.
That's Jewish Law.
It may be okay under Islamic Law, but their ritual slaughter is not kosher. Kosher is a Jewish term.

I'm still trying to figure out what Daniel Pearl has to do with the kosher slaughtering of animals......

Re: Ritual Animal Slaughter According to Jewish and Islamic


It's not officially okay under Islamic law, but then again, neither is terrorism. By the letter of the books, Kosher and Hallal are essentially the same thing.

One of the problems with stunning animals prior to slaughter is that they release adrenaline and this affects the quality of the meat.

I read an interesting article about this a while back. I will try to find it.

It's not as if kosher slaughter is particularly inhumane. One stroke with a blade sharper than a scalpel that cuts through the trachea and esophagus, and then death within seconds. A delayed death would mean the meat wasn't kosher. I believe it would be considered carrion.

In case you hadn't guessed, I support the rights of Muslims and Jews to slaughter animals in a way that meets their religious standards. I also support the rights of native peoples to hunt, and I am opposed to sport hunting. But I do have respect for those who show respect for the animals they pursue.

Dauer