9/2/2010 JVNA Online Newsletter

Shalom everyone,

This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:

1. Sorry That There Have Been No JVNA Newsletters for A Few Months

2. Happy Rosh Hashanah

3. Fall Holidays and Vegetarianism

4a. Important Recent Developments in Israel: Possibility of a Ban on Fur in Israel

4b. Important Recent Developments in Israel: Israel's chief rabbi to mark imported beef unkosher if slaughtering process not changed

5. Roberta Kalechofsky Publishes Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook

6. Rally to End Use of Chickens for Kaporus Scheduled

7. I Am Working With Several Groups to Increase Awareness of Dietary Connection

8. Several Environmental Resolutions Passed at the World Zionist Congress

9. A Case For Jewish Vegetarianism Booklet Available

10. Free Jewish Dating Service Web Site Established

11. Cruelty Behind Meat Supplied to Israel

12. New Podcast on UN Urging Dietary Shifts

13. I Am To Be Guest on Animals Today Radio Program on Sunday

Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.

[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]

Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks,

Richard

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1. Sorry That There Have Been No JVNA Newsletters for A Few Months

I am very sorry that there have not been any JVNA newsletter sin some time. I have been very busy, and still am, working on a book and many other projects. Also, I have had problems sending the newsletter to large groups, possibly because many email addresses were no longer valid, and it was taking a long time to send the newsletters out.

Fortunately, a wonderful person Raphaela has volunteered to update my email list and to send out newsletters. So, I am hoping that this will be the first of many additional newsletters, and I hope to be able to send out at least one or two per month.

Please feel free to send me material that you think should be in the newsletter and suggestions about any aspect of it.

I will be catching up with some old material in this newsletter and probably will not have some important items that I recently overlooked before deciding to send out newsletters again, but hopefully I will soon be back up to speed.

Many thanks for your patience.

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2. Happy Rosh Hashanah

On the occasion of the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashana

I wish all of you:

A year of success in all of your endeavors

A year of good health

A year of prosperity

A year of happiness

A year of fulfilling your dreams

A year of optimism and hope

A year when our leaders will lead us to peace

A year of much nachas from your family

A year of environmental sustainability

Shanah Tovah U'metukah, (A good and sweet year)

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3. Fall Holidays and Vegetarianism

Please see my articles relating vegetarianism and environmental activism to the upcoming fall holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. at the holiday section at JewishVeg.com/schwartz. Suggestions about the articles are very welcome, as would any help in getting one or more articles published. Also, please consider using the ideas in the writings for your own letters and talking points. Thanks.

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4a. Important Recent Developments in Israel: Possibility of a Ban on Fur in Israel

http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/urge-israel-to-become-the-first-country-in-the-world-to-ban-fur/

Below is an update that I just received on September 1, from Jane Halevy, a leader of the Anti-Fur Coalition:

Hello,

Please find below the ‘International Anti-Fur Coalition’ press release following the new obstruction by religious parties for Israel’s anti-fur bill, the day before the bill should have been voted on.

Best regards,

Jane Halevy

International Anti-Fur Coalition

http://www.antifurcoalition.org

*****************************************

For Immediate Release:

September, 2nd 2010

Contact:

Jane Halevy: +972 (0)50 200 54 11

Ban on Fur Trade in Israel Frozen via Dirty Politics

The anti-fur bill in Israel postponed the day before it was to be voted in; contrary to all expectations

Tel-Aviv, September, 2nd 2010 - While the bill to ban fur was to be voted in on September, 2nd, Yakov Margi, the Israeli Minister of Religious Services, only one day before, played a very dirty trick. Despite the resolution of all existing conflicting matters, he gave no concrete argument and only said, that he'd like to have the bill reviewed again!

MK Zevulun Orlev, the committee leader then canceled the planned meeting at which the bill was likely to have been voted in. Margi also requested to have the bill reviewed again at the Legislative Committee of Ministers, which would be a huge step backwards, but in the meantime animal rights organizations managed to halt that request until a meeting takes place between both parties, to mediate the unexpected reversal of the situation.

“Animal defenders and people around the world are shocked that the religious parties instead of leading on the path of mercy (Tsaar Baalei Chaim) and compassion, have put a dirty knife in our back.”, says Jane Halevy, Director of the International Anti-Fur Coalition. ”While it is the month of Elul; a time of repentance; they broke their promise and betrayed us and the millions of innocent animals massacred for status and greed!“.

MK Mozes, the main opponent of the bill, after looking at pictures depicting the terrible suffering of the animals in the fur trade, had even confided at the first private meeting that the religious should be the ones leading the fight against the fur trade. “While he had said he would relay this message to other religious leaders, he changed his heart!” says Jane Halevy.

Jane Halevy of the ‘International Ant- fur Coalition’ and ‘Let the Animals Live’, mentioned that MK Ronit Tirosh, who has introduced the bill, continues to fight indefatigably for a legislation that would save millions of innocent animals from the fate, anguish and slaughter of the fur trade.

This situation put Israel in a very negative light as the world watches the dirty political games that are played between the religious parties and the fur lobbyists; instead of taking the opportunity to take a moral and ethical historical step.

About the International Anti-Fur Coalition

The International Anti-Fur Coalition is an association of more than 50 organizations around the world that fight against the global trade of fur. This coalition was created in 2006 and regularly organizes international events against the fur trade.

For more information, please visit http://www.antifurcoalition.org

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4b. Important Recent Developments in Israel: Israel's chief rabbi to mark imported beef unkosher if slaughtering process not changed

www.haaretz.com/magazine/anglo-file/israel-s-chief-rabbi-to-mark-imported-beef-unkosher-if-slaughtering-process-not-changed-1.296912

By 2011 the Chief Rabbinate will no longer certify more than 80 percent of the meat imported to Israel from slaughterhouses that use shackle-and-hoist methods.

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Israel's chief rabbi intends to label 80 percent of the meat currently imported into the country as not kosher unless "cruel" slaughter practices are ended, Anglo File has learned. The decision came after pressure from American-Israeli animal welfare activists.

According to Avi Blumenthal, assistant to Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, by 2011 the Chief Rabbinate will no longer certify meat from slaughterhouses that use shackle-and-hoist - a controversial method employed in almost all South American kosher slaughterhouses, which provide 80 percent of all the meat imported into Israel.

"This is a step in the right direction," said Adam Frank, the rabbi of a Jerusalem Masorti congregation who has been lobbying with the rabbinate since 2007 for a ban on the method, in which conscious animals are chained by the ankle before being hoisted up and allowed to bleed to death from an incision to the neck.

"The chief rabbi believes this method is primitive and causes unnecessary pain and anguish to the animals," Blumenthal said. He added that Metzger has instructed Kashrut Department chief Rabbi Yaakov Sabag to set a deadline after which the rabbinate will revoke its certificate for meat manufactured through shackle-and-hoist. "If the meat factories switch to more humane, kosher methods, we will certify their meat," he added.

Metzger's decision came four weeks after the online dissemination of a hidden-camera video of shackle-and-hoist slaughter in Uruguay's largest kosher slaughterhouse. This video, along with last week's decision by New Zealand's parliament to completely ban kosher slaughter, served to draw attention to the issue, according to Frank, rabbi of the predominantly-Anglo Moreshet Yisrael congregation in the capital's center.

Frank - backed by a group of religious activists from English-speaking countries - sent Metzger a letter reminding him of criticism that Metzger himself made about the shackle-and-hoist method in 2007, following the release of an earlier undercover video of the practice in a South American slaughterhouse.

"When done properly, kosher slaughter is as humane as any other modern method, but we must also make sure the technique used causes the minimum amount of suffering," said Rabbi Danny Schiff, one of Frank's partners in the fight.

Besides Schiff - an Australia-born rabbi ordained by the Reform movement - Frank has enlisted the support of prominent Masorti Rabbi Simcha Roth, a veteran British immigrant from Herzliya. Other supporters include American Israelis Chava Rosenbaum, Doug Greener and Jared Goldfarb, and Nina Natelson from Washington D.C.

"If the Israeli rabbinate bans shackle-and-hoist meat, other rabbinic authorities in the Diaspora will follow suit," Frank said.

The shackle-and-hoist method is prohibited in Israel, the U.S. and the European Union. Kosher slaughter in those countries is done through the use of a box-like holding pen that inverts the animal just before the shechitah, in accordance with the Israel Rabbinate's demand that the lethal cut be delivered in a downward thrust.

Michael Melchior, the Danish-born former chief Orthodox rabbi of Norway, where kosher slaughter is forbidden, said that he supported banning shackle-and-hoist, adding that "lessening an animal's suffering is a religious requirement from the Torah - just like the kosher requirement itself."

Melchior - a resident of Jerusalem and longtime advocate of kosher slaughter in Europe - added that banning techniques like shackle-and-hoist would "help efforts to defend" kosher slaughter, currently banned in Switzerland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as New Zealand and Norway.

Through his long involvement in the issue, Melchior has learned that the late former chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Tzvi Pesach Frank (1873-1960 ) even gave the Swedish Jewish community a special permit to sedate animals before the slaughter, but only under certain circumstances. Melchior said this was a "revolutionary" permit which would not conform with the present-day requirements of kosher slaughter. The recently-introduced ban in New Zealand is on any slaughter where animals are not first sedated.

According to the chairman of the Cattle Breeders Association, Efri Reikin, Israel has imported some 72 kilotons of frozen meat in 2009, which translate to an average annual consumption of 14 kilos of beef and lamb per adult Israeli - a one kilo increase from 2005. The average American consumes 42 kilos of meet annually, and the Argentinean eats 58.

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http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/06/21/2739708/israels-chief-rabbi-to-ban-cruel-slaughter

Israel’s chief rabbi: I will ban cruel slaughter

June 21, 2010

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's chief rabbi said he will not certify beef as kosher if the animal was ritually slaughtered using cruel methods.

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger reportedly said that by 2011 he will not certify meat from slaughterhouses that use the shackle-and-hoist method, Haaretz reported, citing Avi Blumenthal, assistant to the Ashkenazi chief rabbi. The method is used in nearly all South American kosher slaughterhouses, which provide about 80 percent of Israel's kosher meat imports, the newspaper reported.

The shackle-and-hoist method is prohibited in Israel, as well as the United States and European Union.

SNIP

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5. Roberta Kalechofsky Publishes Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook

Forwarded message from Roberta Kalechofsky, a long-time JVNA advisor:

More and more communities are opting to eat vegetarian one day a week. Even on this level, the impact on global warming and the environment is considerable. We suggest that this new movement be anchored in already established traditions, that the past keep the new in a meaningful bond.

The Vegetarian Shabbbat Cookbook combines the great tradition of the Sabbath with vegan cooking--Jewish history and food as in the tradition of our first cookbook, The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook. Vegetarian and vegan meals are a natural for the Sabbath, because most of the recipes require little cooking and because vegan food keeps very well at room temperature.

Printed on beautiful matté paper, the book is beautiful to hold in one's hands and beautiful to read. It is bound in layflat binding so that it will stay open on a counter for the comfort of the cook, and the layout in an 8 X10 size is particularly easy to manage. The recipes float spaciously on every page.

The cover was designed by the Jewish artist, Sara Feldman, and the book includes illustrations by Holly Kalisher that are both whimsical and pious.

An important introduction on the origins of the Sabbath by Roberta Kalechofsky, and notes and quotations about the Sabbath by famous Jewish writers make The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook, a joy to own, to read---and to eat its great recipes.

The movement to devote at least one or two days to vegan eating now has a great book, The

Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook, to give Jews a way of relating their Shabbat celebration to this movement. Though the authors of course urge everyone to practice vegetariansim for as many days as they can, eating vegan for a day or day and half will still do an enormous good to reducing global warming. The pertinent information is below and more information about this cookbook can be seen on the website, micahbooks.com.

THE VEGETARIAN SHABBAT COOKBOOK
Roberta Kalechofsky and Roberta Schiff

Publication Date: September 7
264 pages
ISBN: 978-0-916288-56-3 Paperback
Price: $26.00
lllustrated

Micah Publications
255 Humphrey St
Marblehead, MA 01945
micah@micahbooks.com
www.micahbooks.com

Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D., fiction writer, speaker, essayist, publisher.

Micah Publications (www.micahbooks.com) is the source for Jewish vegetarian and animal rights books. See website for these and other titles.

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6. Rally to End Use of Chickens for Kaporus Scheduled

[I am planning to attend this rally, and give out DVDs of “A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Healthe World.”]

Forwarded message:

END CHICKENS AS KAPOROS RALLY

WHEN: Sunday, September 12, 2010, promptly at 12 to 3 pm.

WHERE: 12 noon to 1:30 at 792 Eastern Parkway (between Kingston & Albany Avenues), Brooklyn, NY, and 1:30 to 3 at President Street & Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

WHAT TO WEAR: The Kaporos ritual takes place in the period between the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rather than “swing” chickens, most Kaporos observers expiate their sins symbolically by swinging coins over their heads and donating the money to charity. The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos is not protesting the holiday, just the ritual of using chickens as Kaporos (ritual sacrifices). Please show respect for the holiday by NOT wearing shorts, t-shirts, or bright colored clothing. We encourage men to wear shirts and ties and pants other than jeans. We encourage women to wear beige, brown or black skirts below the knees and jackets covering their arms.

WHAT TO BRING AND WHAT NOT TO BRING: Bring posters that ask practitioners to use money instead of chickens. Posters can have pictures or photos of chickens being swung or money being used. Posters can be held in your hands or tied around your shoulders with cord. Write respectful slogans in English or Yiddish. WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING SIGNS ATTACHED TO STICKS OR POLES, OR STICKS OR POLES OF ANY KIND. Please do NOT write “Meat is murder” or “A holocaust is on your plate” or anything on your poster other than directly dealing with ending chickens as Kaporos. No audio effects are permitted.

HOW TO GET THERE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The following is the MTA planning site for public transportation (the address of the first demo is 792 Eastern Parkway; the second demo is a couple of blocks away, so the public transportation directions are the same for both demonstrations. http://tripplanner.mta.info/_start.aspx

We look forward to having you with us!

The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos is an association of groups and individuals who seek to replace the use of chickens in Kaporos ceremonies with money or other non-animal symbols or objects of atonement. For more information about Kaporos, please visit www.endchickensaskaporos.com. This website is brand new. More information will be posted on it shortly. Thank you for your interest and support.

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7. I Am Working With Several Groups to Increase Awareness of Dietary Connection

As director of Veg Climate Alliance, I am working with 4 other veg and animal rights groups to increase awareness of the urgency of a major societal shift to plant-based diets to avoid an unprecedented global climate catastrophe. A statement that we are sending to other groups is below:

Dear fellow activists,

The Veg Climate Alliance invites you to join our global action this December to ensure that animal farming is not left out of international climate negotiations. We are the ones with the responsibility and opportunity to help the world avoid an unprecedented climate catastrophe and help shift it to a brighter future. It is essential that we make people aware of just how dangerous the situation is and that a major switch toward vegetarian and vegan diets is essential to a sustainable path.

I am director of Veg Climate Alliance (VCA) and our group is working very closely with the America-based groups In Defense of Animals (IDA), Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM)and A Well-Fed World (AWFW) and the Mexico-based AnimaNaturalis (AN) to get dietary connections to climate change on the Cancun agenda and the world’s agenda. We would very much like to work with you in accomplishing our objectives.

We must spread the word as widely as possible through articles, letters to editors, calls to radio talk shows, contacts with media people, religious leaders, educators, as well as friends, neighbors and family members, in addition to targeting delegates, key decision makers and NGOs at the upcoming Cancun climate change conference from November 29 to December 10, 2010. It will be made absolutely clear that there is no way the world will avoid an unparalleled climate catastrophe if there is not a major societal shift to plant-based diets. The future of humanity and all of creation is threatened as perhaps never before- swift actions are urgent.

We plan to stage performances in Mexico to dramatize the issues, join in panel discussions, and take part in other activities in Cancun. We will also place ads in key publications and distribute literature to educate people on the issues. Here are some ways you can help:

* Help make Sunday, December 5 an international day of education on diet and climate change by arranging a local event. We will provide a special “Cancun declaration,” literature to distribute, and helpful tips for outreach and media.

* Let us know if you would like to be listed as a partner organization. This will make our media contacts far more effective in showing widespread support for our messages and initiatives. For more information and to become a partner, please visit http://vegclimatealliance.org/partners/partners/.

* Urge your members to actively spread the message about the connections between animal-based diets and climate change through letters to editors, call-ins to talk shows, and personal contacts with neighbors, friends and family.

* Make a tax-deductible contribution to help us spread the message in Cancun. Consider that if we do not properly respond to the climate conference, all other issues will be relatively minor. Thus, the most important contribution you can make for children, grandchildren and all future generations is to support these efforts that aim to shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.

Contact information for two people who will be actively involved in Mexico before and during the Cancun conference are:

Israel Arriola Toiber, Mexico: Email: israelt@animanaturalis.org, Phone: 0052- 595 954 1409 (Spanish and some English)

Gerardo Tristan, USA: Email: animaleslibertarios@hotmail.com, Phone: 001- 404 243 1434 (English and Spanish)

Please contact them if you and/or members of your group would like to help with our campaign in Cancun and other Mexican cities. They can help with possible free housing, inexpensive food, help getting around and other ways.

Looking forward to working with you on these very important issues. Please let us know if you would like any further information.

Richard H. Schwartz

director@VegClimateAlliance.org

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More information about our groups and the issues can be found at our web sites:

Veg Climate Alliance: www.VegClimateAlliance.org

In Defense of Animals: www.idausa.org

Farm Animal Rights Movement. www.farmusa.org

AnimaNaturalis: www.animanaturalis.org

A Well-Fed World; www.AWellFedWorld.org

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8. Several Environmental Resolutions Passed at the World Zionist Congress

I was proud to be a delegate of the Green Zionist alliance to this important congress and to have some input into composing the 4 GZA resolutions that were passed.

WZO to boost environmental practices

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS

The Jerusalem Post

06/18/2010 05:21

The World Zionist Congress voted nearly unanimously in favor of four resolutions Thursday which would significantly improve its – and its subsidiaries’ – environmental practices.

The WZO exerts influence over legacy Zionist organizations like KKL/JNF and The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) in addition to its own organization. The four resolutions were proposed by the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA), which has been a member of the Congress since 2001.

“The four resolutions are meant to support Israel’s environment by calling for concrete steps and staving off the results of climate change,” GZA President and Chairman David Krantz of New Jersey told The Jerusalem Post by phone in between voting.

“KKL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the WZO, and JAFI is a 50 percent subsidiary,” so these resolutions would be binding upon the two organizations and the WZO itself, said Krantz.

“We want them to serve as green models for the rest of Israel,” he added.

The four resolutions address several different aspects of the WZO’s environmental practices. One resolution calls for using energy efficient lighting as well as putting solar panels on the roofs of the buildings. The same resolution also calls for the purchase of alternative fuel models or high fuel efficiency vehicles in the future.

Another resolution calls for implementing environmental education as an integral part of the immigrant absorption process in all JAFI-run absorption centers. Such measures would include starting a community garden at each center, with the one in Beersheba as a model.

“It means putting environmentalism as a key Israeli value,” he said, “We may squabble about politics and religion, but one thing we all agree on is that we care about the land, which means caring for the land.”

As for the other two resolutions, one called for “carbon-mitigating projects in Israel, such as JNF’s Go Neutral program and the Good Energy Initiative .” The other called for reducing meat consumption, since the meat industry has a disproportionately large impact on the climate, as well as buying food from local and organic producers.

“This was the first time that food justice issues were brought to the Zionist table,” Krantz declared.

All of the resolutions were drafted by a team of Israeli and American environmentalists, including noted environmentalist Prof. Alon Tal.

http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-6099312/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5qcG9zdC5jb20vSXNyYWVsL0FydGljbGUuYXNweD9pZD0xNzg4MTY=

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9. A Case For Jewish Vegetarianism Booklet Available

http://www.petacatalog.com/products/Judaism_and_Vegetarianism_Booklet-412-0.html
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10. Free Jewish Dating Service Web Site Established

www.supertova.com

Perhaps they can be persuaded to have a special vegetarian category

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11. Cruelty Behind Meat Supplied to Israel

Forwarded message from CHAI (Concern for Helping Animals in Israel)

NEW REVELATIONS OF EXTREME CRUELTY

BEHIND MEAT SUPPLIED TO ISRAEL

"Kosher meat supplied to Israel continues to be produced using the most crude and abusive restraint practices in the industry," said Rabbi Adam Frank, representative of CHAI’s sister charity in Israel, Hakol Chai, commenting on revelations in a newly released undercover video. "Despite the public promise made two and a half years ago by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger, that such cruelly produced meat would not be allowed into Israel, eighty percent of kosher meat imported into Israel comes from South America, where animal handling systems are the most barbaric in the industry."

The video, provided to CHAI for distribution in Israel by People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals, shows an Israeli slaughtering crew at one of the largest kosher slaughter plants in South America suspending fully conscious cows upside down in the air by one chained leg, a practice called shackling and hoisting. The animal may hang upside down for minutes during the slaughtering process, muscles and tendons tearing.

The practice first began when the 1906 U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act required that, for sanitary reasons, an animal must be off the ground at the time of slaughter. Ironically, because of the cruelty of this method, the Jewish community initially expressed strong resistance to using it. The method is no longer used in U.S. or European non-kosher slaughterhouses, but continues in some kosher slaughterhouses, though not in Israel. In 2002, the Conservative branch of Judaism (through its Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards) ruled that shackling and hoisting should be stopped: "Now that kosher, humane slaughter using upright pens is both possible and widespread, we find shackling and hoisting to be a violation of Jewish laws forbidding cruelty to animals."

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and members of the department on kosher laws of Israel's Chief Rabbinate (the Orthodox Jewish religious governing body in Israel) have witnessed shackling and hoisting during supervisory visits to the South American slaughterhouses. Following this past January’s visit, Rabbi Metzger’s only comment was that the meat coming from them is certifiably kosher.

At the time the cruelty was first exposed, in 2007, Rabbi Frank wrote to Chief Rabbis Metzger and Shlomo Amar on behalf of Hakol Chai urging reform. He also wrote an op-ed, which appeared in the Jerusalem Post. Though the letters went unanswered, the media reported that at a meeting between a delegation of the Chief Rabbinate, lead by Rabbi Metzger, and the Orthodox Union (America's largest agency for kosher supervision), the restraint methods were characterized as "extremely painful to view," and an admission was made that they should be eliminated. Rabbi Frank has once again written letters of appeal to the Chief Rabbis on behalf of Hakol Chai, reminding them of the commitment they made in 2007 but, so far, have failed to keep.

In the most humane restraint method, the standing pen, the cow is upright and calm throughout the process, but the Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires that the animal be inverted in order for the cut to be in a downward motion. Kosher meat consumed by strict Orthodox Jews outside of Israel is produced with the standing pen method, evidence that shackling and hoisting is an unnecessary restriction. The reason purportedly given by slaughterhouse owners for not converting to the more humane method is that they could kill over 100 animals an hour using the inhumane method, but only 55 per hour with the humane method.

When Rabbi Metzger expressed concern for improving the welfare of animals used to provide Israelis with kosher meat two years ago, he told the press of a more humane inversion method approved by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and used by U.S. and European kosher slaughter plants. This method employs a box-like holding pen that inverts the animal before slaughter. "The only step taken by Rabbi Metzger, however," said Rabbi Frank, "has been to meet with kosher meat importers in Israel – the very businesspeople who must pay for the change – to request a reform already made by other kosher slaughter producers around the world."

Rabbi Metzger places blame for the continued cruelty on the meat importers, yet it is his department that supervises and endorses the imported products. All slaughterers in South America are under the supervision of the Chief Rabbinate and all kosher meat imported from South America into Israel must be approved by the Chief Rabbinate. "Hakol Chai respectfully calls on Rabbi Metzger to use his authority to implement reforms," said Rabbi Frank. "A sense of responsibility and moral outrage over the continuing abuse of animals require no less."

For further details about this issue, please see Kosher Slaughter: Should Shackling and Hoisting Be Permitted?

WHAT YOU CAN DO

CHAI asks that you send a letter to Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, urging him to keep his promise to convert to a more humane method of restraining animals in kosher slaughterhouses.

Please also consider reducing or eliminating your consumption of meat to prevent animal suffering, preserve human health, and save the environment.

According to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), meat, not cars, is the number one cause of global warming. It is also a major source of land and water degradation. The UN's Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of hundreds of climate change scientists worldwide, noted the importance of lifestyle changes in meeting the challenge of global warming.

"Please eat less meat," said IPCC representative, economist Rajendra Pachauri, adding that a meat-based diet also has negative consequences for human health.

Please donate to CHAI and Hakol Chai. Send your tax-deductible donations to:

CHAI, POB 3341, Alexandria, VA 22302, USA, or donate through our website.

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12. New Podcast on UN Urging Dietary Shifts

One new podcast this time - Felicity Carus - guardian.co.uk - "UN Urges Global Move to Meat and Dairy-Free Diet": http://h2opodcast.com/vsse.html#un

Many thanks to the website http://www.guardian.co.uk for their continued posting of important information for a needy world. In this 02 June 2010 article by Felicity Carus "UN Urges Global Move to Meat and Dairy-Free Diet" a very eye opening statement is "A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change."

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13. I Am To Be Guest on Animals Today Radio Program on Sunday

I am scheduled to be a guest on the Animals Today Radio program this Sunday, Sept 5 at 5 PM EST. The show airs live and is broadcast on 33 markets across the country. It is also streamed on the internet. The interview will be approximately 25 minutes with 2 or 3 'hard' commercial breaks in between.

All the shows are archived on the Animals Today website shortly after it is aired.

www.animalstodayradio.com

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