Polish Parliament decided: kosher shchita forbidden
Polish Parliament opposed the ratification of rule allowing shchita • Anti-Defamation League: "a flagrant violation of freedom of religion" • Chabad emissary in Warsaw: "The vote is not anti-Semitic"
- Yoel Koritz, Behadrey Haredim
- ז' אב התשע"ג
Slaughter in Jerusalem. Photo: Yaakov Nachumi
The Polish Parliament rejected yesterday (Friday) a government bill to allow slaughterhouses to produce kosher meat. Jewish organizations in New York attacked the results of the vote. "The ban is a violation of religious freedom," it said in a special message issued by the Anti-Defamation League.
In the vote which was held yesterday the Polish parliament was supposed to ratify a regulation adopted in 2004, allowing the kosher slaughtering of animals. However, the results of the vote against ratification were 222 and 178 in favor. Some MPs who voted against the law justified it on the grounds that shchita is cruel to animals.
Pioter Kadltz'ik, UJC President in Poland, and Michael Shudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, said in a joint statement that this claim is not correct. In addition, they noted that the law will also harm Muslims and force the two communities to "buy imported meat, which is more expensive, or become vegetarians – by coercion."
Warsaw Chabad Rabbi Shalom Stambler, said he is stunned by the decision which makes Poland the first country to prohibit ritual slaughter. He added: "These days we feel the destruction of the Jewish people, and we go back to the days of rage.
"It should be noted that the entire law and the war against the slaughter came from the animal groups that made that most MPs vote against the slaughter, and they all do not know and do not understand the meaning of the ban on shchita. Therefore, it is clear that the vote is not anti-Semitic at all. In the coming days I will gather a meeting with local lawyers to discuss the heavy decree."
Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg, vice president of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, said the rejection of the Slaughter Act in Poland: "This is sad news for Polish Jewry and Judaism in Europe in general. Legislative measures of this kind go beyond the borders of the Polish state and have a European influence, as seen in the case of circumcision. RCE has handled this affair since it arose at the end of the previous calendar year and we intend to continue to take action against Polish authorities and the European legal system in an attempt to allow the kosher slaughter in the country. "
"Most of the Polish parliament has presented three options to the local Jews," said Avraham Fuksman, CEO of the League. "Do not observe the rules of your religion, do not eat meat, or do not live among us."
Fuksman also said: "A country which is still dealing with its attitude to Jews in the past, the voting is an outrageous course of future offending Jews in Poland." Fuksman noted that public opinion polls held in the Polish League raised "a high level of anti-Semitism" - in almost half of the population.
In an announcement denouncing the results of the voting issued by the American Jewish Committee, Jewish activists in Poland are quoted, saying that the results of the vote are "an expression of internal struggles reflecting the domestic political arena, but also a move that is not free of anti-Semitic motives."
In the vote which was held yesterday the Polish parliament was supposed to ratify a regulation adopted in 2004, allowing the kosher slaughtering of animals. However, the results of the vote against ratification were 222 and 178 in favor. Some MPs who voted against the law justified it on the grounds that shchita is cruel to animals.
Pioter Kadltz'ik, UJC President in Poland, and Michael Shudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, said in a joint statement that this claim is not correct. In addition, they noted that the law will also harm Muslims and force the two communities to "buy imported meat, which is more expensive, or become vegetarians – by coercion."
Warsaw Chabad Rabbi Shalom Stambler, said he is stunned by the decision which makes Poland the first country to prohibit ritual slaughter. He added: "These days we feel the destruction of the Jewish people, and we go back to the days of rage.
"It should be noted that the entire law and the war against the slaughter came from the animal groups that made that most MPs vote against the slaughter, and they all do not know and do not understand the meaning of the ban on shchita. Therefore, it is clear that the vote is not anti-Semitic at all. In the coming days I will gather a meeting with local lawyers to discuss the heavy decree."
Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg, vice president of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, said the rejection of the Slaughter Act in Poland: "This is sad news for Polish Jewry and Judaism in Europe in general. Legislative measures of this kind go beyond the borders of the Polish state and have a European influence, as seen in the case of circumcision. RCE has handled this affair since it arose at the end of the previous calendar year and we intend to continue to take action against Polish authorities and the European legal system in an attempt to allow the kosher slaughter in the country. "
"Most of the Polish parliament has presented three options to the local Jews," said Avraham Fuksman, CEO of the League. "Do not observe the rules of your religion, do not eat meat, or do not live among us."
Fuksman also said: "A country which is still dealing with its attitude to Jews in the past, the voting is an outrageous course of future offending Jews in Poland." Fuksman noted that public opinion polls held in the Polish League raised "a high level of anti-Semitism" - in almost half of the population.
In an announcement denouncing the results of the voting issued by the American Jewish Committee, Jewish activists in Poland are quoted, saying that the results of the vote are "an expression of internal struggles reflecting the domestic political arena, but also a move that is not free of anti-Semitic motives."
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