Dov Wachman remarks
Tzemach,
I have a lot to say about that and it's not what you want me to say.
Understanding the complexity of what is at stake here requires both an accurate assessment of PETA�s goal and an accurate assessment of the lengths it will go to in pursuit of that goal.
I am mystified that there has been much argument about PETA�s agenda when it is so clearly spelled out in an action alert on a website they have devoted to this campaign.
PETA wants US regulations on shechita to match government regulations in Australia, Canada, and the European Union, countries where shechita is under threat. PETA urges its members to petition the USDA �The United States should follow the lead of Australia, Canada, and the European Union in developing guidelines for religious slaughter� This has been PETA�s aim all along and explains why in PETA�s initial letter to Rubashkin in June 18 2003, PETA insisted involving Dr Temple Grandin since she was in fact the architect of the compliance of UK shechita to UK government and European Union guidelines where use of the rotating pens is banned.
The issue at stake as stated by PETA is clearly not limited to humane conditions in this or the other plant rather it is the much bigger issue of government regulation of religious practice. Religious freedom here in the US surpasses that in all of Australia, Canada, and the European Union and as religious Jews we should have sharp antennae for all attempts, even well-meaning attempts, to bring the US in line with those countries under whatever pretext.
I am not a member of Agudah and I have engaged in many a heated e-mail thread with Agudah�s Rabbi Shafran. However, in this case, Agudah is the only organization that gets it, that has the big picture and is articulating it.
Tzemach, I do have a problem with the O-U but it is quite different than the problem you and others who are happy to jump on the animal rights bandwagon without giving pause to the ultimate effect. No-one could have predicated where legal gay marriage was heading ten years ago and I can tell you that very few anticipate today how animal rights threaten all shechita in ten years the way it is already in the UK. I'll post more on this if you want but for now I'll just make the point.
The O-U and others have been dangerously equivocating between accepting that there is a problem and then declaring that there is no longer any problem. The O-U and other organizations in their shortsightedness may be threatening not only shechita but religious liberty here in the US.
I could go on and if you insist I will but I think that this "taste" may cause you to reconsider your plea. If you insist you might get what you originally wanted and not like the result.
Dov Wachman (posted on comments)
I have a lot to say about that and it's not what you want me to say.
Understanding the complexity of what is at stake here requires both an accurate assessment of PETA�s goal and an accurate assessment of the lengths it will go to in pursuit of that goal.
I am mystified that there has been much argument about PETA�s agenda when it is so clearly spelled out in an action alert on a website they have devoted to this campaign.
PETA wants US regulations on shechita to match government regulations in Australia, Canada, and the European Union, countries where shechita is under threat. PETA urges its members to petition the USDA �The United States should follow the lead of Australia, Canada, and the European Union in developing guidelines for religious slaughter� This has been PETA�s aim all along and explains why in PETA�s initial letter to Rubashkin in June 18 2003, PETA insisted involving Dr Temple Grandin since she was in fact the architect of the compliance of UK shechita to UK government and European Union guidelines where use of the rotating pens is banned.
The issue at stake as stated by PETA is clearly not limited to humane conditions in this or the other plant rather it is the much bigger issue of government regulation of religious practice. Religious freedom here in the US surpasses that in all of Australia, Canada, and the European Union and as religious Jews we should have sharp antennae for all attempts, even well-meaning attempts, to bring the US in line with those countries under whatever pretext.
I am not a member of Agudah and I have engaged in many a heated e-mail thread with Agudah�s Rabbi Shafran. However, in this case, Agudah is the only organization that gets it, that has the big picture and is articulating it.
Tzemach, I do have a problem with the O-U but it is quite different than the problem you and others who are happy to jump on the animal rights bandwagon without giving pause to the ultimate effect. No-one could have predicated where legal gay marriage was heading ten years ago and I can tell you that very few anticipate today how animal rights threaten all shechita in ten years the way it is already in the UK. I'll post more on this if you want but for now I'll just make the point.
The O-U and others have been dangerously equivocating between accepting that there is a problem and then declaring that there is no longer any problem. The O-U and other organizations in their shortsightedness may be threatening not only shechita but religious liberty here in the US.
I could go on and if you insist I will but I think that this "taste" may cause you to reconsider your plea. If you insist you might get what you originally wanted and not like the result.
Dov Wachman (posted on comments)
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 7:26 PM
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