In 1999, my brother and I had the opportunity to meet with Rabbi Menachem Genack who is head of the Orthodox Union's (OU) kashrut division. We were afforded visitation to his downtown Manhattan office because we were accompanying Dr. Temple Grandin to a meeting we arranged with Rabbi Genack in response to our research and discovery of terrible and unnecessary animal mistreatment in kosher slaughterhouses under the supervision of the OU and the concomitant endorsement of the Rabbinical Council of America.
When Rabbi Genack denied such mistreatment in kosher slaughterhouses under OU supervision, Dr. Grandin started listing names and locations of abattoirs where the violations were occurring. Dr. Genack took a moment's sidebar discussion with the head of the OU's kosher meat division, Rabbi Yehuda Kravitz, and then replied that Dr. Grandin was correct.
After describing the normative abuses occurring in these abattoirs, I used the term 'Chillul Hashem' which means a profaning/desecrating of Gd's name. The term is used to describe activity that lowers the esteem of Gd and/or Torah in people's eyes. Rabbi Genack had an immediate reaction to my use of the term and, in his most animated moment of the hour-long conversation, rebuked me for applying Chillul Hashem to the situation because, in his words, 'the term is a technical halakhic (legal) category which does not apply to this situation.'
My brother, Aaron, has a law degree and is an instructor of environmental ethics in the graduate school of The University of San Francisco. He is not a 'professional Jew' nor is he a particularly observant Jew though he is a very proud Jew. His response to Rabbi Genack was as follows: 'Rabbi, I'm not well versed in Jewish law or in matters of the Talmud. I am simply a Jew who grew up proud of our tradition with the belief that kosher food held the highest standards of humane animal treatment. For all I know, you may be correct about the technical definition of Chillul Hashem, but from the perspective of me, a Jew on the street, I tell you with absolute certainty that my opinion of Torah, Gd and rabbis is seriously injured by the unnecessary animal abuse common to kosher slaughter supervised by your staff. Hide behind halakhic terminology if you will, but if and when the horrible mistreatment of these animals during kosher slaughter is revealed to the public, both Jew and non-Jew, Orthodox to secular, will feel betrayed by the fraud that you have helped countenance about our tradition's concern for animals.' One could hear a pin drop after Aaron's comment.
Rabbi Genack was silent for the rest of the meeting. As we got up to leave he cautioned us from going public with our discoveries as they could have a 'negative effect on public perception.'
The goal of our meeting was to appeal to the OU to help change the unnecessary mistreatment of animals during pre-slaughter restraint. Unfortunately, we left the meeting understanding that only two matters would elicit concern and influence a change in OU practice: 1. Negative publicity, and, 2. Economic fallout.
For my brother and me, time was of the essence. Before Jewish practice would be forced to change due to public pressure, we wanted an affirmation that Jewish law prohibits the unnecessary mistreatment of animals during their pre-kosher slaughter restraint. In
To be continued…Part Two Here
