On the other hand, Rabbi Jolkovsky today has also managed to scoop (he says) the NYT's own story, and reveal that animal-rights group PETA is about to launch a campaign against Shechita. Their weapon appears to be a video of cows being slaughtered in the Postville abettoir, apparently a very bloody scene.
1. In common with so many far-left groups, PETA is revealing its anti-Semitic roots bit by bit. This is, you will recall, the same group which compared the slaughter of chickens to the Holocaust.
2. For us: PETA are generally considered to be a bunch of crazies; it's unlikely that the current American administration would consider messing with Shechita. Against us: Any video of animal slaughter is not going to look good and PETA have the resources to spread it far and wide, doing enormous damage in PR terms. Perhaps the most noticeable effect such a video may have will be in Europe, where Shechita has long been in many countries a sensitive and emotion-laden issue, and where there are several governments who have publicly said they would consider banning it.
3. PETA is claiming that they have the support of two rabbis on this: Shear Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, and Rabbi David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee's director of Interreligious Affairs. I sincerely hope that they have not knowingly and voluntarily given their name to this.
UPDATE: Actually, the story is also in the NY Sun.
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