Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-08-23
" KOSHER" NEAT.


a" Shochet." an Inspector Who HeIig-
iOusly Attends to Business-NO Animal
Permitted to BE Killed Until IL is in a
State Of Perfect Health.
The term kosher" signifies clean:
the term ..triefe - unclean; and
Kosher meat is the flesh food
which is clean according to the law of
Moses, as eXpounded in the Talmud.
while all other meat is frowned upon as
"triefe," unclean, however great a
delicacy it may be to the Gentle
palate.
That the hog in its entirety is con-
sidered unclean by the orthodox Jew is
well-known fact, and it is, therefore,
quite superfluous to look for hog meat
in any shape in "Kosher" butcher
shop. But it is not so generally known
that headquarters of otherwise '.Kosh-
err " animals are also excluded from
the list of goods permissible in these
establishments, at least in this country.
for reasons which will be explained in
the course of this sketch.
The first condition for .sKOsher''
meat is that it must come from an ami
mai killed by the .'Shochct'' The
Shochct is an expert meat Inspector I'M
der the law of the Talmud. and can only
practice his art when he is accredited
by learned rabbi as being ver,ed in
the law and learned in his handicraft in
one of the Talmudian schools to. be
found in small numbers in the east of
Germany and in Poland.
Every one of the nine "Koshern
butchers in Chicago EMPLOYS his own
Shochct, who occupies, as Il rule, posi-
ton of Importance in the congregation
in which he belongs, although he has
no pricstly functions. He seldom car
ries on any other business than that of
ShOchet, and even, As rule. consid-
ers it beneath his dignity to assist at the
cutting up of the animals killed by him,
leaving that business entirely to the
butcher. He receives for his services
generally a fixed salary of from forty to
sixt. dollars a month. but has private
income by occasionally practicing his
art for private families and butchers,
who do not deal exclusively in Kosher
goods.
1t is his duty to kill and examine
every animal intended to furnish food to
orthodox Jewish stOmachS Here i'm
Chicago he has to practice principally
on cattle, calves, sheep and domestic |
fowls. All the members OF the tishy |
tribe. providing they are scaly, NAV be |
eaten by the Jews without the inter-
ventiOn of the Shochet, but this privi- |
lege does not extend to either salt or
dried fish, as found in the stores, be- |
cause there is ground for suspicion that
in the process Of preparing them 'un-
Kosher matter may have been used
The butcher has to buy all his stock
alive. and is generally accompanied by
the Shochet when he goes to market,
because the latter is ready to detect in
the living animal already the defects
which mark it as .'trcife.' After the
bullock has been selected and bought it
is killed in tie slaughter house in very
peculiar manner. In the first place,
the animal must be perfectly quiet and
well rested at the time of killing. While
in the slaughter-pen he gets rope
fastened to his horns, and others to his
legs in very cautious manner, so as
not to disturb him. He is then gently
pulled out and coaxed to lie down
peacefully by an ingenious pulling on
the ropes fastened TO his legs No
body is allowed TO touch the doomed
animal but the Shochet. who. as soon
rs the animal is lying down quietly, will
take hold of its head and cut its throat
with sharp knife. whse blade, about
twenty inches long and two inches
wide. is highly polished and kept as
scrupulously clean as gentleman's
razor. The cut almost sewers the head
from the body, and the animal is then
allowed fn hlanl
the carcass has ceased bleeding it is
opened, and the Shochet will enter up
on very close examination of the en-
trails. The lungs are the special object
of this study, and the slightest spot
upon them or abnormal condition of
any part of them will insure the re-
lection OF the entire animal as
"triefe." In case of doubt the lungs
are subjected to bath in clean water, J
and only if it is possible to give them l!
a perfectly healthy appearance by a !
simple washing will the animal be pro- i
nounced kosher But even if the !
lungs are healthy if there be present
foreign bodies in any portion of the !
carcass which might have caused the !
death of the animal sooner or later, l
the carcass has 10 be rejected, for it is
the law that the animal must be in a .
perfectly healthy condition when
touched by the Shochet's knife, which
Is also the reason that the cattle are
not made insensible by blows on the
head before killing them, as is done in !,
common slaughtering. !.
But while the animal is pronounced :
Kosher" its meat does not become so 7
before it has undergone another process. y
called "borsting." This consists in the ,
removal of all bloody veins and gristle. +
at which work the Shochet generally :
assists, although it may be done without !,
his help, provided he inspects the meat q
after 1t has been done. As this work q
would be very tedious if extended to the =
hlnd quarters, these are considered =
" trelfe and sold to the Gentle BUTCH
erS. Calves and sheep are killed in the :.
same way as cattle. only that calves or =
lambs must not be under eight DAYS old !,
at the time of the killing. Nor are the %
hlnd quarters of calves and lambs re. :,
lected unless the animal had passed its -
youthful days before it came under the :;
hands OF the Shochet. Chickens, geese. !
turkeys, ducks and pigeons are killed :.
by the Shochet by simple decapitation =,
with his keen-edged knife, but in all 81
cases the greatest care is taken to cut -
down the animal in moment of COM -
plete rest and blissful ignorance of the !, Il
coming fate, and to make its death as y
sudden and speedy as possible. The .
greatest care is also used in freeing the
meat OF all killed ANIMALS of every par. Il