The Brookhaven leader., 1883-08-23
"KOSHkR MEAT,

Uhy the Orthodox jews Get Better Meat
than the Average Christian-They Have
a " Shochet." an Inspector Who ReIig-
iousIy Attends to Business-No Animal
Permitted to BE Killed Until 1t Is in a
STATE of Perfect Health.
The term Kosher signifies clean;
ihe term "triefen y unclean; and
Kosher meat is the flesh food
which is clean according to the law of
Moses. as cxpounded in the Talmud,
while all other meat is frowned upon as
"tricfc, unclcan, however great a
delicacy it may be to the Gentle
palate.
That the hog in its entirety is con-
,idrrcd unclean by the orthodox Jew is
4 wcll-knOwn fact. and it is, therefore,
quite Superuous to look for hog meat
in any shape in a "kosher butcher
shop. But it is not so generally known
that hind-quarters of otherwise ''Kosh-
rr" animals are also excluded from
the list of = DDS 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 "Kosher'
meat is that it must come from an ami
nal killed by the "Shochet." The
Shochrt is an expert meat Inspector un-
der the law of the Talmud, and can only
practice his art when he is accredited
by Il learned rabbi as being versed in
the law and learned in his handicraft in
one of the Talmudian schools to be
-, -, ,,f
Germany and in Poland.
Every one of the nine "Kosher"
butchers in Chicago EMPLOYS his own
Shochet, who occupies, as II rule, posi-
tion of Importance in the congregation
in which he belongs, although he has
no pricstly functions. He seldom car
rjcS on any other business than that of
Il Shochet, and even, as a rule, conSid-
crS 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 fixed salary of from forty to
sixty dollars month, but has private
income by occasionally practicing his
art for private families and butchers.
who do not deal exclusively in "Kosher'
goods.
It is his duty to kill and examine
every animal intended to furnish food to
orthodox Jewish stomachs. Here in
Chicago he has to practice principally
ON cattle, calves, sheep and domestic
fowls. All the members OF the fishy
tribe. providing they are scaly, may be
eaten by the Jews without the inter
vcntiOn of the Shochet, but this privi-
legc 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 a ''treife." After the
bullock has been selected and bought it
IS killed in tie slaughter house in avery
peculiar manner. In the first place,
the animal must be perfectly quiet and
well rested at the time of killing. While
in the slaughter-pcn he gets a rope
fastened to his horns, and others to his
legs in II 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 Shochct, who, as soon
as the animal is lying down quietly, will
lake 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
>crupulously clean as a gentleman's
razor. The cut almost sewers the head
from the body, and the animal is then
allowed to bleed to death. AS soon as
the carcass has ceased bleeding it is
opened, and the ShOchet will enter up
on a very close examination of the en-
'railS. The lungs are the spec al object
Of this study, and the sIi ghtest spot
upon them or abnormal condition of
any part of them will insure the re-
Jccuon of the entire animal as
"triefe." In case of doubt the lungs
are subjected to a bath in clean water,
ana only If it is possible to give them
Il perfectly healthy appearance by
simple washing will the animal be pro-
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
oeath OF the animal sooner or later,
me carcass has to be rejected, for it is
the law that the animal must be in
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
: hosher, its meat does not become so
before it has undergone another process,
called borsting.' This consists in the
removal of all bloody veins and gristle,
at which work the Shochet generally
assists, although il may be done without
his help, provided he inspects the meat
after 1t has been done. AS this work
would be very tedious if extended to the
hlnd quarters, these are considered
= treife' 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
al the time of the killing. Nor are the
hlnd quarters of calves and lambs re-