Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-11-02

BEEF THAT JEWS EAT,
WHERE CATTLEARE KILLED ACCORD
ING TO THE RABeINlCAL LAW.

| fernapS most persons would not Delleye
that in so intensely modern enterprise as
| the Chicago stockyards there are today
| practiced set rules laid down in the Old
Testament for the slaughtering Of cattle.
| Yet such is the case. But while the re-
| ligious prescriptions are carried out to the
| letter there is a practical side to the ar
rangement, else it would not be in opera
| ton. There are dollars and cents in it, as
there are in about every branch OF indus
4 try in this wonder city of the world. It is
| q special department of Mr.. Armour's
| business and is carried on for the orthodox
| Jews, whose demands for meats that have
| been Biblically prepared is large and pro-
| fitable.
| A large proportion of the orthodox Jews
still adhere risidly to the laws of their re-
| hgion, and when they are unable to get
| meat selected and prepared for cooking in
| the prescribed manner they do without it.
| Mr. Armour heard that the Jews ate the
| fore quarters of beef when butchered
cording to the requirements of their re-
| ligion, but never the hind quarters. He
| knew from experience that it was much
| easier to dispose of hind quarters at a high
price than IL was to get rid of the fore
| quarters at low price. Combining these
| two facts in his reasoning, Mr.. Armour
| evolved the idea of establishing a special
| department for the slaughtering of cattle
| for the orthodox Jews. He employed a stir
| ring young Hebrew to take charge of the
| enterprise and arrange matters with the
| heads of the LEGAL synagogues. Schochetts,
| who are especially trained by the rabbi to
| slaughter bullocks according to the Jewish
| method and to detect traces of disease in
| the animal by postmortem examination
of it's viscera and flesh, were detailed by
| the rabbi to conduct the killing in the
| Jewish department of the packing house.
| These schochetts are put through a very
| thorough course of training.
The schochetts first select from the kill
| ing pen such bullocks appear to be per-
| fectly sound. These are separated from
the others and driven to the special killing
| pen. They are dropped into stalls opening
| into the room where the schochetts oper
| ate, and are held there in readiness for
slaughter
In the other departments the bullock is
| first knocked down and stunned by a
sledge hammer blow on the head, after
which the throat of the animal is cut. The
stunning of cattle in killing is prohibited,
however, by the Hebraic laws and it is
necessary to get the OK down and expose
his neck to the schochett's knife without
infiicting pain. This is accomplished by
means of a windlass connected with the
machinery of the establishment. A strong
bracelet attached to a heavy chain, which
hangs from the ceiling, is fastened by a
Gentle butcher to the animals hind leg,
another Gentle pushes a lever and the OK
is hauled up into midair with his front
feet barely touching the floor. The Gen
tiles by means of rope pull the fore feet
from under and the animal is let down on
his side.
The frightened animal bellows and
struggles frantically, but the Gentiles are
accustomed to wrestling matches of this
sort and soon have him three points
down. With the OK lying fat on his side
the butchers throw his head well back so
as to expose the jugular. The schochett
walks up leisurely, sponges off the ami
mails throat and locates the big vein in
the neck. A single stroke of the knife
sewers the iugular vein, the trachea and
the esophagus. The carcass is then
flayed and drawn by the Gentiles The
sons of Israel proceed to hold a post
mortem. The lungs are inflated and care
fully tested. If the examination shows
them to be imperfect or other indications
of disease are found the schochetts reject
the beef. 1t sometimes happens that in
hauling the bullock up and throwing him
leg is broken. In such cases the animal
is promptly rejected by the schochetts for
it is not permitted to eat the flesh of an
animal that has been injured.
If from the examination of the carcass it
appears that the animal was sound and
in good health the work of removing the
veins is begun.
Moreover, We shall eat no manner on.
DIOOC, WDeJner III DE OF FOWL or OF DesND, In
any of your dwellings," is the Lords com
mandment as recorded in the third book
of Moses
Great stress was laid on this passage by |
the rabbits. The flesh served to the ortho- |
doX Hebrew must be entirely free from |
blood. In the old countries the Jewish |
butcher is able to extract the veins from |
the entire carcass of the OK, and when this |
is done the whole beef may be utilized, but |
in this country the butcher is not suff |
GENTLY skilled to vein the hind quarters; |
consequently the Hebrews here aresallowed |
to eat part of the animal back of the |
eleventh rib
NO Jew can eat beef slaughtered in the !
manner common in this country without !
violating his religion to some extent said |
prominent rabbi when questioned con- |
corning the Jewish method of {butchering. |
1.-THE laws of our church are based upon :
reason. For instance, do not eat the .
flesh of bullock which has been stunned !
by blow on the head before cutting it's |
throat, primarily because our laws forbid |
it, but there are good reasons for the law. |
The blow on the bullock's head shocks him /
SO that when the veins of the neck are sew !
cred the animal does not bleed freely and :
much of the blood remains in the carcass.
Then ours is a humane religion. Cruelty !
to animals is not to be tolerated. We aim !
to Stay animals without pain. By using a |
knife with an edge exceedingly sharp and
free from hicks the stroke that kills it I
produces no pain, but only tickling SEN
sation.
MANY of the laws laid down in the Bible /
and the Talmud concerning the use of meat |
for food, in fact nearly all of them. are
based upon sanitary considerations. In
eating the meat of n diseased or crippled
OK one runs great risk of taking disease
germs into his own system. The flesh of !
most of the animals which the Jews are
forbidden to eat is admitted to be un-