The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1907-01-09
1900 SUPPLY KOSHER MEAT
PREPARED TODAY AS 1T WAS IN
THE TINE OF MOSES.
Thousands of New York Butchers
Sell Meat That Has Been Pre-
pared in the Manner Indicated
hy the Old Testament.
by the Old Testament.

which has been killed and prepared
in the manner indicated in the Old
Testament and the Talmud, and
which is bought exclusively by at
least rs per cent. off the city's He
brew population, says the New York
Times. Kosher" a word written
in three Hebrew letters and dis
played in the window or over the
door of every orthodox Hebrew
butchers shop, means simply 'ap-
proved" 10 the Hebrew, however,
this word conveys the assurance that
the meat offered for sale within has
been inspected and passed by a rab-
bi of his religion.
Flesh with the life thereof,
which is the blood thereof, shall We
not eat, is one of the first of the
Mosaic laws, given in the ninth
chapter of Genesis, and it is an out
come of this Jaw, say the rabbis, that
most of the regulations to be found
in the Talmud regarding meat have
been made The present system OF
kosher inspection is the practical APP
plication of these regulations to
modern conditions.
In every slaughter house in the
city patronized by the retail kosher
butchers there is a Jewish rabbi,
who appoints his 'mashgichin, or
inspectors, and his 'shochat, or
killer. Before the cattle are brought
to the latter the inspectors examine
them carefully. If a blemish OF any
kind is found in them-a wound,
lameness, any evidence of disease
the shochat refuses to kill them, as
they are unfit for the kosher mar
ket
This shochat must be man who
has received a diploma from the raD-
bi. He must know something OF
the Talmud, must be we'll versed in
the tenets of Judaism, as we'll as in
the laws of hygiene. He is expected
to be of a humane disposition, for
the humane treatment of animals is
at the bottom of good many OF the
kosher regulations. According TO
the latter, a shochat can slaughter
in only one way, with one forward
and backward thrust of the knife
This knife must be long, without a
scratch or a dent on it, and so sharp
that a single stroke of it brings in
slant death, a death without torture
to the animal that is pronounced
worthy to be led before it.
AS soon as the animal is killed by
the shochat the rabbi connected with
the slaughter house, or one OF MS
inspectors, opens the body and makes
a careful examination Of every or
gan in it. The lungs especially are
subjected to rigid scrutiny. Air is
blown into them, and if this expert
ment reveals a single blemish or hole
the meat of the entire animal sis de-
clared unfit for the kosher trade and
is turned over to the regular butch
ers.
When the slaughtered animal,
however, shows no imperfectiOn the
veins and arteries are extracted from
the fore quarters and thrown away.
The hind quarters, with the veins
and arteries still in them, are not
used for kosher meat. But the fore
quarters, after they have been treat
ed as described, are cut up into
smaller pieces. Each of these pieces
is then labeled and sealed with lead
by the attending rabbi or his author
lied representative, after which it is
sold to the retail kosher butcher.
On the label, besides the signature
of the rabbi are placed the date and
hour of the killing-and, according
to kosher law, the retail butcher is
not allowed to sell this meat three
days after the date given by the
rabbi
In Europe the kosher butchers sell
the hind as we'll as the fore quarters
of slaughtered cattle. There, how
ever, the veins and arteries are ex-
tracted from every part of the ami
NAL before it is considered fit for
the market. OF course, even with
this precaution, the orthodox Hebrew
does not consider that the Mosaic
regulation regarding the blood in
meat has been sufficiently observed.
For this reason, after the meat has
been purchased from the kosher
butcher, it is soaked for half an hour
in water, then laid in salt for an
hour and again soaked in water be-
fore all trace of blood is eliminated
and it is considered ready to be
cooked and eaten.