James C Coghlan Dvm Popular Books

James C Coghlan Dvm Biography & Facts

In Judaism, shechita (anglicized: ; Hebrew: שחיטה; [ʃχiˈta]; also transliterated shehitah, shechitah, shehita) is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to kashrut. Sources Deuteronomy 12:21 states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtered "as I have instructed you", but nowhere in the Torah are any of the practices of shechita described. Instead, they have been handed down in Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Torah, and codified in halakha. Species The animal must be of a permitted species. For mammals, this is restricted to ruminants which have split hooves. For birds, although biblically any species of bird not specifically excluded in Deuteronomy 14:12–18 would be permitted, doubts as to the identity and scope of the species on the biblical list led to rabbinical law permitting only birds with a tradition of being permissible. Fish do not require kosher slaughter to be considered kosher, but are subject to other laws found in Leviticus 11:9–12 which determine whether or not they are kosher (having both fins and scales). Shochet A shochet (שוחט, "slaughterer", plural shochtim) is a person who performs shechita. To become a shochet, one must study which slaughtered animals are kosher, what disqualifies them from being kosher, and how to prepare animals according to the laws of shechita. Subjects of study include the preparation of slaughtering tools, ways to interpret which foods follow the laws of shechita, and types of terefot (deformities which make an animal non-kosher). In the Talmudic era (beginning in 200 CE with the Jerusalem Talmud and 300 CE with the Babylonian Talmud and extending through the Middle Ages), rabbis started to debate and define kosher laws. As the laws increased in number and complexity, following ritual slaughter laws became difficult for Jews who were not trained in those laws. This resulted in the need for a shochet (someone who has studied shechita extensively) to perform the slaughtering in the communities. Shochtim studied under rabbis to learn the laws of shechita. Rabbis acted as the academics who, among themselves, debated how to apply laws from the Torah to the preparation of animals. Rabbis also conducted experiments to determine under which terefot animals were no longer kosher. Shochtim studied under these rabbis, as rabbis were the officials who first interpret, debate, and determine the laws of shechita. Shochtim are essential to every Jewish community, so they earn elevated social status. In the Middle Ages, the shochtim were treated as second in social status, just underneath rabbis. Shochtim were respected for committing their time to studying and for their importance to their communities. An inspection (Heb. bedikah) of the animal is required for it to be declared kosher, and a shochet has a double title: Shochet u'bodek (slaughterer and inspector), for which qualification considerable study as well as practical training is required. Procedure The shechita procedure, which must be performed by a shochet, is described in the Yoreh De'ah section of the Shulchan Aruch only as severing the wind pipe and food pipe (trachea and esophagus). Nothing is mentioned about veins or arteries. However, in practice, as a very long sharp knife is used, in cattle the soft tissues in the neck are sliced through without the knife touching the spinal cord, in the course of which four major blood vessels, two of which transport oxygenated blood to the brain (the carotid arteries) the other two transporting blood back to the heart (jugular veins) are severed. The vagus nerve is also cut in this operation. With fowl, the same procedure is followed, but a smaller knife is used. A special knife is used, that is very long; and no undue pressure may be applied to the knife, which must be very sharp. The procedure may be performed with the animal either lying on its back (שחיטה מונחת, shechita munachat) or standing (שחיטה מעומדת, shechita me'umedet). In the case of fowl (with the exception of large fowl like turkey) the bird is held in the non-dominant hand in such a way that the head is pulled back and the neck exposed, while the cut made with the dominant hand. The procedure is done with the intention of causing a rapid drop in blood pressure in the brain and loss of consciousness, to render the animal insensitive to pain and to exsanguinate in a prompt and precise action. It has been suggested that eliminating blood flow through the carotid arteries does not cut blood flow to the brain of a bovine because the brain is also supplied with blood by vertebral arteries, but other authorities note the distinction between severing the carotid versus merely blocking it. If one did not sever the entirety of both the trachea and esophagus then an animal may still be considered kosher as long as one severed the majority of the trachea and esophagus (windpipe and food pipe) of a mammal, or the majority of either one of these in the case of birds. The cut must be incised with a back-and-forth motion without employing any of the five major prohibited techniques, or various other detailed rules. Forbidden techniques Shehiyah (שהייה‎; delay or pausing) – Pausing during the incision and then starting to cut again makes the animal's flesh unkosher. The knife must be moved across the neck in an uninterrupted motion until the trachea and esophagus are sufficiently severed to avoid this. There is some disagreement among legal sources as to the exact length of time needed to constitute shehiyah, but today the normative practice is to disqualify a kosher cut as a result of any length of pausing. Derasah (דרסה‎; pressing/chopping) – The knife must be drawn across the throat by a back and forth movement, not by chopping, hacking, or pressing without moving the knife back and forth. There are those who assert that it is forbidden to have the animal in an upright position during shechita due to the prohibition of derasah. They maintain that the animal must be on its back or lying on its side, and some also allow for the animal to be suspended upside down. However, the Rambam explicitly permits upright slaughter, and the Orthodox Union as well as all other major kosher certifiers in the United States accept upright slaughter. Haladah (חלדה‎; covering, digging, or burying) – The knife must be drawn over the throat so that the back of the knife is at all times visible while shechita is being performed. It must not be stabbed into the neck or buried by fur, hide, feathers, the wound itself, or a foreign object (such as a scarf) which may cover the knife. Hagramah (הגרמה‎; cutting in the wrong location) – Hagramah refers to the location on the neck on which a kosher cut may be performed; cutting outside this location will in most cases disqualify a kosher cut. According to today's normative Orthodox practice, any cutting outside this area will in all cases disqualify a kosher cut. The limits within which the knife may be applied are from the lar.... Discover the James C Coghlan Dvm popular books. Find the top 100 most popular James C Coghlan Dvm books.