Kosher Slaughter
The animal must be slaughtered in the proper manner as prescribed by Halacha. This is done by a highly trained certified ritual-slaughterer (shochet). The certification for ritual-slaughter is called “Kabbala” (קבלה). In order to receive kabbala a person must be both learned in Torah and G-d fearing. Nowadays, many people learn to be a shochet as a post-rabbinical study after they have already received rabbinical ordination (Semichah). To receive Kabbala, a person must:
a) Study all the laws of shechitah (slaughter) until he is thoroughly familiar with them and review them on a regular basis. Even a shochet with years of experience is required to review these laws regularly.
b) Practice properly sharpening the knife on a whetstone until it is perfectly sharp and free of all nicks and imperfections.
c) Master the skill of checking the blade for perfect sharpness and any imperfections. This is done by sliding the thumbnail up and down the length of the blade. Sensitivity must be developed to notice even the tiniest nicks.
d) Learn all the techniques of proper slaughter from a qualified, experienced shochet.
e) Successfully slaughter at least three animals in close succession without hesitation or squeamishness.
f) Be tested on all the above. Most people begin with slaughtering chickens and only later graduate to slaughtering larger animals, such as goats and sheep and finally beef cattle.
The Slaughtering Knife
A special knife, called a chalef (חלף) is used for kosher slaughter. The blade must be at least twice as long as the neck-width of the animal being slaughtered. For chickens it is approximately from 3 to 6 inches long and for larger animals it may be as long as 18 inches. To insure that the blade is exposed throughout the cut and that it slices, rather than tears, the blade is rectangular in shape. It must be razor sharp and have no nicks in it, whatsoever.
Until a little over two hundred years ago most chalefs where made of wrought or cast iron blades. Then, the leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch, the “Great Maggid”, introduced the use of chalefs made of honed steel with a tapered blade. This innovation instigated a great outcry amongst the opponents of the Chassidim, and they used it as justification to ban the consumption of all Chassidic slaughter, declaring it to be “non-kosher”. However, today the use of high quality tapered stainless steel blades is universal, not only in Chassidic circles, but by all Jews, everywhere.
Five General Rules of Slaughter
There are five basic rules which apply to the slaughter itself. These were given to Moses by G-d at Sinai. They are:
a) Shehiyah (שהייה). There should not be any pause or hesitation in the movement of the knife during slaughter.
b) Derisah (דרסה). The blade must slide smoothly without pressing down on the neck.
c) Chaladah (חלדה). The blade must be exposed throughout the slaughter; therefore, before the slaughter of sheep, the wool must either be removed or brushed apart. If mud is encrusted on the neck of cattle, it must be washed off. The feathers of poultry must be pushed aside.
d) Hagramah (הגרמה). The cut should neither be too high or too low on the neck. Rather, it should be in the central area of the trachea and esophagus. Moreover, care must be taken to avoid cutting the spine.
e) Ikoor (עיקור). Great care must be taken that the blade slices rather than tears the trachea and esophagus. Therefore, the blade must be perfectly sharp and contain no nicks, which could cause tearing. In order to assure this, the knife is checked before and after slaughter. Besides these five above mentioned rules being essential requirements of kosher slaughter itself, they also assure that the slaughter is done in the most humane way possible. Thus they are also in accord with the mitzvah against causing undue pain to animals.
Draining the Carcass of Blood
The Torah forbids the consumption of blood. Therefore, the carcass is drained of its blood. In many slaughterhouses the carcass is hung upside-down to facilitate this.
Post-Mortem Inspection
Following the slaughter, the animal is checked to ascertain whether it is a treifah or not. (As mentioned above, a treifah is an animal which has a terminal condition and would die even without being slaughtered.) This is done by checking the lungs internally and externally. They are checked by a highly trained inspector (Bodek) who feels for adhesions. He also checks them by inflating and placing the lungs in water to ascertain that they are airtight. If they are completely smooth they are declared to be glatt (smooth). This means that the animal probably had a good health history. If they have too many adhesions, especially ones that are large or not easily removed, they are declared to be treifah. If the lungs have small adhesions which are easily removed and prove to be airtight, they are declared to be kosher but non-glatt.
The lungs of poultry are generally not checked since they usually do not have the problem of developing adhesions. They are therefore regarded as glatt even without examination. They are only checked if there is cause to suspect that there might be a problem. However there are varying opinions as to when they should be checked. In Israel, many slaughterhouses customarily check the lungs of all chickens slaughtered, as an extra precaution.
Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that if, upon buying poultry, one finds injuries that could have caused death, such as reddish-blue bruising, disjointed bones or wings, broken ribs or bones etc. a rabbinical authority should be consulted. Of course, if such a problem arises, the entire chicken should be set aside and not cooked until the rabbi decides its kosher status