Kiwi Jews, rejoice: New Zealand will allow kosher slaughter

A New Zealand sheep that may or may not be kosherly slaughtered. (photo/rachel leibold)

Being a pescetarian, I'm not a fan of animal slaughter - kosher or otherwise - but I was heartened to read in JTA that an agreement was reached with New Zealand's Minister of Agriculture to allow kosher slaughter of poultry in the island nation. (Lamb, a staple of Kiwi culture, is still being negotiated, while beef will continue to be imported from Australia.)

Those who follow kosher stories will remember that in May, the country banned the slaughter of animals that haven't been stunned first (which is antithetical to the process of shechitah, kosher slaughter - which goes for the jugular, as it were). Ag Minister David Carter refused to allow an exception for reasons of kashrut. All of which left New Zealand's 7,000 Jews without the option of eating kosher meat.

The agreement was reached just three days before the Jewish community was set to argue their case in New Zealand's High Court. The process cost the community NZ$300,000 (around US$250,000). New Zealand Jewish Council President Steven Goodman said he was relieved, but also irritated that the matter had gone so far and cost the community so much.

As I said, I'm not a fan of shechitah, but I am a fan of religious freedom and was pretty skeptical that this ban would have held up in court, in a democratic country such as New Zealand. Still, it's kind of scary that it got this far, and that shechitah has been illegal since May.

I feel a special kinship with Kiwi Jews, since my husband and I were married at the Dunedin Jewish Congregation last December. The Jews of Dunedin have a lovely, thriving community and are wonderful and welcoming, and I'm happy that they'll continue to have the opportunity to keep kosher if they so choose.

Comments

Leave a Comment

In order to post a comment, you must first log in.
Are you looking for user registration? Or have you forgotten your password?