BREAKING! OU Contradicts Itself On ‘Throat-Ripping’ Rationale – Was Humane Slaughter Act Violated?

The OU’s website has a ‘clarification’ of the second cut (i.e., throat-ripping with a hook) done at AgriProcessors that contradicts a written statement made by the head of the OU’s Kashrut Division, Rabbi Menachem Genack:

BREAKING! Washington Post Weighs In – Confirms Earlier FailedMessiah.com Report

In a report that reads suspiciously like a summation of this blog, the Washington Post writes:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told federal meat inspectors that they should immediately shut down any slaughterhouse where they observe acts of cruelty similar to those surreptitiously videotaped by an animal rights group at a kosher meat plant in [...]

PETA Responds To Agudath Israel

Ben Goldsmith of PETA has written a response to the most recent Shechita-gate article by Agudath Israel’s Rabbi Avi Shafran.
Best quote:

PETA has no interest in undermining rabbinic authority, and it is not
our desire to “impose new rules on Jewish ritual.” The issue here
should be halacha, not an imagined power struggle. Our only objective
is to assure [...]

BREAKING! The OU’s Rabbi Genack Admits Second Cut Not Part Of Shechita Process – May Expose OU, KAJ & Other Kosher Certifiers, Rubashkin To Federal, State & Local Prosecution

The OU’s Rabbi Menachem Genack has written a new article on Shechita-gate.
In it he admits that the second cut was:
[N]ot done for kashrut reasons – for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is
complete – but rather for commercial reasons, to avoid blood splash,
which turns the meat a darker color. The carotid [...]

BREAKING! The OU’s Rabbi Genack Admits Second Cut Not Part Of Shechita Process – May Expose OU, KAJ & Other Kosher Certifiers, Rubashkin To Federal, State & Local Prosecution

The OU’s Rabbi Menachem Genack has written a new article on Shechita-gate.
In it he admits that the second cut was:
[N]ot done for kashrut reasons – for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is
complete – but rather for commercial reasons, to avoid blood splash,
which turns the meat a darker color. The carotid [...]

BREAKING! The OU’s Rabbi Genack Admits Second Cut Not Part Of Shechita Process – May Expose OU, KAJ & Other Kosher Certifiers, Rubashkin To Federal, State & Local Prosecution

The OU’s Rabbi Menachem Genack has written a new article on Shechita-gate.
In it he admits that the second cut was:
[N]ot done for kashrut reasons – for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is
complete – but rather for commercial reasons, to avoid blood splash,
which turns the meat a darker color. The carotid [...]

BREAKING! The OU’s Rabbi Genack Admits Second Cut Not Part Of Shechita Process – May Expose OU, KAJ & Other Kosher Certifiers, Rubashkin To Federal, State & Local Prosecution

The OU’s Rabbi Menachem Genack has written a new article on Shechita-gate.
In it he admits that the second cut was:
[N]ot done for kashrut reasons – for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is
complete – but rather for commercial reasons, to avoid blood splash,
which turns the meat a darker color. The carotid [...]

BREAKING! Food Inspectors Union: USDA Vets And Inspectors On Kill Floor Only 5 Minutes Per Day; Rubashkin Plant NOT Linked To Mad Cow Scare

I spoke with Trent Berhow, the Vice-Chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Safety Inspection Locals (the union of food safety inspectors) a few moments ago about the Rubashkin Shechita-gate Scandal.
In brief, Mr. Berhow noted that:

The OU In Court?

The Waukon Standard reports on PETA’s call for prosecution of AgriProcsessors.
Best quote:
"The Iowa secretary of agriculture has understandably expressed her
revulsion at what AgriProcessors was doing to animals," says PETA
President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "What AgriProcessors was doing behind
closed doors is the ultimate violation of ‘Iowa nice,’ and we are
calling on Mr. Shafer to take swift and [...]

Tsunami Emergency Relief

Donations to aid the survivors of the massive Tsunami that struck South East Aisa can be made through American Jewish World Service by mail, telephone or online.
American Jewish World Service, Asia Tsunami Relief, 45 West 36th
Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018, 1-800-889-7146 or Donate Now Online.

The estimated death toll at this writing is more [...]

Does Cruelty To Animals Matter? A Practical Challenge…

In his attack on PETA and defense of Rubashkin, Rabbi Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel of America writes:
The Jewish religious tradition forbids causing animals unnecessary pain.… But the Jewish faith expressly permits the killing of animals for human needs, including food.  Which animals may be eaten and how to dispatch them are topics dealt with [...]

More On Yesterday’s PETA Protest In Iowa

KWWL, which bills itself as "Iowa’s News Channel," has a report on yesterday’s PETA protest at the Allamakee county courthouse.
Oddly, the report claims that:

Rubashkin Television Interview

KCRG-TV of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has done a brief report on the Rubashkin Shechita-gate situation.
Please note Sholom M. Rubashkin’s circular reasoning: Kosher slaughter is humane because the US Government defines kosher slaughter as humane, therefore, AgriProcessors slaughter – because it is kosher – is humane.
You can view the video here.
(It takes about 30 seconds on [...]

THE USDA WEIGHS IN

The USDA has begun to weigh in on the Rubashkin Shechita-gate scandal.
It has posted a training document that tells inspectors to shut down plants doing shechita like Rubashkin was doing on the PETA video.
It is becoming clear that the OU’s mandated changes came not just from public pressure, but from government enforcement.
The document reads as [...]