1452 —הימום עלעקטרי לפני שחיטה, דעות וטרינריות, ופסקי רבנים

B"H, 6 Adar 5712.

Brooklyn, NY.

Haraha"g vavac"h iy"a nu"n etc. Yaakov Yisroel Zuber

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from Erev Shabbos Kodesh Terumah, which you requested be answered as soon as possible, in which you describe the situation of shechita in your place previously in Stockholm, Sweden: the government there only permits shechita with prior electric stunning. You forbade this practice, but later were presented with a leniency from rabbis in Eretz HaKodesh. You were also told that there were cases where animals slaughtered after stunning were examined internally and no defect was found. It is also said that if the animal is not slaughtered after stunning, after some time it stands up and eats, etc.

In response to all this: Regarding what you wrote that a professor and veterinarian examined animals after stunning and shechita and found no noticeable defect in the internal organs—I am greatly astonished by this. It is well known even to beginners in these studies that an electric shock causing death does not necessarily leave a mark on the internal organs. Death is caused by disruption of the nerves (neiarvin), and even if changes are found in the organs, it is one of two things: either it existed before the shock but was unknown, or there was already weakness in the organ which was aggravated by the shock until it led to changes; but this is not inherently due to the shock itself. A clear proof for this is also the general principle of stunning—its purpose is also to disrupt the nerves to the point of removing sensation; when increasing "quantity," or in other words current strength, not only sensation but also movement ability is lost—meaning the animal dies. It is understood that nerve disruption cannot be detected by post-mortem examination.

b) It is self-evident that even if such stunning is done with a very weak current, reliability regarding its strength or weakness is usually entrusted to a non-Jew who performs the stunning. Even if entrusted to a Jew, he too cannot be certain; as every doctor knows—not all people react identically to electric current; even within one person at different times reactions vary depending on their nerves or clothing or location etc. With people, electricity is applied cautiously using instruments that show current strength etc., but such measures cannot be implemented for stunning in slaughterhouses; certainly they will not adjust current strength for large versus small animals, thick versus thin skin, wet versus dry hide—all of which affect how current works.

c) I saw a copy of Rabbi Shlomo Dovid Kahane's certification letter. I do not know if he was presented with all details about stunning as it actually occurs; nevertheless I am very surprised that his leniency does not mention anything about post-shechita convulsions! There is much more to discuss here but this is not the place.

The conclusion from all this: since you have already written your opinion forbidding it, I think you should reiterate your position—especially based on all that has been written above.

Summary

The Rebbe writes that electric stunning before shechita raises serious halachic and practical concerns regarding its effect on animals and reliability of procedure. He advises maintaining a strict prohibition despite contrary opinions or certifications.