Description
Book SynopsisThis is the first study of historical attempts by anti-animal cruelty groups to prosecute those involved in the killing of animals for food using the Jewish method of slaughter (shechita). It details cases from Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, and the United States, many for the first time, in which animal welfare groups prosecuted those engaged in shechita as part of their attempts to introduce compulsory stunning of animals before slaughter. Despite claims to the contrary, this study offers clear evidence of underlying, unrelenting antisemitic motivations in the prosecutions, and highlights the ways in which a basic idea of innate Jewish cruelty was always juxtaposed with an overtly Christian ideal of humane treatment of animals across time and borders.
Trade Review“An outstanding piece of research, Fraser’s work would make a valuable addition to any academic library.” —Randall C. and Anne-Marie Belinfante, AJL Reviews May/June 2019 -- Randall C. and Anne-Marie Belinfante * AJL Reviews *
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Jews, Shechita, and the Law
- 2. Criminalizing Shechita: The Halifax Prosecution of Abraham Levitt, 1913
- 3. The Aberdeen Shechita Case of 1893: Criminalizing the Jewish Method in Scotland
- 4. The Mansion House Case: Anti-Shechita in London, 1855
- 5. Manchester Shechita: Criminalizing Orthodox Judaism 1878 and Beyond
- 6. The Birkenhead Shechita Cases
- 7. Criminalizing Shechita Down Under: The Sydney Case
- 8. Outlawing Shechita in America
- 9. The Massachusetts Anti-Shechita Story
- 10. The End (or Not) of the Story: Shechita and the Law in the Anglo-American World, 1855-1913
