shehitah

While some countries have introduced bans, other countries - the US, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands - introduced legislation protecting shehitah.

A distinct philosophical essay is contained in the conclusion of his comprehensive introductory statement (petiha) of the ten main halakhic principles of ritual slaughter (shehitah) that underlie the main halakhic discussion of the tractate.

Brody ban of 1772 encompassed a great number of Hasidic practices, including Hasidic shehitah (slaughter by Talmud forbidden honed shehitah knives / geschleefeene) that irritated the Misnagdim.

The debate has spanned several years, became an election issue during the 1995 general election and often took on an unpleasant tone, as the proponents of the ban (some of whom were politicians) equated shehitah with female circumcision and mutilation.

Although a motion to pass a law prohibiting shechita (on animal rights grounds) was defeated in December 1995, thereby allowing the practice to continue in Finland (on the condition that the slaughtering takes place simultaneously with a stunning blow), parties opposed to shehitah were not satisfied.

However, R. Akiva states the verses mean that prior to entry into the promised land the Israelites had been allowed to eat non-sacrificial meat by performing nehirah, a minimal form of ritual slaughter that was superseded by the obligation to perform shehitah which had previously been reserved for sacrifices.