Tails are broken, calves walk, groaning and choking on blood, after being slaughtered, while their throats are slit. Iron gates that hit the backs of cows being led to slaughter make them prey for all to see.
These are just some of the scenes that emerged from Channel 2's investigation into the "Dabbah" cattle pens in Deir al-Assad, which markets about half of the beef marketed in the country, which, among other things, has the prestigious kosher certification of "Badach Beit Yosef.".
So these are just some of the scenes that emerged from the investigation, but this is, in fact, the daily reality for the animals slaughtered in this pen - or in Israel in general.
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So no. This is not the way of the world, nor is this their correction.
It may be convenient for some in the public to think that our blessing corrects the calf, and thus we help it to come to its senses and ascend "purified" to heaven.
But can this thought be reconciled with the fact that we are actually paying for or financing this abuse and are clearly violating the commandment to not harm animals? Is it reasonable to think that God, the Almighty, would grant us a commandment that comes with transgression?
Of course not.
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The first Adam was not required to eat meat, "You shall eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden... (Genesis 16)," and only after the flood were we permitted to eat meat, and in the future we will not even need to eat meat at all, as it is written, "I will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the mighty" (Psalms 50).
In the future, the world will come to its correction, to its level before sin, and the people of Israel will dwell securely, not needing meat or abuse.
Yes, it is abuse. It is naive to think that the production of such a huge mass of flesh is not accompanied by abuse.
Cows don't run to the slaughtering knife one bright morning.
If we delve just a little into the world of these poor animals, we will surely notice that this is not the will of God.
I admit that in the past I thought that the Messiah was delayed only because of our transgressions, and that we had to do true repentance, among ourselves, but when I was exposed to the reality of these animals and what man does to them, thanks to our closing of our eyes, mine... When I heard the calf's screams, its cries of pain, a frightening thought crossed my mind: "Could it be, could it be that God, who watches over everything, from lice eggs to ram horns, doesn't hear these terrible cries of pain?!?""
Of course he hears.
""Is it possible that he will be silent at the sound of those cries???", or as King David, may God be pleased to say: "He who planted the ear, will he not hear? He who formed the eye, will he not see (Psalm 66)"?
He certainly won't be silent.
Shall we not tremble? Or, more precisely, shall we, the sons and daughters of the Almighty, the merciful and compassionate God, who were created in His image - shall we not have mercy?
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A more difficult question we must ask ourselves is: Is it kosher?
For example, let's say that a person buys from Tiv Ta'am, but he is careful to buy only products from there that are kosher according to the various Badatzim, such as sugar, coffee, and more - can that person be peaceful and calm from the perspective of Heaven? After all, he is careful to buy kosher and other Badatzim, but there is a thorn in his side: the purchase is from a place that defies the laws of the Torah.
When we eat meat that was slaughtered in a slaughterhouse that markets meat, among other things, through fancy kosher certification, as was the case in the investigation, but has undergone every cruel abuse possible - and it is highly doubtful whether the cruelty observed passed under the eyes of the slaughterers, whose salaries are paid by the abusing factory - is it kosher?
Can we claim with certainty that we are eating kosher, observing the laws of kashrut for the chumara? And if we were spared the sin of eating carrion, haven't we transgressed against a Torah commandment, such as the commandment not to harm animals?
So the next time a piece of meat, or more precisely, a dismembered cow, is placed on your plate, and before you bless "May everything be done by His word..." - stop and think: Is the financing of cruelty, which is certainly not for human need, also "by His word"?
Indeed, to continue buying the meat is to fund the same factory that abuses and violates the laws of the Torah, even if the meat on the kosher plate carries the strictest of kosher qualifications. To continue buying meat that has been koshered according to the laws of the Torah from a place that violates the laws of the Torah – is exactly like buying from Tiv Taam.
And it's no longer 'kosher'.
• Ruth Culian is a social activist and animal rights activist
