Kashrut: Fact, Fiction and In Between part 5

After the lungs have been checked, there is no need to see if other problems are present, as their rarity makes any defect unlikely. However, if, as the viscera are removed, something looks "strange", the shochet must examine further. Often, a rabbi must be consulted. If it is known that there is a specific local danger, additional organs will need to be checked. When I lived in Cincinnati, a series of tornadoes swept through the Midwest in April, 1974. The pastures were strewn with debris. The cows ate the debris, including nails. Many of the cows had punctured digestive organs. The local rabbinate required the shochatim to check these organs at that time, as problems were far from rare. In the case of poultry, the bird is opened at the craw, and the viscera, especially the gizzard, are examined for punctures. The next step is the removal of blood. The Torah has many exhortations against consuming blood "for the blood is the life". Until a few decades ago, this was done by the homemaker. The meat processing plant had only to ensure quick delivery to the consumer. The rabbis, immediately after the Talmudic period, instituted that the process of removing the blood must take place within seventy-two hours of shechitah. After that, the blood would be too congealed. If, before that time has passed, the meat is rinsed with water, an additional seventy-two hours are allowed. Today, most kosher meat facilities do the removal of blood at the plant. In Israel, where cattle are scarce and of poor quality (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef quipped "I had never seen such bad-looking cows as these in all the land of Egypt" (Genesis 14:19), most meat is imported from South America and Western Europe (especially France). In the stricter levels of Kashrut, the meat has the blood removed there, after which it is frozen and shipped. In lower standard Kashrut, the meat is first frozen in the country of origin, and the removal of blood is done either by the consumer, or the local butcher shop. The shipping process can take weeks, so the three-day rule becomes problematic. Many accept a somewhat controversial opinion that once frozen, coagulation ceases, and the three days are not counted until the meat is defrosted. Israeli consumer groups are opposed to the removal of blood at the country of origin, as it involves soaking and salting which makes the meat heavier, and one is thus paying for water at the price of meat. How is the blood removed? The only perfect way is to broil the meat. The blood is drawn off by the fire. In the case of the liver, this is the only way to "kasher" (make kosher) the meat. (In Ashkenazi tradition, this is also done with certain other organs). The meat must either be broiled on a spit (where the blood can freely drip), or on a grill with a slant, so the blood will drain away. For other meats, although broiling is ideal, another process is employed in most cases. The meat is washed of any surface blood, soaked in water for a half-hour or more, excess water is removed, and the meat is then covered in coarse salt ("kosher salt", really KOSHERING salt), and allowed to sit in the salt for an hour at least, while placed on a slanting surface so the blood may drain. In an emergency, twenty minutes is sufficient. After that, it is rinsed three times. This was a common sight in virtually every Jewish home when I was a child. Jewish day schools even gave a course in this to girls in their senior year of High School. By about 1960, this responsibility was, in most cases, transferred to the butcher shops. Although this process was standard in nearly all Jewish communities, and was advocated by virtually all rabbis, there is an alternative view advocated by RAMBAM (and some others), that this procedure is inefficacious, At an event such as a wedding, one can still see the Yemenites leave before the meat course is served, as they do not consider meat handled in the usual way to be kosher. They have a different process, known as "halitah", which I will discuss next time.