[Avodah] Tzaar Baalei Chayim

[T613K at aol.com]

From: _cantorwolberg at cox.net_ (mailto:cantorwolberg at cox.net) 

>> I  don't know who "we" is, since I was never taught this.
So since YOU were  never taught this, therefore, it can't be so?
Is it not possible there are  m'forshim who taught that the purpose
of shechitah is to cause a painless  death to the animal? Are the
musmachim from whom I was taught, all  wrong??

Indeed I don't think it was even known that shechitah was  painless until
the modern era, when it became possible to attach scanners to  animals'
skulls and detect their brain activity.

So assuming it wasn't  even known that shechitah was painless, you don't
think HaShem knew? Do you  think that was the ONLY thing that wasn't
known by man? So therefore, what  does it prove?  <<

 
>>>>>
 
The Torah does not state the reason for shechita, and indeed seldom states  
the reason for any mitzva.  Sometimes a reason is given along the lines of, 
 "Do this to remember or to testify x, y, z."  (e.g., keep Shabbos  to 
testify that Hashem created the world; korban Pesach and matza to  remember 
yetzias Mitzraim).  Sometimes a reason is given along the lines of  "do it so 
you will benefit" -- like, honor your parents so you will have a long  life, 
or give ma'aser so that you will become rich.  In those cases it  isn't 
really a "reason" that's being given but rather a reward -- if you do x,  then 
Hashem will give you y.
 
But in the great majority of cases, the Torah does not state a reason for  
keeping the mitzva. It usually states neither the purpose nor the  reward.   
Often we discover that a mitzva has side benefits,  e.g., the wives of 
circumcised men rarely get cervical cancer, and people who  don't eat pork don't 
get trichinosis.  We can assume that Hashem knew of  these benefits when He 
commanded these mitzvos, but we /cannot/ assume that the  benefit is "the" 
reason for any given mitzva.  
 
Shechita is painless because the animal loses consciousness  immediately.  
This is a benefit but it is not "the" reason for the  mitzva.  One could 
easily think of other reasons -- for example, as someone  noted, shechita 
allows most of the animal's blood to drain out  rapidly.  Some have speculated 
that Hashem doesn't really care about the  suffering of animals (or that 
animals have no such concept as "suffering") and  that the purpose of shechita is 
merely to prevent human beings from acting in a  cruel way and becoming 
insensitive to the suffering of others.  Personally  I think that animals do 
feel pain and that Hashem /is/ concerned with their  suffering, and that He 
/also/ wants us human beings to refine our midos and  not become cruel and 
insensitive.  But even given all these factors, we do  not know "the" reason 
for shechita.
 
If anyone stated to you unequivocally, "THE reason for shechita is x, y or  
z" then that person was in error.  We know only benefits of shechita -- and 
 possibly not all the benefits.  We do not know "the" reason.
 
--Toby  Katz
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