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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: <A title=mailto:cantorwolberg@cox.net
href="mailto:cantorwolberg@cox.net">cantorwolberg@cox.net</A><BR><BR>>> I
don't know who "we" is, since I was never taught this.<BR>So since YOU were
never taught this, therefore, it can't be so?<BR>Is it not possible there are
m'forshim who taught that the purpose<BR>of shechitah is to cause a painless
death to the animal? Are the<BR>musmachim from whom I was taught, all
wrong??<BR><BR>Indeed I don't think it was even known that shechitah was
painless until<BR>the modern era, when it became possible to attach scanners to
animals'<BR>skulls and detect their brain activity.<BR><BR>So assuming it wasn't
even known that shechitah was painless, you don't<BR>think HaShem knew? Do you
think that was the ONLY thing that wasn't<BR>known by man? So therefore, what
does it prove? <<</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
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<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><B><FONT color=#0000ff>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</FONT></B><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT
color=#0000ff>-------------------------------------------------------------------
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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