First of all, I want to apologize for the way I worded the last part of my post. I see that it was perceived, at least by the moderator, as “making fun” of certain sects of Judaism. I certainly did not mean to mock or ridicule and I hope I did not offend anyone in the expression of my personal opinion.
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@jphone- Governmental standards, sadly, are nowhere near where they should be. And hypothetically, if optimal “health and safety” standards were met, that still would not ensure that the chickens were comfortable and did not suffer prior to their death. Too often, advocates of shechitah point to the sharpness of the knives without considering the actual lives of the animals. Perhaps the moment of slaughter is pain-free or virtually so, but what about the unnaturally cramped living conditions the animals must endure before they are large enough to be killed? (Re your first point, I agree. It is the manner of fulfilling the custom and not the custom itself to which I object. Thanks for catching my poorly worded sentence.)
@feivel- R’ Samson Raphael Hirsh stated, “Here you are faced with God’s teaching, which obliges you not only to refrain from inflicting unnecessary pain on any animal, but to help and, when you can, to lessen the pain whenever you see an animal suffering, even through no fault of yours.” If you don’t believe me, take it from the esteemed R’ Hirsh, who uses the very words “pain” and “suffering”. Additionally, have you ever noticed that when babies reach a certain age (usually not before eight months or so) they begin to fixate on mirrors? I’ve done a good bit of babysitting, and it’s a trick I used a lot. When the babies started to fuss, I would hold them in front of a mirror, and they would be fascinated. That’s because they are learning the concept of consciousness. A baby moves his hand and discovers that the baby in the mirror moves his hand too- at the exact same time! What does this mean? The baby is becoming self-aware. Would you therefore say that until this self-awareness occurs, the baby does not experience pain or suffering? Would you therefore say that when a baby begins to wail after being given a shot, he is simply “appearing” to experience pain as if programmed like a robot?
Re your point on leather shoes: if compassion for animals “has nothing to do with” the reason we may not wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur, what then is the reason? It’s true that there are multiple opinions. Compassion for animals happens to be one of them, and is held by the Rama himself, who quotes Psalms. “How can a man put on shoes, a piece of clothing for which it is necessary to kill a living thing, on Yom Kippur, which is a day of grace and compassion, when it is written ‘His tender mercies are over all His works’?” he asks. However, another popular opinion is that we don’t wear leather shoes because we are supposed to afflict ourselves and leather shoes are a sign of comfort. From this perspective, I find it very hard to believe that a person who wears canvas sneakers with a full mink coat is not transgressing halacha.
@mariner- You got your wish. I, a proud animal lover, have an answer for you about the Azazel. The truth is that you could have asked about the Para Adumah or any other animal sacrifice and my answer would have been the same. First, look around you- we don’t perform these sacrifices anymore, and many respected halachic authorities believe that we will not perform them, or at least not the majority of them, even when the third Beit Hamikdash is built. Maimonides says that God only instituted the sacrifices in the first place because the Jewish people were on such a low level that they were greatly influenced by the pagan worshippers, whose core belief systems included animal sacrifice. Without the familiarity of the sacrifices, he posits, the nation might have rejected all of Judaism. Abarbanel, too, quotes a Midrash which states that the Jews learned the concept of animal sacrifice in Egypt and were unwilling to give it up. In order to accommodate their needs at that time while preventing idolatry from creeping into the service, God allowed them to bring sacrifices, but only in one central sanctuary.