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What does Chasidishe Schechita mean? How’s it different than Litvishe Schechita?
It means the shochet’s wife shaves her head.
Its difficult to generalize but Chassideshe hashgachos are generally considered the “gold standard” of kashruth and are usually also subject to much more scrutiny and challenge by their clientele than the national commercial lines; Just because a hashgacha is labled “chassidish” does not always mean it is governed by a Chassidic Rav; Because of its premium reputation, the term has been distorted on occasion, to includes a big part of Litvish world. Overall its a general term for hashgachos that impose more strict standards, churahs and gedarim but it obviously is the quality of .their mashgichim, shochtim, etc. are yirai shamayim, talmedei chachamim and have very extensive training in all technical matters of kashruth. Most of the larger chassideshe hashgachos require frequent “continuing education” and offer on-site and centralized programs to assure that their mashgichim etc. are updated on all the newest information. Of course, there are also some other hashgachos (e.g. Eidah in EY) but those who are machmir on kashruth more often than not prefer a chassideshe hashgacha. Most of the larger chassidus have their own hashgachos which may vary slightly in certain areas of focus but not in their overall adherence to the highest quality standards. Some of the smaller “boutique” Chassideshe hashgachos may team with larger national lines and overlay their own standards on certain issues (e.g. chalav yisroel, etc). No one ever went wrong with reliance on a top of the line Chassideshe hashgacha.
“Its difficult to generalize”, yet….
To a pushatayi yid…..
The art of generalization is to avoid statements which subsume facts not widely agreed upon and to create a generic stereotype wherein the exceptions swallow the rule of general applicability. Does that make sense??
gadol hadora
It’s really best to avoid commenting on things like this because few of us outside the industry really know. There is variation in everything, with numerous different hechsherim relying on nu,erous different standards and heterim. Ideally you find a Rav knowledgable in kashrus and ask them which hechsherim to rely on.
As to your comment on gold standard
I can think of at least two heterim that some chassidish hechsherim rely on that causes my litvisha poskim to avoid THOSES SPECIFIC hechsherim in regards to certain types of meat and bakeries that bear those hechsherim.
Now ordinarily I wouldn’t post something negative like this because it can be misconstrued, however since your comment could be taken to mean that we can always rely on chassidish hechsherim i decided to reply. Bottom line, learn about kashrus and rely on a good Rav.You are passing off your assumptions as facts with the caveat that it really isnt a good idea to generalize.
GH: This is at least the second time that you have used the term “gold standard” with chasidesheh hashgachos. I for one do not believe that. You wrote “No one ever went wrong with reliance on a top of the line Chassideshe hashgacha.” The incident in Monsey a number of years ago and one in Flatbush where actual tarfus was found in these establishments that were under chasidesheh hashgachos.
Joseph
If we are talking about the Flatbush Ave J incident from around 10 years ago, you are correct, it was not a chassidish hechsher.
Unfortunately I used to buy meat there, at the time I was told I didn’t need to kasher my keilim.Joseph: I take back my comment regarding the two incidents I mentioned above. The Monsey incident was someone selling meats he claimed were from a certain distributor when they weren’t. The Flatbush incident was selling AgriProcessor products that were advertised as glatt but weren’t.
Before calling anything the “gold standard”, it behooves the consumer to learn what standards are followed by the hechsher they are looking to rely on, and then equally important, determine what procedures they have in place to ensure those standards are being met.
That flatbush incident caused me to be a lot more careful and look into hechsherim and I became a lot more makpid. I walked out of a fleishik restaurant last night even though most people would rely on that hechsher. Simply because there are only a handful of hechsherim that I have vetted enough to rely on for fleishiks. 10 years ago I would have eaten that hechsher without a second thought.
For the real answer there are 3 main differences:
chasidishe shechita:
1) uses only chasidish shochtim
2) they have an extra person who checks the chalaf
3) they remove feathers from the chicken’s neck before shechting to avoid chalada. (Rema says not to do this, others disagree)Isn’t there also some kind of difference in the actual knife?
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