By Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet
I participated recently in a discussion with certain Prime Ministers of smaller countries that now form part of the EU. In an impassioned plea, the point was made that there is movement afoot to label all shechita meat, and if that gets approval the next step will be an all out ban. It won’t stop there. Circumcision will be next on the agenda. We appealed to them to be a voice of opposition to this growing anti-Jewish rhetoric that is finding new, less transparent ways of expressing itself.
When the Estonian Prime Minister, Mr Andrus Ansip asked why is this was surfacing now, I explained that it is something that rears its ugly head every now and then, usually in proportion to world sentiment about Jews, which in turn is often linked to the situation in the Middle East.
While I believed this to be a unique if not untypical situation in Western Europe, it now emerges that parts of the USA are facing a similar crisis. Forget shechita, they’re going straight for the jugular.
Just this past Wednesday, S. Francisco’s Board of Elections approved a petition to place the issue of circumcision on the ballot. By definition, they have approved the process of circumcision to go to vote and be accepted or rejected by the electorate. If activists have their way in municipal elections this November, when voters will be asked to vote on the measure, circumcision of a boy under the age of 18 years of age for religious reasons would be classified as a misdemeanour and punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. And this is a country that is supposed to be far more tolerant toward Jews than Europe can ever hope to be.
Legal experts have weighed in on the case, with many asserting the ban, if passed, would infringe upon parents’ First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of religion. The local Jewish Community Relations Council and Anti-Defamation League have also joined with other religious groups and doctors in combating the proposed ban.
Let’s be very clear: Most of those who want shechita meat labelled are as much concerned about animal welfare as I lose sleep over the plight of the Red Indians on the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation reserve in the flood plain south of Winnipeg, Canada.
And those advocating for a ban on circumcision care as much about the well-being of infants as I do about the welfare of the Vietnamese golden- headed langur.
What is it Shakespeare said about a rose by any other name? The same holds true for anti Semitism.
— Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet is Rabbi of the Mill Hill Synagogue, a member of the Chief rabbi’s cabinet and chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue.
The proponents of this new law have never given a thought to the resources that will have to be devoted to the criminalizing of the entire observant Jewish community. Are there enough jail cells to hold all the mohelim? Are there enough foster homes to house all the children who are going to be taken away from their “criminal” parents?
Where is the outcry from Chabad. The rebbe would have dispatched us to the front of this battle make No mistake about it this will spread across the US if not stopped in SF now. Where are the rallies, the campaigns????? This is not goig to bode well if we sit Chabad must stand up and rally support!!!!!
A goy would never have the disrespect on his own, there is ALWAYS a secular, liberal Jew who gives them all the ideas , and instigates.
I grew up near SF. The ultra secular Jews and goyim are behind this- they are fanatical.
Some of the people who are opposing the mitzvos are Jewish. They have been brainwashed to have a “liberal” mentality and their love and fear for Hashem has not yet been revealed..
I cry for Moshiach!!! When will he come already!!!??!?