Heritage turkeys are more flavorful and tend to suffer less than industrial hybrid turkeys. Above, a heritage turkey awaits schechita, or ritual slaughter, conducted by the author. Image by Alyssa Kapnik

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The chief rabbi of Brussels urged a senior EU official to intervene to prevent Belgium’s largest region from banning ritual slaughter of animals.

Rabbi Albert Guigui made the plea to Frans Timmermans, the First Vice President of the European Commission, during a rabbinical conference on Tuesday in the Netherlands, where Timmermans spoke as the guest of honor.

Guigui referenced a vote Friday by a parliamentary committee of the Walloon Region, which would make it illegal to kill animals in the meat industry without administering stunning beforehand. A full plenary vote is scheduled for May 17.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“We ask you as our friend and ally to join this fight, which is a fight for religious freedom,” Guigui told Timmermans.

Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter of animals require animals be conscious when their necks are cut. Critics of both customs claim they are more cruel to animals than industrial methods, though some scientists dispute this.

Timmermans, during his speech, reiterated his commitment and that of the European Union to fight anti-Semitism and defend religious freedoms, saying that according to his personal “point of view,” ritual slaughter should be “not be a problem“ if “it is done by people trained to do so.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount