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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Rabbi Yona Metzger Says No to Fur

I posted on my reservations about wearing fur a while back, and now the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel has issued a ruling on the matter:
Jews must not wear fur skinned from live animals, Israel's chief rabbi said in a religious ruling on Tuesday.

'All Jews are obliged to prevent the horrible phenomenon of cruelty to animals and be a 'light onto nations' by refusing to use products that originate from acts which cause such suffering,' Rabbi Yona Metzger said.

Animal rights campaigners in Israel and abroad say that animals are skinned alive at fur farms in China.

Metzger issued the edict in response to an appeal by an Israeli legislator who looked into the reports of animal cruelty in China at the request of a constituent.

The ruling stopped short of banning the use of fur from animals skinned after they were slaughtered.

Mati Korinio of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, which oversees fur imports, said much of the fur sold in the Jewish state did not originate in China.
The fact that this ruling only covers fur from animals skinned alive, and that most fur in Israel is not imported from China, where this practice is most prevalent, makes it seem as if the ruling doesn't have much in the way of teeth. The fur industry is known for its cruelty in the methods used to trap the animals they use for fur - even if they stop short of skinning them alive. An imperfect ruling, yes. But it's certainly a start.

(hattip)

24 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

who wears fur in israel?

8:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

STRIMELS DAFUC!!!

9:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What about leather, alligator, sheepskin items? Werent all the animals created to benefit humankind?

11:01 PM  
Blogger orthomom said...

Anonymous said...

What about leather, alligator, sheepskin items? Werent all the animals created to benefit humankind?



Well, the difference with fur is that the animals used to harvest fur are usually trapped and killed in an exceedingly cruel manner. PETA types object to using animals for any byproducts - but that is not my position. I am opposed to the cruel methods used in the fur industry.

11:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what did one trapped mink say to the other trapped mink???

"see you in shul".

11:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess the (streimel-wearing) Chasidim will have to switch to Boraslinos now.

6:58 AM  
Blogger and so it shall be... said...

"I guess the (streimel-wearing) Chasidim will have to switch to Boraslinos now.

Nahh. They'll probably just riot, protest, burn garbage bins and ban stuff.

8:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BIGOT !!

9:19 AM  
Blogger Somewhat Anonymous said...

Where the line is between making use of animals and Tzaar Ballei Chaim seems to be matter of much dispute. There are definitely opinions that allow pretty much anything that is for human benefit though (i.e. Cutting a dog's ears because its owner wants it to have a certain look).

12:08 PM  
Blogger Charlie Hall said...

'leather, alligator, sheepskin
items?'

Leather is not an issue because no cow is ever killed for solely for its hide. Rabbi Slikin talks about these issues extensively in *Man and Beast*.

In any case, there is no longer any need to wear fur because the synthetic alternatives are better and cheaper. OTOH there is still no insulator better than natural down.

12:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the issue is an important one, but i'm not sure i'd use R' YM for this notion since he is, well i dont know any nice way to say this, a politician first and a rabbi second.

12:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fur is used in so many items--such as Uggs ---banning it would make a lot of 5 towners upset!!!

12:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's like pate froi gras (stuffed goose liver pate) which is made by raising geese under horrid circumstances where they are forced fed till their livers are so fatty that they die. you can find the kosher version of this delicacy, which is definitely tzar baalei chaim. isn't a hechsher on such a product an oxy-moron?

1:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OM...to clarify your position on this:
If the minks were raised in a more "humane" manner you would have no objection to cutting their cute litte fuzzy heads off and then skinning them and using thier cute little pelts to make fur coats?

1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ANON 12:42

GUT G'ZOKT!!!

3:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ANON 12:42

GUT G'ZOKT!!!

3:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You all sound like those PETA nuts. Fur is wonderful and warm!! It is farmed.If you buy a cheap mink maybe it's from China. The vast majority of fur is legally farmed, and no they are not skinned alive. i don't know where you got your info. but these rumors about the fur industry have been around a long time. Fake fur is just that, fake. Are you going to give up your diamond ring? How can you be sure it's not a blood diamond?!? Don't preach, it's not becoming. Do you eat veal? How about chicken? Ever been to a kosher slaughterhouse?

2:15 AM  
Blogger Leah Goodman said...

Sadly, Borsalinos are also made from animals. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borsalino ,they produce their felt from Belgian rabbit fur.

I'm also not a PETA person, but I really think that with all the options available to us, fur is just not a necessity. Leather is a different issue, because cows are killed for food, and are never skinned alive.

Personally, I have no problem with eating beef/chicken/lamb, but I will not eat veal or pate de fois gras. My dog, however, would be willing to give his furballs to anyone who'd like to make a coat. Currently, they just go to the trash.

9:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With all due respect, you have been had by these phonies. PeTA has been suspected in the past of having animals tortured in front of their cameras to get their way. Their goal is to eliminate all use of animals and animal products, even our beloved pets.

They wish for animals and humans to be equal. It is PeTA who compares the tragedy of 6 million Jews killed in the holocaust to the tragedy of 6 billion broiler chickens slaughtered for food. And you wish to believe these people?

Look at that video again and ask yourself how they knew in advance to train the camera on the only animal to be skinned alive and how that animal ended up conveniently on top the heap of dead ones on the truck.

There are many Jews in the fur industry who would be hurt, their businesses, their jobs if bans on fur become widespread.

3:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PETA does NOT want to rid people of their pets. They do not want people to have dogs are gaurd dogs or cats as mice catchers.

They want animals to be companions.

2:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. PETA is a group that has little or no knowledge of the subject they profess. They don't want animals for pets or anything else. As a gag, I communicated with them to ask about preserving rare or nearly extinct species in zoos in order to breed them and repopulate the species. Their response was--"It is better for the species to become extinct then to have even one animal in a cage for even a minute."
2. It has been rumored that fur is skinned from dead or semi-dead animals that are killed or stunned by a red-hot poker inserted into the rectum. The reasoning is that no fur is damaged in the process. Again, this is a rumor and I never found anything to substantiate it.
3. While I can easily afford to get my wife a mink coat, it will be a cold day in hell before that happens. She is nice and worm in her shearling coat and she would never insult me in such a manner as to ever ask me for a fur coat. I much rather buy her a new piece of jewelry.

6:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm rather new to Halachaic pursuits, but I had the impression most furs would not be kosher since they came from tamei carcasses, of course not skinned alive either as if to avoid "carcass"; the pre-flood leathers would have been from recent naturally dead tahor animals. Any directions? Thanks.

1:44 PM  
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