RCA Protests Greek Ban on Kosher Slaughter

November 1, 2021 – The Rabbinical Council of America, the leading membership organization of orthodox rabbis in North America, strongly protests the ruling of the Hellenic Council of State, the top administrative court in Greece, banning kosher and halal slaughter. This ruling follows the decision of the European Court of Justice of December 17, 2020 permitting the European Union to ban religious slaughter without pre-stunning. This latest decision reinforces our concern over the growing ban on kosher slaughter of animals for Jews and halal slaughter for Muslims.

Rabbi Binyamin Blau, president of the RCA, said, “The Greek court’s decision requiring stunning of animals before shechitah (ritual slaughter) heightens our concern over the growing violations of the religious rights of Muslims and Jews which run counter to any democracy’s responsibility to safeguard religious freedom.”

Rabbi Zvi Engel, first-vice president of the RCA, said, “The Greek decision is another step in effectively undermining Jewish life in Europe. It disregards the fact that Jewish law demands humane and sensitive treatment of animals, especially during the ritual slaughter process. We call upon Greece and the European Union to address the contradiction between its avowed tolerance, and its demonstration of intolerance, of those who practice faith traditions.”