\ TUB. TAAM OR A VINDICATION OF THE JEWISH MODE OF SLAUGHTERING ANIMALS FOR FOOD CALLED SHECHITAH BY AARON ZEBI FRIEDMAN TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW BY LAEMLEIN BUTTENWIESER SECOND EDITION NEW YORK BLOCK PUBLISHING CO., 738 BROADWAY 1904 PRESS OF PHILIP COWEN 489 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK StacR na I. Sketch of Aaron Zebi Friedman Some men, modest, pious and self-sacrificing-, are content .to spend their lives humbly but reverently working for the Holy Cause of Religion. Who shall measure their life work, the life of any one of them? No human eye notices, no human heart sympathizes, holds true of many such a life work, or life. But often when the dust of the Beth Haim covers the worker, the value of his work is realized, and when the life is spent, the value of the life is discerned. The work and life of Aaron Zebi Friedman eminently il- lustrates what we have stated. Modest, pious and self-sacrificing, he spent his life humbly but reverently working for the Holy Cause so dear to him. While his piety, self-sacrifice and scholarship were indeed recognized during his life, it is even now that the value of his work and the inspiration of his life appeal to all who ad- mire the qualities we have named, and who understand what work and life mean in human duty. At a very early age he was acquainted with the .contents of the Bible and Talmud. Cabbalistic works were studied by him, and his controversial skill in Talmudic subjects won for him the friendship of grand Rabbi Liberman, whose daughter Rebecca he subsequently married. At the age of seventeen, he was appointed Shohet of the city of Slavisk and the neighboring county, which post he held for sev- eral years. He was then called to fill a position as Rabbi and Shochet in Bernkastle-on-the-Moselle. . Here he remained several years, beloved and revered by all who knew hirrTT During this period he studied medicine, mainly to benefit the poor, many of whom recognized in him their benefactor. Too close application to his duties impaired his health and a sea voyage to America was ordered. The whole town turned out 2116310 IV. en masse to bid their beloved Rabbi God-speed, and to the day of his death he was in correspondence with the members of his flock ,who wrote to him for spiritual advice and guidance. His letters of credentials from leading Rabbis of Europe secured for him shortly after his arrival in this countrv the position of supervising some of the largest abbatoirs in New York. He taught many pupils shechitah and his seal was rec- ognized by the Orthodox Jews of New York. In 1866, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, through its President, Mr. Henry Bergh, declared the Jewish method of slaughtering animals to be "cruelty needlessly inflicted." But Rabbi Friedman's able defense in his treatise "Tub Taam" convinced the Society of the error of their judgment. "Tub Taam" was originally published in Hebrew and testimonials commending the book and indorsing the author's careful treatment of the subject were received from leading rabbis and physicians of Europe and America. In 1876, the book was translated by Prof. Buttenwieser into English, but owing to the illness of the author the translation was never placed on sale. The Book remains a lasting monument to his reverent love for our ancestral faith and customs ; a testimony to his schol- arship and an evidence of his zeal for the religion in which he was born, for whose interests he labored faithfully all his life and as a servant of which he yielded up his breath. Shakespeare tells us that the "Evil which men do lives after them, while the good is oft interred with their bones-" It is a satisfaction to know that the opposite is likewise true. This little book, long forgotten, rises, as it were, otit of oblivion to resurrect and bless the memory of the ear- liest writer and the careful translator. It had served its purpose in removing the mistaken, but sincere, opposition of the New York Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals and preserved for the ortho- dox Jew the right, so precious to him, of killing the animal According 'to th6 prescribed Jewish formula. Lately Ihe same ignorant opposition developed in Den- V. ver and it seemed as though the Jews must forego their cherished privilege of securing kosher meat. It was then that "The American Hebrew" reprinted copi- ous extracts form this work and forwarded it to representa- tive Jews in Denver. The clever exposition of the subject and the invincible arguments the book contained, again carried the day, and Denver, like New York, withdrew its opposition. It was then that the children of the writer and translator gladly availed themselves of the precious privilege of per- petuating this little work by having it reprinted. This they did, not only out of respect to the cherished memory of the dear departed ones, but also in the hope that it may contin- ue to spread light upon this important subject and that it may in the future as in the past serve to convince Jew and Gentile alike that the Jewish dietary laws were based on broad scientific and hygienic principles. Aaron Zebi Friedman was born in Poland, Adar i^th, 5582, (March 8th 1822), and died in New York City the 27th day of lyar, 5636 (May 2ist, 1876). II. Sketch of L. Buttenwieser Rev. Laemmlein Buttenwieser, the translator of this work, was born in Wassertruedingen, Bavaria, Germany, January i6th, 1825. He was descended from a long line of well- known rabbis, his father having been Rabbi at Wassertruedin- gen. At an early age, young Buttenwieser evinced great inter- est in his Hebrew studies and showed his remarkable pre- cociousness by reading the Talmud before his ninth year. He progressed rapidly, studying first wi:h his father at Wassertruedingen, then at Aschaffenburg, where he attended the gymnasium, then at Wuerzburg, where he entered the university and finally at Prague, where he likewise satisfied his craving for general culture by attending the famoui university there. Mr. Buttenwieser received seven degrees (Morenus,) among which were those from such renowned scholars as Rabbi Wechsler at Schwabach, Bavaria, Dr. Adler at Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, Rabbi Seligman Baer Bamberger, Rabbi Samuel Freund of Prague, and Rabbi Rappaport, Chief Rabbi of Prague. All these great teachers agreed in pronouncing him one of the brightest Talmudists that had ever sat at their feet. Besides his wonderful acquaintance with the Talmud and his thorough and scientific mastery of pure Hebrew, Chal- daic and Syriac, Mr. Buttenwieser was a thorough Latin and Greek scholar, a good mathematician, was well read in German literature and had a fair acquaintance with the French language. ^ In 1854 he decided to emigrate to America. He then took up the study of English, which he likewise soon mas- tered. He arrived in this country in July, 1854. Conditions in the ministry here were not such as to attract this typical German scholar. He soon found that America Vll. was a good field for the orator, devoid of real scholars/lip, rather than for the real scholar, unadorned by the gifts of oratory. He was just one generation ahead of his mother-country, and one generation behind his adopted country. To-day, however, when our American Jewry recognizes that the currents of real Jewish faith and fervor must flow from and be quickened by the deep springs of Jewish lore and when it is ready and anxious to found colleges to renew ami perpetuate the study of the Hebrew language and liter- ature but experiences great difficulty in finding profound scholars to fill the professorial chairs, a Buttenwieser would be appreciated and sought for. In those days, however, Mr. Buttenwieser found his rare Hebrew attainments a comparatively valueless asset, but his broad general culture stood him in good stead. He became teacher of languages, which vocation he fol- lowed, with much success, in Boston, Cincinnati, Philadel- phia and New York. In Cincinnati, where he remained from 1856 till 1863, he taught in the Talmud Yelodin School. In Philadelphia he was teacher in the Hebrew Educational Society and was Professor of Talmud in Maimonides College, where his as- sociates in the faculty were Drs. Leeser and Jastrow. The college was short-lived, owing to lack of funds and of stu- dents. In 1873, he left for New York, where he became Profes- sor of Languages in the Public Schools, which position he retained until he retired from active life in 1886. Mr. Buttenwieser was too modest to push himself for- ward. He was not a sparkling fountain, displaying its light spray with bright effect in the dazzling glow of the sunlight, but he was indeed a deep well of clear, pure, refreshing wa- ter, where all who thirsted for knowledge, might come and drink eagerly and leave refreshed and satisfied. Many were those who knew of this well and imbibed freely of its inex- haustible supply. Vlll. This great scholar and good man died on Yom Kippur 5662, September 23rd, 1901. In his death there passed away one of that small, but brilliant, coterie of great Ger- man scholars, whose life and learning were a golden link between the old and the new, who preserved all that was so valuable and so delightful in the old fashioned real Talmudic scholar and adorned it with the pleasing garb of modern cul- ture. What a pity that the busy, money-making, materialistic age, in which he lived, could not more fully appreciate such vast learning and scholarship, coupled with so pure, so sim- ple, so virtuous a character. But, as if to prove that "a man is greater in death than in life," his obituary appeared in newspapers in every sec- tion of this broad land, although he had been in retirement for over fifteen years prior to his death. "His good deeds rose up to bless him.'' Of him the "Jewish Messenger," in its obituary notice, justly said, "Professor Buttemvieser had erudition that ought to have been more widely acknowledged and brought to the front. Like the typical scholars, his modesty and unobtrusiveness were traits, that made him keep to the back ground. In this respect he resembled Michael Heilprin. Strange want of foresight, decades ago, that prevented these men being made the educators of young Israel." PREFACE This preface is intended to form the foundation of the pres- ent work, which I herewith submit to the public. I found it the more necessary to premise all here proffered, as I know that several of the views expressed in this work may appeajr strange to the medical fraternity, and it may therefore be eas- ily inferred that many physicians will oppose me. At all events, they will propound difficult questions to me on several points. For this reason I shall here make known the considerations which induced me to write and publish this little work. My first proposition is : The Shechitah, or the Jewish method of killing animals, although slower, is easier and less painful than that caused by blows inflicted on tfhe head ; for no shrinkage and contortion of the limbs are perceptible after dying through Shechitah', as would be the case with an animal that dies in consequence of blows inflicted on its head. The reason is the following: Although death does not en- sue after Shechitah until all the blood has departed from the body, we must not forget that there are two kinds of blood in every warm-blooded animal ; the blood of the members, and the life-blood. The blood of the members is the circulating blood and is red ; but the life-blood is of a blackish Tiue. As soon as the black blood has departed from the body, the ani- mal dies immediately. The black blood, however, must leave the body before even the whole act of Shechitah, viz., the severing of the windpipe and oesophagus, has been performed, if, as it is prescribed in our religion, not a mere incision into the windpipe and oes- ophagus has been made, but a real separation of the part* has taken place, so that they stand apart and the incision is apparent. X. In this case the arteries and veins have been cut, the red and black blood flows out, and life is immediately extinct. The fact is noticeable in the eyes of the animal immediate- ly after Shechitah ; for they immediately roll about and are closed in their sockets. . They shortly afterwards are opened again, but they then show that life has departed. My second proposition is : Through blows inflicted on the brain the blood becomes black and dark. Now, although the life-blood, on which the existence of life depends far more than on the circulating red blood, has a black color, still any one gifted with a good power of observation will easily find that there is as .much difference between the original clear col- or of the real black life-blood, and that which was driginally red and has by degeneration become black, as there 13 a dif- ference between pure and clear and dark or putrid water. With the naked eye we can distinguish both the red and black blood, as well as the mixture of both kinds of blood of an animal on which the act of Shechitah has been performed, and the blood that has been vitiated by blows inflicted on the brain. For the blood of an animal killed by Shechitah is clear and pure, but the blood of an animal killed by blows on the brain is black and dark. In the latter case the black color of the blood is not natural, as is the case with the life-blood of an animal in good health or killed by Shechitah. But the black color only shows that the blood, whose original color was red, has, by degeneration, become black. The black color of the life-blood of an animal killed by iblo'ws is likewise unnaturally black and dark, not clear. Although chemistry has not yet investigated and ascer- tained if blood, as an article of food, is wholesome or injurious -to the human system, still the evidence of Maimonides is fully sufficient for us, who says: Blood begets cruelty, not only in the person who partakes of it, but that cruelty is also inher- ited by his future offspring. The Bible also enjoins on us very emphatically (Dent. xii. 23) : ''Only be sure that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is the life." And by our own reason we can also ascertain the effect the eating of blood has on the system. For every article of food XI. can only produce that effect on the svstem which is inherent in it. Now the nature of the animal is free from all vices, and void of all virtues. There is neither envy nor hatred, neither honor nor pride, neither bashfulness nor repentance, neither kindness nor probity to be found in an animal. The whole ornament of oxen is their horns. With them they gore one another, inflicting 1 injury or even death, without, however, be- ing possessed of any of the vices mentioned. And although they gore one another as often as they meet, still they do not hate each other. They only do so because the inclination o! doing so is innate in them. If, then, any one eats blood, he partakes of its properties, and transfers them also to his children after him. For by means of food body and soul are kept united, and therefore food exercises its influence both on body and soul. Taste it- self is more spiritual than corporeal. Maimonides, therefore, is fully correct. But this is only the case with the blood, which is life itself, and which alone has the effects described. In it we find all those properties which are unbecoming" to the foremost of all creatures man. But we do not find these properties in the flesh, as that has no will of its own and waits with the members of the body for the orders of the spirit, itt order to execute them and be guided by them. My third proposition is : Besides the special functions which all members of the body have to perform for the preservation of the body, they also have to perform spiritual ones for the strengthening of body and soul. For instance, the mouth/ has to nourish and strengthen the body by eating and drinking- This is the bod- ily function, without which life would cease. But tihe mouth is also the organ of the voice, whfch is quite necessajry for the preservation of the whole race of animals. .For by the voice the different animals recognize and call one another. This becomes yet more apparent if we consider the human voice ; for every one of the five organs of speech in tfiw first place serves its part to support our system by providing it with proper food. The lips, which are the doors of the mouth, and open to re- XII. ceive the food, and close to prevent the food from falling out, produce the labial letters. The teeth, which bite and grind the food, produce the den- tal letters. The tongue, which turns the food about in the mouth, for its thorough mastication, produces the lingual letters. The palate, whose function is to taste, produces the palatal letters. The windpipe, which promotes the digestion of the food by providing it with saliva, produces the guttural letters. Likewise the brain, which gives strength to all members, produces thought. The hands, with which we work, have also the power of feeling. The urinary organs likewise subserve genital pur- poses. The kidneys, which prepare the urine, are the advisory organs of the soul. In the heart, which is the -source of the blood, wisdom resides. And this is the case with all organs. They all have to serve two masters, the body and the soul. This means : they have to perform bodily functions far the preservation of the body, and spiritual functions for the preservation of the soul. But my tffteory must not be -refuted by offering me the instance of a man who was sick with the laughing sickness, and whose spleen had been removed from his body, and yet was not ^ow-red by such operation. For it may be the sickness was incurable, because the veins were affected and diseased up to the heart and brain. In this case the sick- ness could not be cured any more, as I have explained in 'Rule VIII. My fourth proposition concerns animals of prey. They vent their rage and fury, that burn like fire, upon the bodies of the animals, attacked by them, through their crooked nails and 'teeth. The formation of the feet and teeth of