On blood in judaism V.V Rosanov

I once had to attend a Jewish slaughterhouse and saw cattle being slaughtered according to the rules of Jewish ritual. I convey the naked fact in all its nakedness.

It happened like this.

About six years ago, I, bound by service, lived in a large center of the South-Western region, three-quarters populated by Jews.

During frequent walks in the countryside, my attention was attracted by a strange-looking building with long factory-type buildings surrounded by a high, dense palisade, which is customary to surround prisons and places of detention. I soon learned that it was a city slaughterhouse and a dormant albumin factory. Being interested in issues of urban improvement and being familiar with the setting up of the capital’s slaughterhouses, I decided to inspect the local city slaughterhouse, completely losing sight of the fact that the city is populated mainly by Jews, that all trade is in the hands of Jews, and therefore the city slaughterhouse should be Jewish.

The Jewish gatekeeper, in response to my question: “Is it possible to inspect the slaughterhouse?”, hesitated and, apparently, intended to appeal to the authority of his superiors in a small outbuilding at the gate. At this time, a nimble, fierce-looking Jew jumped out of the outbuilding and attacked the gatekeeper. Understanding somewhat Jewish jargon, I could make out the following phrase: “Why are you talking so long? You see that this is not a Jew. After all, you are ordered to let only Jews through.”

“In this case, it will be necessary to infiltrate the slaughterhouse at all costs,” I thought and decided to continue my walk. Returning home again past the slaughterhouse, I noticed that the gatekeeper had been changed, and decided to try my luck again. To be more convincing, I told the gatekeeper that I was involved in veterinary supervision, that I needed to go to the office on business, and therefore I asked to be taken to the office.

The gatekeeper hesitated, but then explained how to get through... The old Jew, apparently, was not in the outbuilding, and I safely reached the office. In the office I was met by an intelligent-looking Jew. I introduced myself as a veterinarian, without giving my last name, however, and asked to be taken to the slaughterhouse.

The manager began to talk in detail about the structure of the slaughterhouse, which has an inactive albumin plant, water supply and all the latest equipment. Finally, the manager began to tell me where the cattle were mainly delivered from, what breed, in what quantity, etc. When I interrupted him and asked him to be taken to the slaughterhouse a second time, after a short pause he told me that he couldn’t take him to the slaughterhouse. However, since I am “interested in the technical part of the matter,” then perhaps he “can show me the cutting of meat.”

At this time the manager was called, and as he was leaving, he shouted to me: “I’ll send you a guide now.” I decided that I shouldn’t wait for the guide, since he would obviously only show me what didn’t interest me. Without any special incidents, I managed to get to the slaughterhouse. It represented a series of long stone sheds in which the cutting of meat carcasses took place. The only thing that caught my eye was the extremely unsanitary condition of the premises. One of the workers explained to me that the slaughter was already over, that only in the last building they were finishing the slaughter of calves and small livestock. It was in this room that I finally saw the picture of cattle slaughter according to Jewish rites that interested me.

First of all, what caught my eye was that I was not seeing the slaughter of livestock, but some kind of sacrament, a sacred rite, some kind of biblical sacrifice. In front of me were not just butchers, but clergymen, whose roles were, apparently, strictly distributed. The main role belonged to the slaughterer, armed with a piercing weapon; At the same time, he was helped by a number of other servants: some held the slaughter cattle, supporting them in a standing position, others bowed their heads and clamped the mouth of the sacrificial animal.

Still others collected blood in sacrificial vessels and poured it onto the floor while reciting established prayers; finally, the fourth held sacred books, from which prayers were read and ritual ceremonies were performed. Finally, there were simply butchers, to whom the slaughtered cattle were handed over at the end of the ritual. The latter were responsible for skinning and cutting meat.

The slaughter of livestock was striking in its extreme cruelty and brutality. The sacrificial animal's fetters were slightly loosened, allowing it to stand on its feet; In this position, three servants supported him all the time, preventing him from falling when it weakened from blood loss. At the same time, the slaughterer, armed in one hand with a long - half an arshin knife with a narrow blade sharpened at the end, and in the other hand with a long, six-inch awl, calmly, slowly, calculatedly inflicted deep puncture wounds on the animal, acting alternately with the above-mentioned tools.

At the same time, each blow was checked against a book that the boy held open in front of the slaughterer; each blow was accompanied by prescribed prayers, which were said by the slaughterer.

The first blows were made to the animal’s head, then to the neck, finally to the armpits and to the side. I didn’t remember exactly how many blows were given, but it was obvious that the number of blows was the same for each slaughter; in this case, the blows were inflicted in a certain order and places, and even the shape of the wounds probably had some symbolic meaning, since some wounds were inflicted with a knife, others with an awl; Moreover, all the wounds were puncture wounds, since the slaughterer, as they say, “kicked” the animal, which shuddered, tried to escape, tried to moo, but it was powerless: its legs were tied, in addition, three hefty servants held it tightly, the fourth covered its mouth , due to which only dull, strangled wheezing sounds were obtained.

Each blow of the slaughterer was accompanied by a stream of blood, and from some wounds it oozed slightly, while from others it gave a whole fountain of scarlet blood, splashing into the face, onto the hands and dress of the slaughterer and his minions. Simultaneously with the blows of the knife, one of the servants placed a sacred vessel near the wounds, into which the blood of the animal flowed.

At the same time, the servants holding the animal kneaded and rubbed the sides, apparently with the aim of increasing blood flow. After the described wounds were inflicted, there was a pause, during which the blood collected in vessels and, during the established prayers, poured onto the floor, covering it with whole puddles; then, when the animal had difficulty staying on its feet and was sufficiently drained of blood, it was quickly lifted, placed on its back, its head pulled out, and the slaughterer delivered the last, final blow, cutting the animal’s throat.

This last one was the only cutting blow inflicted by the butcher on the sacrificial animal. After this, the slaughterer moved on to another, while the killed animal was placed at the disposal of ordinary butchers, who skinned it and began cutting up the meat.

Whether the slaughter of large livestock was carried out in the same way or with any deviations, I cannot judge, because sheep, calves and yearling bulls were slaughtered in my presence. This was the spectacle of the Jewish sacrifice; I say “sacrifice” because I can’t find another, more suitable word for everything I saw, because, obviously, what was happening before me was not a simple slaughter of cattle, but a sacred rite was being performed, a cruel one that did not shorten, but, on the contrary, lengthened the torment. At the same time, according to well-known rules, with established prayers, some of the rezniks wore a white prayer cloth with black stripes, which is worn by rabbis in synagogues.

On one of the windows lay the same cloth, two sacrificial vessels and tablets, which every Jew wraps around his hand with the help of belts during prayer. Finally, the sight of the slaughterer muttering prayers and the servants did not leave the slightest doubt. All the faces were somehow cruel, concentrated, fanatical. Even the strangers, the meat traders and clerks standing in the courtyard, waiting for the end of the slaughter, even they were strangely concentrated. Among them the usual bustle and glib Jewish jargon could not be heard; they stood silently, in a prayerful mood.

Being tired and depressed by all the kind of torment and mass of blood, some kind of unnecessary cruelty, but still wanting to see the slaughter of cattle to the end, I leaned on the door lintel and involuntarily lifted my hat. This was enough to give me away completely.

Apparently, they had been keeping an eye on me for a long time, but my last movement was a direct insult to the sacrament, since all the participants, as well as outside spectators of the ritual, remained wearing hats and covering their heads the entire time.

Two Jews immediately jumped up to me, annoyingly repeating the same question, which was incomprehensible to me. Obviously, this was a password known to every Jew, to which I also had to answer with the established slogan.

My silence caused an unimaginable uproar. The slaughterers and servants abandoned their cattle and rushed towards me. People from other departments also ran out and joined the crowd, which pushed me into the courtyard, where I was immediately surrounded.

The crowd was loud, the mood was undoubtedly threatening, judging by individual exclamations, especially since the slaughterers still had knives in their hands, and some of the servants had stones.

At this time, an intelligent-looking, representative Jew emerged from one of the sections, to whose authority the crowd unquestioningly obeyed, from which I conclude that this must have been the chief slaughterer - a person undoubtedly sacred in the eyes of the Jews. He called out to the crowd and silenced them. When the crowd parted, he came close to me and rudely shouted, addressing himself as “you”: “How dare you come up here? After all, you know that according to our law it is forbidden for strangers to be present at the slaughter.” I objected as calmly as possible: “I am a veterinarian, I am involved in veterinary supervision and came here on my duties, therefore I ask you to speak to me in a different tone.” My words made a noticeable impression on both the carver and those around him. Reznik politely, addressing himself as “you,” but in a tone that did not tolerate objections, told me: “I advise you to leave immediately and not tell anyone about what you saw.”

“You see how excited the crowd is, I am unable to restrain it and I cannot guarantee the consequences unless you leave the slaughterhouse this very minute.”

All I had to do was follow his advice.

The crowd very reluctantly, at the call of the butcher, parted - and I, as slowly as possible, without losing my composure, headed towards the exit. When I took a few steps away, stones flew after me, loudly hitting the fence, and I can’t vouch for the fact that they wouldn’t have broken my skull if it weren’t for the presence of the senior butcher and resourcefulness and self-control, which have helped me out more than once in my life. Already approaching the gate, the thought flashed through my mind: “What if they stop me and demand to show my documents?” And this thought made me quicken my steps against my will.

Only outside the gates did I breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that I had escaped a very, very serious danger. Looking at my watch, I was amazed at how early it was. Probably, judging by the time, I stayed no more than an hour, since the slaughter of each animal lasted 10-15 minutes, while the time spent in the slaughterhouse seemed to me an eternity. This is what I saw at the Jewish slaughterhouse, this is the picture that cannot be erased from the recesses of my brain, a picture of some horror, some great secret hidden for me, some half-solved riddle that I did not want , was afraid to unravel it to the end. I tried with all my might, if not to forget, then to push the picture of bloody horror further away in my memory, and I partially succeeded.

Over time, it faded, was obscured by other events and impressions, and I carried it carefully, afraid to approach it, not being able to explain it to myself in all its completeness and totality.

The terrible picture of the murder of Andryusha Yushchinsky, which was discovered by the examination of professors Kosorotov and Sikorsky, went to my head. For me this picture is doubly terrible: I have already seen it. Yes, I saw this brutal murder. I saw it with my own eyes at the Jewish slaughterhouse. This is not news to me, and if anything depresses me, it’s that I was silent. If Tolstoy, when notified of the death penalty - even of a criminal - exclaimed: “I cannot remain silent!”, then how did I, a direct witness and eyewitness, remain silent for so long?

Why didn’t I shout: “Guard”, didn’t scream, didn’t scream in pain? After all, the consciousness flashed through my mind that I saw not a massacre, but a sacrament, an ancient bloody sacrifice, full of chilling horror.

It was not for nothing that stones were thrown at me, it was not for nothing that I saw knives in the hands of the butchers. It was not for nothing that I was close, and perhaps very close, to a fatal outcome. After all, I desecrated the temple. I leaned on the lintel of the temple, while only the Levites and priests involved in the ritual could be present in it. The rest of the Jews stood respectfully at a distance.

Finally, I doubly insulted their sacrament, their ritual, by removing my headdress.

But why was I silent again during the process! After all, this bloody picture was already in front of me, because for me there could be no doubt about the ritual. After all, before me all the time, like the shadow of Banquo, stood the bloody shadow of dear, dear Andryusha.

After all, this is the image of the martyr youth familiar to us from childhood, because this is the second Dmitry Tsarevich, whose bloody shirt hangs in the Moscow Kremlin, near the tiny shrine where the lamps glow and where Holy Rus' flocks.

Yes, Andryusha’s defender is right, a thousand times right, when he says: “Lonely, helpless, in mortal horror and despair Andryusha Yushchinsky accepted martyrdom. He probably couldn’t even cry when one villain covered his mouth, and another struck him in the skull and brain...” Yes, that was exactly so, it’s psychologically true, I was a spectator, a direct witness, and if I was silent - so, I confess, because I was too sure that Beilis would be accused, that an unprecedented crime would receive retribution, that the jury would be asked the question of the ritual in its entirety and totality, that there would be no disguise, no cowardice, no room for temporary at least the triumph of Jewry.

Yes, the murder of Andryusha was probably an even more complex and chilling ritual than the one I was present at; after all, Andryusha was inflicted 47 wounds, while with me only a few wounds were inflicted on the sacrificial animal - 10-15, maybe just the fatal number thirteen, but, I repeat, I did not count the number of wounds and am speaking approximately. But the nature and location of the wounds are exactly the same: first there were blows to the head, then to the neck and shoulder of the animal; some of them produced small streams, while the wounds in the neck produced a fountain of blood; I remember this clearly, as a stream of scarlet blood flooded the hands and dress of the butcher, who did not have time to pull away. Only the boy managed to pull back the sacred book, which he kept open all the time in front of the carver, then there was a pause, undoubtedly short, but it seemed to me an eternity - during this period of time the blood was drawn out. It was collected in vessels that the boy placed on the wounds. At the same time, the animal’s head was pulled out and its mouth was clamped with force; it could not moo, it only made muffled wheezing sounds. It beat and shuddered convulsively, but the servants held it tightly enough.

But this is exactly what the forensic examination established in the Yushchinsky case: “The boy’s mouth was covered to prevent him from screaming, and also to increase the bleeding. He remained conscious, he resisted. There were abrasions on the lips, face and side.”

This is how the small humanoid animal died. Here it is, the sacrificial death of Christians, with their mouths closed, like cattle. Yes, this is how, according to Professor Pavlov, “the young man, Mr. Yushchinsky, died as a martyr from funny, ridiculous injections.”

But what the examination establishes with undoubted accuracy is a pause, a break that followed the infliction of neck wounds that were profusely hemorrhaging. Yes, there was undoubtedly this pause - it corresponds to the moment of drawing out and collecting blood. But here is a detail that was completely missed, not noticed by the examination and which was clearly, distinctly imprinted in my memory. While one of the servants was stretching out the animal’s head and tightly clamping its mouth shut, three others were intensively kneading the sides and rubbing the animal, apparently with the aim of increasing the bleeding. By analogy, I assume that the same thing was done with Andryusha.

Obviously, they also intensively kneaded him, pressed on his ribs and rubbed his body in order to increase the bleeding, but this operation, this “massage” does not leave any material traces - which is probably why this remained undocumented by the forensic examination, which stated only an abrasion on the side, not obviously giving it due importance.

As the blood flowed out, the animal weakened, and it was supported by servants in a standing position. This is again what Professor Sikorsky states when he says: “The boy weakened from horror and despair and fell into the hands of the killers.”

Then, when the animal was sufficiently bled dry, the blood, collected in vessels, was poured onto the floor while prayers were read. Another detail: there were whole pools of blood on the floor, and the slaughterers and servants were literally ankle-deep in blood. Probably, this was required by the bloody Jewish ritual, and only at the end of it did the blood drain, which, as I passed, I saw in one of the departments where the slaughter had already been completed.

Then, at the end of the pause, further, also calculated, calm blows followed, interrupted by the reading of prayers. These injections produced very little or no blood. The stabbing blows were delivered to the animal’s shoulders, armpits and side.

I cannot determine whether they are applied to the heart or directly to the side of the animal. But here is some difference from the ritual described by experts: after the said injections are applied, the animal is turned over, placed on its back, and the last, final blow is applied to it, with which the animal’s throat is cut. Whether anything similar was done to Andryusha has not been established. I have no doubt that in both cases the ritual has its own characteristics, which I explain to myself by the fact that a more complex ritual was performed over Andryusha, a more complex sacrifice was made in his person, something similar to ours was performed on him, perhaps. bishop's service, which was adapted to the solemn moment of the consecration of the Jewish chapel. The ritual I saw was more elementary, a simple daily sacrifice - something like our ordinary liturgy, proskomedia. Another detail: enemies of the ritual version point out that during the Jewish slaughter of cattle, cutting wounds are supposedly inflicted, while forensic examination established that only piercing wounds were found on Andryusha’s body. I believe that this is nothing more than a blatant lie, calculated on ignorance, on our complete ignorance of how the ritual slaughter of cattle is carried out in Jewish slaughterhouses; and against this lie I, as a witness and eyewitness to the slaughter, protest and repeat again: I saw two tools in the hands of the slaughterers - a narrow long knife and an awl, and with these two tools piercing blows were alternately applied. Reznik stabbed and “spiked” the animal. At the same time, it is likely that the shape of the injection, the shape of the wound itself, had some symbolic meaning, since some blows were inflicted with the tip of a knife, others with an awl. Only the last, final blow, which cut the animal’s throat, was cutting. This was probably the throat wound through which the Jews believed the soul exited.

Finally, enemies of the ritual version point to a whole series of unnecessary, supposedly senseless blows inflicted on Andryusha. Pointed out, for example, “senseless” wounds under the arms; This statement is again calculated on our ignorance, on our complete ignorance of Jewish customs. In this regard, I remember the following: once, while living in the Pale of Settlement, I found myself in the wilderness of a village, where I was forced to temporarily settle in a Jewish tavern, which was maintained by a very wealthy and patriarchal Jewish family of a local timber merchant. For a long time, the hostess tried to persuade me to eat at their Jewish kosher table; In the end, I was forced to give in to the hostess’s arguments. At the same time, the hostess, persuading me, explained that the only difference between their poultry and meat is that it is “bloodless,” and most importantly, “the tendons under the armpits of animals are cut, and in birds, on the legs and under the wings.”

This, according to the housewife, has a deep religious meaning in the eyes of the Jews, “making the meat clean” and fit for food, while “an animal with uncut tendons is considered unclean”; at the same time, she added that “these wounds can only be inflicted by a butcher” with some special weapon, and the wounds “must be lacerated.”

For the above reasons, I remain with the firm and well-founded conviction that in the person of Andryusha Yushchinsky we must certainly see a victim of ritual and Jewish fanaticism. There is no doubt that this must be a ritual more complex, more skilled than an ordinary ritual, according to the rules of which livestock is slaughtered daily and a daily blood sacrifice is made. By the way, this is the reason why Jews open the synagogue doors so wide. So willingly, sometimes demonstratively, they invite you to come to you, as if saying: “Look, this is how we pray, this is our temple, our worship - you see, we have no secret.” This is a lie, a subtle lie: what we are shown is not a temple or a worship service. A synagogue is not a temple - it is only a school, a house of worship, a religious house, a religious club, accessible to everyone. A rabbi is not a priest, no, he is only a teacher elected by society; Jews have no temple; he was in Jerusalem, and it was destroyed. As in biblical times, so now the temple is replaced by a tabernacle. Daily sacrifices are performed in the tabernacle. These sacrifices can only be performed by a slaughterer - a spiritual person corresponding to our priest. He is assisted by his servants, the Levites. I also saw them at the slaughterhouse - they correspond to our sextons and clerks, who are undoubtedly divided into several categories among them. It is in this temple-tabernacle that we are not allowed in and even ordinary Jews are not allowed in. Only clergy are allowed access there; mere mortals can only be spectators and stand at a distance - I also saw this at the slaughterhouse. If you penetrate their secret, you are threatened with revenge, they are ready to stone you, and if anything can save you, it is your social position and, perhaps, random circumstances - I also experienced this myself.

But they may object to me: the appearance of the slaughterhouse does not correspond to the appearance of the ancient tabernacle. Yes it's true. But I explain this to myself by the fact that Jewry does not want to attract too vigilant attention to itself. It is ready to sacrifice the trifles of the external structure, is ready to make retreats in order to buy at the price the secret of the ritual in all its biblical integrity.

In conclusion, I cannot help but say: how little we know about Judaism and Jews! We don't know them at all. How skillfully they hide under the fig leaf of innocence a huge power, a world power, which they deal with more and more every year.

Translated specifically for /cig