Two ancient Jewish practices are increasingly being challenged in modern Britain and Europe: kosher slaughter and the circumcision of baby boys. Both can appear troubling to outsiders. Both raise legitimate questions about animal welfare, bodily autonomy and religious freedom. And both have a long history of becoming political battlegrounds over whether Jews can continue to live according to their traditions in European society.

The debate over kosher slaughter has become entangled with a much larger argument about halal meat, Islam and immigration. Yet kosher production represents a tiny proportion of British slaughter, while vast amounts of halal meat enters the general food supply every day. When politicians demand bans on religious slaughter, are they really arguing about animal welfare, or about the religious communities themselves?

Circumcision presents an equally difficult collision between ancient faith and modern values. Brit Milah remains fundamental to Jewish identity even among many Jews who are otherwise not particularly observant. But should parents have the right permanently to alter the body of an eight-day-old child for religious reasons? Shimon Cohen, director of Shechita UK and an advocate for religious freedom at the Conference of European Rabbis, joins me for a frank discussion about two practices at the heart of Jewish life – and why defending them requires answering the difficult questions rather than avoiding them.

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👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand why kosher slaughter and circumcision have become political battlegrounds – and what banning them would mean for Jewish life in Britain and Europe.

💬 We Discuss:

🔪 What actually happens during kosher slaughter – and whether stunning really is more humane

🐄 Why mechanical stunning was never about animal welfare

🧪 The scientific argument over how quickly an animal loses consciousness during shechita

🇨🇭 The disturbing history of European bans on kosher slaughter

☪️ Why the explosion of halal meat has dragged Jewish practices into a much wider political fight

🥩 The difference between kosher, stunned halal and non-stunned halal meat

🏫 Are you unknowingly eating halal meat in restaurants, schools and other institutions?

🏷️ Does food labelling may make more sense than banning religious slaughter?

👶 What actually happens during brit milah and why circumcision remains so important to Jewish identity

⚖️ Where parental rights, bodily autonomy and freedom of religion collide

🩺 Why a mohel does not necessarily need to be a doctor – and how the practice is regulated

🚫 Why male circumcision and FGM are fundamentally different practices

🇬🇧 Whether ancient religious traditions can survive increasingly secular Western attitudes

✡️ What restrictions on kosher slaughter and circumcision would ultimately mean for Jewish life in Europe

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