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Treyf Flu

Cross-posted from The Wet Sprocket

Since pig is forbidden, and ultra-Orthodox Israelis want secular Israelis to refrain from eating the animal, wouldn’t the outbreak of “swine flu” be welcome news?  It could build the negative association between worldwide pandemics and swine, and make pig-breeding really unpopular, right?

This new Israeli government didn’t quite see it that way.  Instead the swine flu outbreak was just another opportunity to politicize eating in Israel.

Since swine is unkosher there’s apparently a fear that just using the word will excite the most diehard secularists and lead them to the closest Tiv Tam to buy some prosciutto.  Therefore this “unique” new government’s ultra-Orthodox Deputy Health Minister issued a statement that rather than call this new disease by its name and abominable animal of origin, Israel would now refer to this new influenza as “Mexico Flu,” reports Haaretz.

As ridiculous as it is, it’s the reality of modern day Israel and a government coalition with the religious parties at the helm. Truth be told, I’m just relieved to hear that the Deputy Health Minister said they were prepared to deal with the cases, rather than assuming that those who were affected were being punished as heathens.

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7 Responses to “Treyf Flu”

1. Devora Kimelman-Block Says:
   April 27th, 2009 at 9:45 am

   Swine-flu outbreak linked to Smithfield factory farms

   http://www.grist.org/article/2.....smithfield

   Instead of focusing only on preventing the spread of Swine Flu, how about stopping it from ever occuring in the first place? Where is the USDA regulations of factory farms? When are they going to connect our health with how we get our food?

2. Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
   April 27th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   Yes, preventative measures would be amazing. If the end result of all this is not an examination of our agricultural practices, then an opportunity has been missed.

3. jim mcpeak Says:
   April 27th, 2009 at 10:46 am

   I wonder if you have ever heard of the Hong Kong flu? Maybe a name change would have made it less deadly.This current flu virus originated in Mexico and is comprised of bird and human viruses so why not be more accurate and call it the Mexican flu unless you have another agenda other than to educate?

4. Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
   April 27th, 2009 at 11:06 am

   I don’t believe the agenda here is mine, Jim. I have no problem with the name “Mexico Flu,” if that was in fact the original name for it. It’s not. Even in Israel as recently as yesterday it was called “Swine Flu.” See http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1081176.html. I highly doubt that the decision to change the name for “kosher” reasons was also intended to save more lives. If it does, then I applaud that decision, however, in this case I am not giving Health Minister Litzman the benefit of the doubt.

5. Adam Jackson, Editor-in-Chief Says:
   April 28th, 2009 at 5:50 pm

   Following on from Devorah’s comment, an update on swine flu: Our readers might be interested in this article which examines some details of the possibility that Smithfield’s factory farming practices contributed to or enabled the emergence of the new “swine flu” virus strain:
   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....188732.ece

6. Matt Says:
   April 29th, 2009 at 2:54 pm

   It could be worse: Egypt just ordered the slaughter of all pigs in reaction to the disease, despite having no reported cases there. Though pig is also “treyf” for Muslims, 300-350k pigs per year are raised for consumption by non-Muslim minorities. They were buried and not eaten: serious waste of life and food here.
   http://is.gd/voM3

7. jeff Says:
   April 29th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

   Thanks for the link, Adam. I wrote a short piece on this topic and on how much of a problem it is that the Israeli government doesn’t regulate its hog farms. You can find it at this link: http://food.theatlantic.com/nu.....eality.php.

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