The plenary hall of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament. Photo: Boston9 via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Polish parliament (Sejm) has decided to allow the kosher slaughter of animals for Jewish religious purposes after having forbidden the entire practice in November of 2012. But the practice will still be forbidden if conducted for commercial purposes.

“The Sejm did the right thing by clarifying the murky legal situation of kosher slaughter in Poland and by backing shechita for local communities’ consumption,” said World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer. “We hope this statement will help to put to rest the controversy over shechita—which Jews hold to be a crucial religious freedom.”

Last July, the Sejm voted against a proposal to exempt kosher and halal slaughter from the requirement to stun the animals prior to killing them.