Commercial kosher slaughter

Question

Kosher slaughter today is mainly carried out in large factory settings, with each shochet slaughtering hundreds or even thousands of animals every day. The required inspections of organs is also carried out in a similar fashion.

This is very different than the way kosher slaughter was performed for most of Jewish history.

I would like to better understand both the history, and the halacha, behind modern commercial kosher slaughterhouse operations.

When did this practice begin?

Which halachic authorities gave explicit permission to eat meat from commercial kosher slaughterhouses?

Was/Is there any notable opposition, within the kosher-keeping world, to the practice of mass-produced kosher meat?

Answer 1

I don't have the full answer, but here's a piece of it.

Simla Chadasha writes (18:12) that on erev Yom Kippur, when everyone comes with their kapparos, and if the knife would be checked after every שחיטה (like it should be), it might not be checked with the utmost concentration, there is an allowance to check the knife every set of birds (so that nothing leaves without a בדיקת הסכין after, to mitigate confusion).
Matteh Asher there (starts with "עתה" at the bottom of the linked page above) records that because of this קולא, some had started doing so even on regular days, especially in big cities where they are as busy as on ערב יום כיפור. Some of them check every 10-20 minutes, some every 20-30-40 birds.*

It should be noted that when this method is used, that if the knife is found to be פסול after the inspection, all animals killed from the last inspection are אסור; even if there is reason to suspect that the knife was broken only on the last one (eg on all the first ones it only cut the סימנים, and on the last one it hit the neck bone). This is not allowed to be done under ordinary circumstances, but erev Yom Kippur and high-volume plants are excepted.

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*_{Matteh Asher there notes that it's obvious that neither the amount of time nor the amount of birds is what creates a new requirement to check, but rather a number of other factors including the quality of the steel, the hardness of the סימנים, the method of sharpening the knife, and some other factors -- the important thing is that each שוחט should know his own knife and conditions well enough to estimate how long it should take to check his knife, וכל היד המרבה לבדוק הרי זה משובחת.
Kudos to shmuel for reminding me of this point.}

Answer 2

The Kashau Rebbe was opposed to the practice of factory kashrus in America, and himself would not eat meat unless he knew the shochet and saw the animal itself schected with his own eyes. His Hasidim today do not eat beef from anyone, though they eat poultry sometimes because chelev, which one is chayiv kareis for with domesticated meat, is not an issue with poultry, and sometimes are vegetarians (except for eating fish and eggs) due to his concerns about kashrus.

Answer 3

mishnah berura 605.2 translation from feldheim

...There are/ localities where many /people/ gather together /for the slaughtering/ and they push one another. The slaughterers are awake all night with resentment and they do not feel the knife /to test it for notches/ owing to the considerable /amount of/ work /that they are required to do, so that the slaughtering/ can lead to /transgression of/ the prohibition against /eating/ neveylah. 1 In /these circumstances/ it is preferable to slaughter the kaparos a day or two before Yom Kippur, as the time /which is suitable/ for /the slaughtering of/ the kaparos is throughout the ten days of penitence. [P.Mg.; see there.] Alternatively, /people in these localities/ should circle money above their heads, which will be considered meritorious for them, so that they should not stumble into /transgressing/ the prohibition against /eating/ neveylah, Heaven forfend. [Someone who is able and wishes /to act/ in the choicest /manner/ should summon the slaughterer to his home in the early morning. Today it is the custom in several localities for the slaughterers to stay awake and go to everyone’s home after midnight until daylight. Therefore, it is proper for the slaughterers to sleep beforehand, so that they will not feel faint. In addition, they must prepare several /valid/ knives which have been examined. At the time when they slaughter they should see that they examine /the knife again/ each time and should not rely on the original examination. Now, even when the slaughtering is /done/ in the home of a householder it is usual for neighboring householders to come there as well. When one slaughters in his /own/ home, especially, many people who have been sent /to him/ with kaparos come together and due to the need to slaughter many kaparos there is insufficient time /for the slaughterer/ to apply himself sincerely to the examination of /the knife/ with the twelve examinations /required/ by the halachah. It is /therefore/ highly likely that due to the need to hurry /with the slaughtering/ he will not be meticulous over the examination. In view of this, the recommended solution is that, at any rate, after all the fowls of one householder have been slaughtered, /the slaughterer/ should examine /the knife/ before the person that /the householder/ sent with the fowls goes away /with them/, in order to ascertain whether his knife is satisfactory /for slaughtering/, as it is forbidden to eat /the fowls/ before this clarification /has been made/. If he discovers that /the knife/ is impaired, he should rule all that householder’s fowls to be tereyfah. 2 ]

1 I.e., the meat of a dead animal which was not slaughtered in conformance with halachic requirements. When the knife has a notch the slaughtering is invalid and the meat of the animal is therefore classed as neveylah.

2 In this context, what is meant is that they are not kosher. In more precise usage, the word implies that the animal or bird was slaughtered in conformance with halachic requirements, but it had a certain defect because of which it could not live, and in view of that it is not kosher.

ps in the bias hamikdash (and mishkan) it was (as today sometimes with corruption) and will soon be (acording to the opinions that we will have karbonois) (without corruption) very Commercial kosher slaughter