Chullin 53

מתני׳ <big><strong>השוחט</strong></big> אחד בעוף ושנים בבהמה שחיטתו כשרה ורובו של אחד כמוהו

<big><b>MISHNAH: </b></big>IF A MAN CUT<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'slaughtered'.');">¹</span>

רבי יהודה אומר

ONE [OF THE ORGANS OF THE THROAT]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' There are two main organs in the throat which are considered for the purpose of slaughtering and they are (i) the windpipe or the trachea, and');">²</span>

עד שישחוט את הוורידין

IN THE CASE OF A BIRD, OR BOTH ORGANS IN THE CASE OF CATTLE, THE SLAUGHTERING IS VALID.

חצי אחד בעוף ואחד וחצי בבהמה שחיטתו פסולה

THE GREATER PART OF AN ORGAN IS EQUIVALENT TO [THE WHOLE OF] IT.

רוב אחד בעוף ורוב שנים בבהמה שחיטתו כשרה:

R'JUDAH SAYS, HE MUST CUT THROUGH THE JUGULAR VEINS.

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> השוחט דיעבד אין לכתחלה לא

[IF ONE CUT] HALF OF ONE ORGAN IN THE CASE OF A BIRD, OR ONE AND A HALF ORGANS IN THE CASE OF CATTLE, THE SLAUGHTERING IS INVALID.

שנים בבהמה לכתחלה לא

[IF A MAN CUT] THE GREATER PART OF ONE ORGAN IN THE CASE OF A BIRD, OR THE GREATER PART OF EACH ORGAN IN THE CASE OF CATTLE, THE SLAUGHTERING IS VALID.

עד כמה לשחוט וליזיל

<big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>'IF A MAN CUT' implies that the slaughtering is valid only after the act but that one is not permitted to do so in the first instance.

איבעית אימא

[This would mean that] to cut both organs in the case of cattle is not sufficient in the first instance.

אאחד בעוף

Indeed, how much further can one go on cutting? - If you wish I can say that the expression 'IF ONE CUT' refers to the clause, ONE ORGAN IN THE CASE OF A BIRD; alternatively it refers to the clause, THE GREATER PART OF AN ORGAN IS EQUIVALENT TO [THE WHOLE OF] IT.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Thereby suggesting that in such cases the slaughtering is valid only after the act.');">³</span>

ואיבעית אימא

<br>(Kemash)<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A mnemonic (probably with the meaning 'to wither') consisting of the characteristic letters of the names of the Rabbis whose statements follow. yjau');">⁴</span>

ארובו של אחד כמוהו

R'Kahana said: Whence do we know that slaughtering must be performed at the neck?

(כמ"ש סימן) אמר רב כהנא

From the verse: And he shall slaughter [we-shahat] the bullock,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. I, 5. Heb. yja ja yj');">⁵</span>

מנין לשחיטה שהיא מן הצואר

that is to say, he shall cleanse [hat] it [from blo in the place where it bends down [shah].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the neck. The Hebrew word is divided into component parts thus: , to bend, and , to cleanse. tyju');">⁶</span>

שנאמר

And whence do we know that hat means to cleanse? - From the verse: And he shall cleanse [we-hitte] the house;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XIV, 52. Heb. hbtyj,');">⁷</span>

(ויקרא א, ה) ושחט את בן הבקר ממקום ששח חטהו

or, if you wish, from the verse: Cleanse me [tehatte'eni] with hyssop and I shall be clean.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. LI, 9. Heb. .');">⁸</span>

ממאי דהאי חטהו לישנא דדכויי הוא

perhaps [it should be performed] at the tail? - the word shah, we say, implies, bent down, of something that is usually erect,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g. the neck.');">⁹</span>

דכתיב

but that [sc. the tail] is always bent down.

(ויקרא יד, מט) וחטא את הבית

Perhaps [ should be performed] at the ear?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The ear is sometimes bent down and sometimes erect.');">¹⁰</span>

ואיבעית אימא מהכא

- It is necessary to obtain the life blood.

(תהלים נא, ט) תחטאני באזוב ואטהר

Perhaps one should keep on cutting [the ear] until one reaches the life blood!

ואימא

Moreover,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., even if it were accepted that the rule that to slaughter one must cut the neck is derived from the verse adduced, this further question u,u confronts us: Whence would we derive the rules . .? V. Tosaf. s.v. tryxhd yjau');">¹¹</span>

מזנבו

whence would we know the rules against pausing, pressing, thrusting, deflecting, and tearing?

שח מכלל שזקוף בעינן והא שח ועומד הוא

[We must therefore say that] we know them by tradition; then the rule that slaughtering must be performed at the neck is also derived from tradition.

ואימא

What then does this verse teach us? - That one may not cut the animal into two.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. This prohibition is implicit in the word i.e., cleanse the animal from its blood by cutting the main organs of the throat tryxhd and no more. Others interpret . to mean, 'to cut with force'; the verse is therefore taken as a direct prohibition against chopping the neck or pressing the knife downwards while slaughtering, on this interpretation the rule against pressing has a Biblical basis, v. Rashi. ,jczu');">¹²</span>

מאזנו

R'Yemar said: We can derive it from the verse: And thou shalt slaughter [we-zabahta]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XII 21. Heb. ,jcz cz ,j');">¹³</span>

בעינן דם הנפש וליכא

that is to say, one must break [hat] it in the place where [the blood] flows [zab].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., at the neck. The Heb. is divided into component parts thus: , to flow, and , to break. ,j,');">¹⁴</span>

ואימא

And whence do we know that hat means to break? - From the verse: Fear not neither be dismayed [tehath].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. 1, 21. Heb. , be broken in spirit, be dismayed.');">¹⁵</span>

דקרע ואזיל עד דם הנפש

perhaps [it should be performed] at the nose?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From which there flows mucus.');">¹⁶</span>

ותו שהייה דרסה חלדה הגרמה ועיקור מנלן

- The word zab implies to flow by reason of a cut, but that [sc. the nose] flows of its own.

אלא גמרא שחיטה מן הצואר נמי גמרא

Perhaps [it should be performed] at the heart! Moreover, whence would we know the rules against pausing, pressing, thrusting, deflecting, and tearing?

וקרא למאי אתא

[We must therefore say that] we know them by tradition; then the rule that slaughtering must be performed at the neck is also derived from tradition.

דלא לשוייה גיסטרא

What then does this verse teach us? - That one may not cut the animal into two.

רב יימר אמר אמר קרא

The school of R'Ishmael taught: It is written: And he shall slaughter [we-shahat];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. I, 5. yjau yjxu jx');">¹⁷</span>

(דברים יב, כא) וזבחת ממקום שזב חתהו

read not we-shahat but we-sahat, meaning, one shall cleanse [hat] it [from blood] in the place where it utters Sound [sah].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., at the neck. The word is interpreted as which being divided into component parts would give: , to talk, to utter sound, yj and , to cleanse.');">¹⁸</span>

מאי משמע דהאי חתהו לישנא דמתבר הוא

Perhaps [one should perform it] at the tongue? - It is necessary to obtain the life blood.

דכתיב

Perhaps one should keep on cutting until one reaches the life blood! Moreover, whence would we know the rules against pausing, pressing, thrusting, deflecting, and tearing?

(דברים א, כא) אל תירא ואל תחת

[We must say] therefore [that] we know them by tradition; then the rule that slaughtering must be performed at the neck is also derived from tradition.

ואימא

What then does this verse teach us? - That One may not cut the animal into two.

מחוטמו

A Tanna derives it from the following Baraitha: R'Hiyya said: Whence do we know that slaughtering must be performed at the neck?

זב על ידי חתוי בעינן והאי זב מאליו הוא

From the verse: And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay in order the pieces, [the head and the fat].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 8.');">¹⁹</span>

ואימא

Now it was quite unnecessary for the verse to add 'the head and the fat'.

מלבו

Why is it written: 'the head and the fat'?

ותו שהייה דרסה חלדה הגרמה ועיקור מנלן

Are not the head and the fat included in 'the pieces'?

אלא גמרא

Why are they mentioned separately?

שחיטה מן הצואר נמי גמרא

[For this reason]; since it is written: And he shall flay the burnt-offering and cut it [into its pieces].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 6.');">²⁰</span>

וקרא למאי אתא

I would have thought that only such limbs as must be flayed are included [in the pieces];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To which the ordinance 'And he shall lay them in order' applies.');">²¹</span>

דלא לשוייה גיסטרא

whence would I learn to include also the head which is already severed?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For as soon as the two or throat have been cut the head is to all intents and purposes ed, and therefore the ordinance of flaying the animal does head (cf. Zeb. 85b) ; consequently as the head is not flayed the the pieces in order would not apply to it.');">²²</span>

דבי ר' ישמעאל תנא

It is therefore written explicitly [And he shall cut it into its pieces,] with its head and its fat and he shall lay them in order.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. I, 12.');">²³</span>

ושחט אל תקרי ושחט אלא וסחט ממקום שסח חטהו

Now since the Tanna speaks of the head as severed, it is evident that slaughtering must be performed at the neck.

ואימא

Why does the Tanna open his argument with, 'And the head and the fat',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From verse 8.');">²⁴</span>

מלשונו

and conclude with, 'Its head and its fat'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From verse 12.');">²⁵</span>

בעינן דם הנפש וליכא

- This is what he means.

ואימא

Whence would I learn to include the head which is already severed?

דקרע ואזיל עד דם הנפש

From the verse: 'And the head and the fat'.

ותו שהייה דרסה חלדה הגרמה ועיקור מנלן

Then for what purpose do I require the verse,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Var. lec., (v. Rashi) 'and as to the verse' etc., all this being the continuation of R. Hiyya's Baraitha.');">²⁶</span>

אלא גמרא שחיטה מן הצואר נמי גמרא

'Its head and its fat'? - For the purpose shown in the following Baraitha: Whence do I know that the head and the fat precede all limbs [on the altar]?

וקרא למאי אתא

From the verse: Its head and its fat, and he shall lay them in order.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Indicating by the order of the words in this verse that the head and the fat ate offered before all other things upon the altar.');">²⁷</span>

דלא לשוייה גיסטרא

ותנא מייתי לה מהכא

דתניא ר' חייא אמר

מנין לשחיטה מן הצואר

שנאמר

(ויקרא א, ח) וערכו בני אהרן הכהנים את הנתחים שאין ת"ל את הראש ואת הפדר מה ת"ל את הראש ואת הפדר

והלא ראש ופדר בכלל כל הנתחי' היו למה יצאו

לפי שנאמר

(ויקרא א, ו) והפשיט את העולה ונתח אין לי אלא נתחים שישנן בכלל הפשטה מנין לרבות את הראש שכבר הותז

תלמוד לומר

(ויקרא א, יב) את ראשו ואת פדרו וערך

מדקאמר

את הראש שכבר הותז מכלל דשחיטה מן הצואר

ותנא פתח בראש ופדר ומסיים בראשו ופדרו

הכי קאמר

מנין לרבות את הראש שכבר הותז

ת"ל

(ויקרא א, ח) את הראש ואת הפדר

וראשו ופדרו למה לי

מיבעי ליה לכדתניא

מנין לראש ופדר שקודמין לכל הנתחים

ת"ל

את ראשו ואת פדרו וערך