19
votes
Accepted
Why is meat only kosher if a Jew slaughters the animal?
It is explained in the gemara that if a nonJew slaughters an animal, it is as if the animal died by itself. This is because the non-Jew is not subject to the commandments, which include ritual ...
- 42.9k
18
votes
Where in the TaNa"kh is there a discussion about how to slaughter an animal?
There is no description in the Torah (and to the best of my knowledge in the rest of TaNa"KH) as to how to correctly slaughter an animal.
In fact, R. Yehuda HaLevi (Kuzari, 3:35) brings this as a ...
- 41.7k
13
votes
During Temple times, who can butcher a kosher animal?
Any Jew, not necessarily a kohen or levi, can slaughter an animal, with few exceptions (Chullin 1:1):
הַכֹּל שׁוֹחֲטִין וּשְׁחִיטָתָן כְּשֵׁרָה, חוּץ מֵחֵרֵשׁ, שׁוֹטֶה, וְקָטָן, שֶׁמָּא יְקַלְקְלוּ ...
- 24k
11
votes
Accepted
Using obsidian or titanium for shechita knives
I make chalafim for a living. Neither is feasible. Titanium is not a knife metal because it can’t be sharpened. It’s only considered to be strong in relation to its weight. Titanium is very light, so ...
- 346
11
votes
Accepted
Are we permitted to trust the shechita of a shochet who doesn't keep kosher?
The Rambam in Hilchot Schechitah 4:14-15 appears relevant to your case
A Jew who is an apostate because of his transgression of a particular
transgression who is an expert slaughterer may ...
- 47.6k
11
votes
Why is a Shechitah Knife termed a Chalaf?
A few possibilities.
Ezra 1:9 מחלפים. Rashi says that מחלפים is knives and it comes from בית החלפות where the knives were kept in the Bais Hamikdash.
Even Ezra and Metzudas David in Ezra 1:9 also ...
- 139k
10
votes
Accepted
Does ever min hachai transfer to utensils?
This is a great question, which is debated by two of the great Acharonim. The gemara in Sanhedrin 74b considers that specific details of Jewish law might apply to Bnei Noach when they intersect with ...
- 1,312
9
votes
Accepted
Source for not being a Shochet and Mohel
This custom couldn't have been popular in times of the Amoraim since it is brought (BT Chullin 9a):
ואמר רב יהודה אמר רב
תלמיד חכם צריך שילמוד ג' דברים
כתב שחיטה ומילה
Trans. (Soncino):
...
- 11.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Do I have first rights to slaughter on the day I buy a child or parent animal?
Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De’ah 16:6 writes that as soon as one sells an animal, he may not slaughter its offspring/parent that day, as the sale is done with the intent that the purchaser may slaughter the ...
- 41.7k
8
votes
Why is kisui hadam (covering of the blood) only done for a bird & wild animal, but not for a domesticated animal?
According to the "Klei Yakar" (Vayikra 17-13):
The main reason for the Mitzvah of "Kisui Ha'Dam" is to make a distinction that one should not come to eat blood - "Dam Ha'Nefesh" (violating the ...
- 181
7
votes
Is slaughtering after killing permissible?
You can't get much clearer than Rambam, Hilchot Ma'achalot Assurot 4:6:
שאם מתה הרי היא נבלה ומה לי מתה מחמת עצמה או הכה בסייף והמיתה או שברה ארי והמיתה הא אינו מדבר אלא בשנטרפה ולא מתה:
for if it ...
- 168
7
votes
Accepted
What method was used to kill an animal being sacrificed by a priest?
This is the method of shechitah (ritual slaughtering used today. We are commanded that the method of slaughtering used for animals (for regular eating) must be the same method as used for the altar. ...
- 42.9k
7
votes
Eating Meat that Wasn’t Killed According To Kashrut
No it is not permitted.
Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Laws of Forbidden Foods, 4:1
הָאוֹכֵל כְּזַיִת מִבְּשַׂר בְּהֵמָה שֶׁמֵּתָה אוֹ חַיָּה שֶׁמֵּתָה אוֹ עוֹף שֶׁמֵּת לוֹקֶה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד כא) &...
- 41.7k
6
votes
Did Hevel slaughter his sacrifice?
Radak says that Hevel left his Korban tied up, and was awaiting for a fire to come down from heaven to devour it.
כמדומה לי שלא שחט הקרבן אלא הניחו חי קשור באותו מקום הקבוע לו כדי שירד
עליו אש מן ...
- 139k
6
votes
Do I have first rights to slaughter on the day I buy a child or parent animal?
Tosefta, Chulin 5 (quoted by Rashi, Chulin 82a לענין; and quoted in Riff):
הלוקח מבעל הבית הוא קודם לבעל הבית שמתחלה לא לקחו אלא על מנת כן
One who purchases a cow from someone may be the first to ...
- 479
5
votes
Accepted
Criteria for obligation to obligate oneself in mitzvot
In a long teshuvah in his Chevel Nachalato, R. Yaakov Epstein cites many sources on this subject--it would seem from his citations that many Rishonim view the case in Menachot as anomalous for one ...
- 14.3k
5
votes
Halacha of Shechita
If you wish to get tested by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel you must be proficient in Tur, Shulchan Aruch with Nosei Kelim.
Rabbi Chaim Lokie in his English Simlah Chadasha (footnote Siman 18) writes ...
- 922
5
votes
Shechita Material online
You can buy it The Art of Crafting the Shechitah Knife and Stone and a translation of Simla Chadasha both by R Loike on Lulu.
- 1,232
5
votes
If a Jew was in a dire situation and had to eat the flesh of a pig, would they be required to kill the pig through Shechita?
Due to the precept of אין איסור חל על איסור, there is no point in insisting on proper shechita for a pig. A pig can never become tereifa, and its carcass has the same neveila status (with regards to ...
- 999
5
votes
Why is kisui hadam (covering of the blood) only done for a bird & wild animal, but not for a domesticated animal?
The Chinuch explains that the blood domestic animals is offered on the altar so cannot be covered, and God didn't trouble us to distinguish in this way between animals offered on the altar and animals ...
- 73.7k
5
votes
Is ethics a reason behind commandments?
In this answer, I'll first establish that this assumption about the operating principle of darshinan taama dekra doesn't fit with the sources, and then offer three possible resolutions to the ...
- 20.4k
5
votes
If one steps on an insect on Shabbos and the insect is then mutilated to the point that it will surely die, then is one allowed to kill it?
R Dovid Ribiat answers your question in his book The 39 melochos (vol 3, p. 888)
It is questionable wether killing a mortally ill or wounded animal is
the melocho m'deoraisa of Schochait. In any case,...
- 47.6k
4
votes
Accepted
What does the word נחירה mean
I think the sense contextually is that he tears it from its nostrils to its chest (see Rashi Chullin 17a s.v. v'hanocher [hattip @wfb]) or stabs it (see e.g. Krithuth 5:1) or strangles it in such a ...
- 17.7k
4
votes
How do Karaites shecht?
In As it is Written: A Brief Case for Karaism we have the following description of shechitah:
To attempt to prove the existence of the Oral Law the students of the Talmud often quote Deuteronomy 12:...
- 49.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Why is melika - not shechita - done on the bird korban?
The Sefer HaChinuch writes regarding the prohibition of removing the head of the Chatas Haof (Mitzva 124) the folllowing:
(Source from Sefaria.org)
וענין המליקה והאזהרה שלא יבדיל גם זה מפרטי הקרבן ...
- 4,245
4
votes
Where in the TaNa"kh is there a discussion about how to slaughter an animal?
Adding to the above answer, there is a part of the after-slaughtering process mentioned directly in the Torah in Vayikra 17:13 that states that after slaughtering a wild animal or bird, one should ...
- 70k
4
votes
Accepted
Melacha and Korbanot in the Beit HaMikdash
This is derived in Pesachim 77a from the use of the word במועדיכם - in your appointed times (Bamidbar 29:39). This is taken to imply that sacrifices tied to a particular time (e.g. temidim umusafim) ...
- 41.7k
4
votes
What method is used to halachically pluck a chicken's feathers after shechita
I can't say that all Kosher meat processors follow the same process but some use a "picker" machine which works with agitation of the chicken against small rubber parts that de-feather it ...
- 1,426
4
votes
Accepted
Why must animals be conscious when slaughtered?
Consider R. Emanuel Holzer's description of his testimony with R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik to the United States Senate hearing on this matter:
One of the issues of concern at the time was stunning the ...
- 49.1k
4
votes
Shechita Halacha neck
This is a discussion in the Gemara (Chullin 18a-19b), debated by tannaim and amoraim. The halacha is also debated by the rishonim. Most rishonim rule that if the majority was shechted properly, the ...
- 14.3k
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