Talking Talmud

If one slaughters an animal with intent to use the blood for idolatrous purposes, is the rest of the animal forbidden for any benefit or not? Yes, it's a machloket. With hypothetical parallels to pigul. Unless you think nothing in the Temple can be used to infer halakhic details for that which does not pertain to the Temple service. Also, a husband who writes a bill of divorce that was written when he is healthy as a safeguard against the future, and then he dies -- but if he had no knowledge of that risk to his life, then his intent in writing the divorce is absent and the divorce is not a divorce. Conversely, one who inherits a contract of slaves cannot free them by protesting the ownership.

An animal that is close to death demonstrates its vitality by some form of movement. Of course, the degree and nature of movement is subject to dispute. Also, a new mishnah - if/when one slaughters an animal for a non-Jew, that shechitah should be kosher, depending on the idolatry factor.

A new mishnah! Establishing the category of an animal that is close to death (misukenet) -- in contrast to a treyfa, where it becomes clear that the animal had something wrong internally and would likely have died within the year. This case is an animal that is weak, not damaged internally. Thus, signs of vitality during shechitah become essential, to be certain that the animal didn't die of its own accord just prior to the shechitah. Also, how the Gemara ensures the distinction between a treyfa and an animal that is close to death already, with the prohibited fat (cheilev) as a key point.

Another baraita on the impact of blood on - in this case, a gourd of terumah - in terms of making it susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi and Rabbi Hiyya have a debate about that. Of course, if there is blood and shechitah on the gourd throughout the process, that would render the gourd susceptible to impurity. But perhaps not if the process itself were interrupted. Also, Resh Lakish poses a question regarding a dry portion of a grain-offering - if/when would that become susceptible to impurity? Noting that it still would need to come in contact with water (or the other liquids) to achieve that. Note also the distinction between the impurity that comes from a dead body as compared to that from a creepy-crawly.

A case of a person who is eating non-sacred food at the level of purity of sacrificial food - which doesn't really give off that impurity to the next level. Plus, the hierarchy of impurity means that something that is pure in and of itself can be regarded as impure in comparison to something that is pure with a higher standard of purity. Also, on the susceptibility of impurity - will shechitah itself render the meat susceptible to impurity? Plus, the impact of how an animal dies, including whether at the hands of the Angel of Death. That is, the blood of the animal should establish susceptibility to impurity -- regardless of how the animal died.

More on how to understand the mishnah -- and whether the level of sanctity raised there is potentially really that of terumah, or perhaps that of sacrificial offerings (and how that would be determined). Note that terumah is only ever a gift from one's produce - that which grows from the ground, and it would not be confused with meat (in contrast to the sacrificial meat as compared to regular non-sacred meat, which makes more sense in the context of the mishnah). [Who's Who: Ullah] Also, what happens if a person eats impure food? Well, first, how impure is the food?

A new mishnah! What happens if the animal doesn't bleed at the time of shechitah? Apparently, that's a kosher shechitah. And one's impure hands won't render the meat impure (unless the slaughtering itself made it susceptible to impurity, and not just the liquid of the blood). The Gemara reexplains the mishnah to explain that the mishnah could not be talking about sacrificial foods, with several follow-up points to make the case that much stronger. Also, the Gemara delves into the impure hands, and what degree of impurity they may carry. Plus, the case of someone who purifies his hands and then exposes them to impure hands again - depending on how much exposure his whole body received, it may make a difference for what degree of impurity do his hand carry.

2 mishnayot! 1 - A person is slaughtering an animal and the knife falls and he picks it up to complete the slaughtering... as long as the shechitah is completed in the time that it would take to slaughter the animal to begin with, that's kosher. If it takes more time, then it's not a valid shechitah. But different animals - and fowl - take different amounts of time to do the shechitah. Does the statement of "shechting the animal" apply to every animal/bird, or does the time fluctuate depending on the animal/bird at hand? 2 - What if only one of the simanim/pipes were severed correctly, of the esophagus and trachea? If the animal is unfit, it is presented as a treyfa - but then the Gemara addresses such cases as a neveilah.

A new mishnah! In the case of a knife fell and slaughtered the animal officially correctly, the shechitah is not actually kosher because a person must be involved doing the slaughtering. But if a person dropped the knife, even without intent, then the person is there as an agent, and the shechitah may well be kosher. The question is whether intent is required for shechitah to be valid. Also, the case of produce that falls into a channel of water, and the produce is removed by a person who has impure hands - but the process itself will purify his hands. The water is one of 7 liquids that, when in contact with produce, makes the produce susceptible to impurity. Plus, the levels of purity and impurity - and how immersion in the mikveh to be purified requires intent for the required level of purity to follow - for example, to eat ma'aser sheni food. Which seems to require more planning than we might have thought.

If there's more than one incision in the pipe, can that be kosher shechitah? It's a machloket. What about 2 people holding the knife for one animal's slaughter? That's one incision, but 2 people with 2 knives, which means 2 incisions, and it has all kinds of insecurities associated with it - and could result in non-kosher shechitah, but we really don't worry about that, and allow it. Note the many cases of shechitah that are left without conclusions. Also, a new mishnah: 1 person who slaughters 2 animals simultaneously; likewise, the 2 people holding one knife (as presented in the Gemara on the daf right before the mishnah), even with 2 cuts -- all of those cases are kosher shechitah. But decapitation in one motion is not considered valid. With the possibility of it being kosher if the length of the knife is the breadth of the animal's neck.