Chullin 27a

חולין כ״ז ע״א

Learn Chullin 27a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 27a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How much of the סימנים must be cut for a valid שחיטה, and the source that שחיטה is done at the neck

Overview

The משנה teaches how much of the windpipe and food pipe (the סימנים) must be cut for a kosher שחיטה: one סימן in a bird, two in an animal, and most of a סימן counts like all of it. רבי יהודה adds that the ורידין (neck veins) must also be cut. The גמרא reads the word השוחט as a בדיעבד ruling, and explains that this applies only to one סימן in a bird or to cutting a majority. Then three sources try to show from a פסוק that שחיטה is done at the neck: רב כהנא (ושחט, 'where it bends, purify it'), רב יימר (וזבחת, 'where it flows, cut it'), and דבי רבי ישמעאל (וסחט, 'where it speaks, purify it'). Each one is challenged with other body parts. Each time the גמרא concludes that the neck rule is a tradition, like the five disqualifications of שחיטה. The פסוק instead teaches not to cut the head off completely. Finally, a תנא brings רבי חייא's ברייתא. It calls the head of an עולה 'already cut off' at slaughter, which proves the cut is at the neck. The גמרא then sorts out which פסוק teaches including the head, and which teaches that the head and fat go on the מזבח first.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. StatementThe basic rule: one סימן in a bird, two in an animal
2. Statementרבי יהודה requires cutting the veins
3. StatementHalf is not enough, a majority is
4. StatementThe word השוחט implies after-the-fact only
5. ChallengeBut an animal only has two סימנים
6. ResolutionThe בדיעבד part refers to a bird or to 'majority'
7. StatementMemory aid for the coming statements
8. Statementרב כהנא: שחיטה is at the neck
9. QuestionHow do we know חטהו means purify?
10. ResponseTwo פסוקים prove חטא means purify
11. ChallengeWhy not slaughter from the tail?
12. ResolutionThe tail is always bent, never upright
13. ChallengeWhy not slaughter from the ear?
14. ResolutionThe ear has no life-blood
15. ChallengeWhy not cut from the ear down to the life-blood? And where do the disqualifications come from?
16. ConclusionSlaughter at the neck is a received tradition
17. QuestionThen what does the פסוק teach?
18. ResponseDon't cut the head off completely
19. Statementרב יימר: 'Where it flows, cut it'
20. QuestionHow do we know חתהו means breaking?
21. ResponseProof from 'ואל תחת'
22. ChallengeWhy not slaughter from the nose?
23. ResolutionThe flow must come from cutting
24. ChallengeWhy not the heart, and where do the other rules come from?
25. ConclusionThe neck rule is a tradition
26. QuestionThen what is the פסוק for?
27. ResponseDo not make it a broken piece
28. StatementWhere it speaks, cut it
29. ChallengeWhy not the tongue?
30. ResolutionWe need lifeblood
31. ChallengeStart at the tongue and tear onward
32. ConclusionAgain, the neck rule is a tradition
33. QuestionWhat does the word ושחט teach, then?
34. ResponseDon't cut the head off completely
35. ProofA תנא brings a פסוק source through רבי חייא
36. ProofWhy the head and fat are named separately
37. ConclusionSo the cut must be at the neck
38. ChallengeThe ברייתא starts with one פסוק and ends with another
39. ResolutionThe already-cut head is learned from "the head and the fat"
40. QuestionThen what is "its head and its fat" for?
41. Response"Its head and its fat" teaches that they go first