Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Chullin

This week we will begin Masechet Chulin. We are going to learn the laws of Shchita, ritual slaughter, and what makes an animal kosher and what renders it not kosher. This week we will learn who may perform shchita and who may not, and why.

This week we will discuss issues of ritual slaughter, including the reliability of people performing shechita, invalid methods of slaughter, and the status of knives used for shechita and prohibited foods. The Gemara also discusses the principles of relying on majority (rov) and presumptive status (chazakah) in kashrut, especially regarding slaughter and determining whether an animal is kosher.

This week we will discuss three main areas within the laws of shechita: the role of intent (focusing on whether a minor’s actions and kavanah have Torah or Rabbinic validity, and whether conscious intent is required for kodshim), the requirements for a valid slaughtering instrument (the knife must be detached, with debate over wheels and re-attached knives, alongside a historical discussion of whether basar nechirah was ever permitted in the desert), and the laws of hagramah (cutting in the wrong location on the neck).