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Today’s gem: The Gemara asks: But don’t we see that there are? The Gemara answers: Say the majority of the people of the nations of the world are not heretics, and with regard to slaughter one follows the majority. The Gemara notes: Rabba bar Avuh holds in accordance with that which Rabbi Ḥiyya bar AbbaContinue reading “Chullin 13”

The real gem on today’s daf is the lesson that there are certain things that only an expert should do, or a novice under expert supervision. But, what today’s daf made me think of was the wise trash heap in Fraggle Rock, as it mentions “trash heap” repeatedly. So, enjoy:

How is it that I keep finding these AMAZING lessons on the daf that are just casual asides? Today’s daf is discussing kosher slaughter – but has an amazing aside that teaches a lesson on assisted suicide, or medical aid in dying (MAID) (also frequently referred to as death with dignity or physician-assisted dying). RavContinue reading “Chullin 11”

Today’s daf gets deep into the technical details of sheḥita, ritual slaughter, today’s daf focuses in particular on how the knife must be perfectly smooth with nicks and no roughness. It has to be checked carefully before use, because even the slightest flaw could invalidate the slaughter. The concern isn’t only whether the meat isContinue reading “Chullin 10”

My grandfather was an orthodox rabbi. He was also a survivor of the Holocaust. When he immigrated to America, he could not get job as a rabbi. So what did he do? He worked as a shochet – someone who performs ritual slaughter (for kosher meat). Reading our daf, I now understand why he knewContinue reading “Chullin 9”

A beautiful gem amidst a gory scene. On our daf today, the questions is raised about what to do if someone slaughters an animal with an unkosher knife. And this is one teaching: For the one who says that he peels off a layer (of the meat near the cut cite), it works out well,Continue reading “Chullin 8”

We learned on a previous daf that God is pile not allow a righteous man to accidentally sin and eat something forbidden. Why? Because God prevents animals from sinning through food. Weird? Totally. Today, we get the story behind that statement. Rabbi Pineḥas ben Ya’ir happened to come to a certain inn [ushpiza]. His hosts cast barley before his donkey forContinue reading “Chullin 7”

Today’s daf has two passages which express the same idea: that from Above and below, we should do our best to protect the righteous. First, from below. We see that a student should not embarrass their teacher: The Gemara asks: As to the plain meaning of that verse: “And put a knife to your throat, if you are a man givenContinue reading “Chullin 6”