Chullin 74 – Calf of a Slaughtered Cow

If one slaughters a cow pregnant with an eight-month calf, alive or dead, or a dead nine-month calf, it may be killed and eaten without shechitah, even after it grows up. This rule is the subject of the last few pages, but the Talmud first discusses the exceptions to it, and now quotes the rule itself. It is also restated to introduce the dissenting opinion of Rabbi Meir.

If the nine-month fetus was alive, then it is an independent animal and requires shechitah; additionally, it cannot be killed today, on the same day as its mother – these are the words of Rabbi Meir, but the Sages disagree. For animals other than cows the law is the same, only the gestation term is adjusted accordingly.

A firstborn donkey cannot be used by its owner, until he redeems it with a lamb or a young goat, which he gives to a priest. Can the calf of a slaughtered cow be used for this redemption? Is it considered an independent animal, and then it could be used for redemption, or since it does not need a shechitah, is it considered like meat in a pot, and then it can't be used for redemption?


Art: Pieter Aertsen - The Cook