Chullin 4 – The Path to a Person's Heart is Paved with Food and Drink

Previously we learned that a Jew who habitually eats non-kosher meat can still be trusted with kosher slaughter, since, given the choice, he will expend the minimal effort required, and the kosher slaughter is still significant in his eyes.

Rav Anan said that even a Jew who worships idols – which is considered as an abandonment of the whole Torah – can still do shechitah. We know this because Yehoshaphat, the righteous king of Judah, partook of the feast of idol worshiping Ahab, who thus enticed him to join forces in battle.

But perhaps Ahab slaughtered the animals, but Yehoshaphat did not eat them? - There is no enticement with mere words. Incidentally, although the Torah says “if your brother will entice you (to idol worship)” - that too is done with food and drink. But was not God upset with Satan for enticing Him against Job, without food? - God is different, since He does not eat anyway.

Back to Yehoshaphat, perhaps he only drank but did not eat? – It is not fitting for a king to drink but not eat at a feast.

Art: Paul Gauguin - Portrait Of The Artist With The Idol

Chullin 3 – Slaughter Done by a Non-observant Jew

“All may slaughter and their slaughter is valid” was explained by Rav Ashi as referring to a non-observant Jew. If he eats non-kosher meat to satisfy his appetite or to save money, but will eat kosher meat when it is available, then if he is handed a sharpened knife that was properly examined and found free of nicks, he will presumably not squander the opportunity to make the meat kosher. However, if he does not have an examined knife, then he cannot be trusted, for he will not bother to sharpen it. If he went ahead and slaughtered with his knife – which he should not have done – one can examine the knife afterwards, and if the knife was found to be fine, one can eat from his shechitah.

Ravina said that “all” refers to those who take upon themselves to do shechitah, because most of them know the laws – provided that they already did shechitah a few times without fainting. Even if it is their first time and they do shechitah without supervision – which they should not have done – if they later say that they did not faint, their slaughter is valid.

Art: James Charles - The Knifegrinder

Chullin 2 – Shechitah, Or Ritual Slaughter

Shechitah is ritual slaughter. It consists of cutting through the majority of the animal's trachea (windpipe) and esophagus (food pipe). This cutting is subject to a number of laws: it must be done from the front of the neck, in a continuous slicing stroke, and with a smooth blade.

All may do slaughter, and their slaughter is valid, except for a deaf-mute, a deranged person, and a minor – lest they bungle their slaughtering. But if any of these slaughtered with others watching over them, their slaughter is still valid. A minor is a boy before bar mitzvah, or a girl before bat mitzvah.

However, the teacher seems to be of two minds by allowing the slaughter upfront, and then validating it after the fact. According to Rabbah bar Ulla, this is talking about slaughtering regular meat on the level of purity required for sacrifices, since there were people who used to do that. Even a ritually impure person can perform this slaughter, provided that he uses a long knife and does not touch the meat, although initially he should not do it.

The Talmud will give five more possible explanations.

Art: Julien Dupre - A Shepherdess with Cows and Sheep in a Landscape

Menachot 110 – Whether One Does Much or Little, but with a Pure Heart

What does the verse in Malachi mean, “For from the rising of the sun to its setting My Name is great among the nations... all will sacrifice for My sake,” for we see that this is not so? - This refers to those who study in every place on earth, whom God considers as if they serve Him and bring sacrifices. The verse continues, “and a pure flour offering” - this is talking about the one marries a wife and afterwards continues his studies.

Why does it says in the Psalms, “Bless God, all you servants of God, who stand in the Temple of God in the nights,” since we know that the main Temple service is during the day! - This refers to those who study at night, and they are considered as if they they were engaged in the Temple service.

Why does the Torah say about every sacrifice, big or small, animal, bird, or flour, that it is a “pleasing sweet smell to God?” - to tell you that whether one does much or little, it is equally pleasing to God, if done with a pure heart.

Art: Gustave Leonhard de Jonghe - Kind Heart

Menachot 109 – The temple of Chonyo

If one had two lambs and said, “one of my lambs will be consecrated,” the larger of them is consecrated, because we assume that people consecrate generously.

In one promised a sacrifice and brought it in the temple of Chonyo, he has not fulfilled his obligation, but instead transgressed a prohibition of offering sacrifices outside the Temple. Rabbi Shimon says, “His consecration is altogether meaningless.”

Any kohen who served in the temple of Chonyo is treated as blemished: he may never serve in the Temple, but he may claim a share of the offerings to eat.

What is the story of the temple of Chonyo? When the Righteous High Priest Shimon died after eighty years of service, he appointed his son Chonyo as his successor. Chonyo's brother Shimi plotted to remove him: he tricked him to serve in his wife's clothes and told the priests that Chonyo did this out of love for his wife. Chonyo ran away and built his own temple. The Sages did not touch Shimi, to prevent him from acting even worse in pursuit of honor. According to Rabbi Yehuda, the story was the opposite: Chonyo plotted against Shimi, was discovered, and ran away.

Art: Josef von Brandt - The Runaway Cart

Menachot 108 – One Who Forgot What Sacrifice He Promised

If one said, “I promise to bring a burned offering” but did not say which one, he brings a lamb. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says that he brings a turtledove or a pigeon. They do not argue in principle, but in the place where one lived lambs were cheaper, and where Rabbi Elazar lived, birds were less expensive.

One who says, “I specified to bring a peace or a thanksgiving offering but do not recall which,” brings a bull and a cow, a male calf and a female calf, a ram and a ewe, a he-goat and a she-goat, a male kid and a female kid, and a male lamb and a female lamb.

If one promised a specific ox as a burned offering and the ox became blemished, his obligation disappears. Unlike the previous cases, he promised a specific animal and not a sacrifice in general, and once this animal cannot be brought as a sacrifice, he is free from his obligation. He still needs to redeem the ox, and the money then acquires holiness and has to be used for a burned offering, but he can buy greater or smaller animals with it.

Art: Jacomo (or Victor, Jacobus) Victors - Pigeons

Menachot 107 – Just a Donation to the Temple

If one promises to bring wood for the Altar, he must bring no less than two logs. As we learned before, Rabbi Yehudah the Prince consider the logs themselves to be sacrifices, with all the accoutrements. If he promises to bring frankincense, he brings at least a handful. If he promises gold, he brings a dinar, if silver – he brings a silver dinar, but if he specified how much he promised but cannot recall the amount, then he must bring enough metal until he can honestly say, “That much I could never have intended to bring.”

If he promised wine, he must bring no less than three measures called “log,” or about one-and-a-half liter, because this was the smallest amount brought with any of the sacrifices, that is, with a lamb. If he specified the amount but does not recall it now, he brings as much as was required by the largest sacrifice.

Art: Jan de Beer - The Wine Taster