Yechiel Michel Epstein

“ It appears to me that it is impossible to permit the slaughter of one who is deaf or lacking sanity if he cannot skillfully direct his own hands, even if he is supervised, for we do not find that these categories of people enjoy consideration in the law beyond that of a minor. ”

“ Slaughter, however, never needs two people to testify to it’s fitness, for one witness is always believed regarding prohibitions over an item that is under his control, even if it normally would have a prohibited status (as I have already written) . If so, it is not possible to state that a shochet is believed as two, rather he is only believed as a single witness, and is treated in law as a single witness. Therefore, when another later contradicts him it is one against one, which cancels out, and the meat remains in it’s previous prohibited state. ”

“ Earlier authorities did maintain that one cannot hire a permanent Shochet who is uncertified, however they never proposed to prohibit the slaughter of who is tested on his knowledge and found proficient simply because he has no certification, for there is no reason for such a stringency.
If there is a situation to be strict, perhaps it is this: If the man slaughtered and left, and the state of his knowledge is unknown, his slaughter will not be accepted if he has no certification, and we will not apply the rule “Most found performing slaughter are experts in their field”. ”

“ In addition, the requirement of the Maharshal and the Shach [comment 6] to begin with chickens, which is certainly the custom, must all be before an expert shochet. They further write that one who is expert at slaughtering chickens should not slaughter small birds, such as two turtle doves or young doves, unless he has done so before and is experienced (see there) . They continue to explain that even a great expert should only slaughter one together with a large bird, for small birds are so easy to render non kosher that there is a concern that his blessing will be in vain. ”

“ Section 46 One who is blind in both eyes should not slaughter initially even if he is an expert, for he still may not be able to slaughter properly. If he did slaughter, the food and wind pipes should be examined, and if they are properly severed the animal is permitted, even if he was unsupervised. In our days we have never seen one who is completely blind appointed as a shochet, since there are authorities who prohibit his slaughter initially even when supervised (see there in comment 67 in the name of the Ri'az) . ”

“ Now even though the ‘presumption of being forbidden’ – (Heb. ‘Chezkas Issur’) usually invalidates a solitary witnesses’ testimony to permit, and a live animal is certainly in a state of being forbidden to eat, that rule only applies to a prohibition that one is unable to permit by his own action. Here, however, a person can make an animal permitted to eat, whether through his or another’s slaughter, and he is believed to have done so correctly (Gemara Yevamos 88.1) . ”

“ This reasoning seems to be contradicted by the widespread accepted practice of having young boys and girls bring chickens to the shochet for slaughter, where no one asks for further proof, nor have we found anyone who opens their mouth to protest. Therefore, we are forced to conclude that when we speak of the legal unreliability of a minor’s word, that is only referring to extracting money in court, or some similar situation that requires testimony that meets true legal standards, or when a minor claims to have done an action requiring great exertion. ”

“ So how should meat be prepared for animal consumption or for industrial use? If it is possible for a valid shochet to slaughter the animal this is the preferred option. It would then be proper to prepare and eat a bit of that meat, for if not it would be impossible to make the blessing before shechita. If it is impossible to use a valid shochet, the animal should be slaughtered in a manner that is obviously invalid ... ”

“ Section 25 We find in our era that there is a practice in small cities to hire a Shochet who is also employed as cantor in the synagogue. This is proper, though it is important that this employment is conditioned on the clause that this man should not spend an inordinate amount of time studying liturgical melodies, for if he spends much of his time delving into this subject and practicing with a choir he will perforce not attend to his studies of ritual slaughter, or the maintenance of his knives, as much as he should. ”

“ As far as the shochet himself, he is forbidden to slaughter, even if knows the law and is expert, unless he has first demonstrated his ability three times before a sage who is expert in the law, in order to ascertain that he is capable and competent in the actual slaughtering act, and to prove that he will not be faint or exhausted (Tur in the name of the Rambam) . ”

“ In addition, the majority of animals slaughtered are kosher, so that there would be a both a majority status and legal presumption of the animal’s kosher status. Even though this might imply that one would not be required have the lungs of every slaughtered animal examined, nor would an examiner need certification, nor would the animal be in non-kosher status – nevertheless it is appropriate to be just as strict with an examiner as with a Shochet. ”

“ Section 57 It is therefore no wonder that the accepted practice in our city is not to bring meat from outside the city, and in fact we consider non kosher (‘Trief’) meat and utensils brought from outside, though outside the city they are permitted. This is custom found in many locales, and it is a proper way to protect from many potential problems, as is well known. This of course requires an explicit enactment that prohibits all meat from outside, considering it non-kosher. ”

“ Any butcher who knows the conditions that make a kosher animal non-kosher and has a presumption of law-abiding behavior in his field is permitted to slaughter, and to check slaughtered animals for these problematic conditions, as well as sell the meat he prepares. ”

“ If not for the words of the Rabbis it would appear to me that his intent is so: Even though by terumah and other commandments one should not perform the act if unable to pronounce the blessing, that is only because all Jews are able to separate terumah and it is not the work of an expert. On the other hand, slaughter is an area where most are not expert, and an average person is not able to slaughter, so allowance is made in the form of a leniency that one need not refrain because of the inability to say the blessing. ”

“ As can be proven from the responsa of the Rosh, in principle seven, (which is in fact the source for this law) , the reason here is merely an extra-legal stringency, with a penalty enacted for one who transgresses it.
There is a dissenting opinion that states that only an explicit enactment rendering all other slaughter invalid is effective in this regard, but a general ban on the practice only renders invalid when a small loss is incurred. The threat of a large monetary loss would allow the meat to be exempt from invalidation. ”

“ Furthermore, earlier authorities ('Rishonim') report in the name of Hilchos Eretz Yisroel [?] that women are forbidden by law to act as shochet, though this seems perplexing. Perhaps their understanding is as follows: Though we have previously established that we are not concerned with men becoming faint or exhausted from the act of slaughter, it may be that this does not apply for women, who often have a more sensitive temperament. Therefore, a woman would not be permitted to slaughter unless she was known to have the temperament that would not become faint from the slaughter. ”

“ This is because testimony is not accepted on any biblical prohibition if the witness is not an adult both in years and in physiology, as is explained in Even Ezer, chapter 169. From here it also follows that in a community where women slaughter they are required to have reached the age of twelve years and one day and have physiological signs of the onset of adulthood.
There are those who are particular not to give certification to those who are below eighteen years of age, which is the age when the adult mindset starts to demonstrate its dominance. ”

“ Only afterward should one focus on his actual knowledge of the relevant laws of slaughter and checking (the animal) - that he is well learned in the words of our rabbis the authors of the Shulchan Aruch and the great legal luminaries that lived subsequently.
The Tur and Shulchan Aruch (section 2) write that “one need not know every single law, rather as long as he admits that he would ask if unsure, as “Would a question of this law come before me I would have to inquire” - that is sufficient for him to be called ‘knowledgeable’, provided that he is not found to permit that which is forbidden.” ”

“ Should not the meat be prohibited according to the rule that “meat that has become hidden from the eye is forbidden”, since he was not the one who lost it and he cannot claim to be able to recognize the meat as his? ”

“ This is even true according to the first opinion mentioned [that the shochet is believed as two witnesses] (as is written in the Shulchan Aruch: “all is according to the stature of the man”) .
Also know that if the community employs people to supervise the shochtim and butchers they are in general always believed over those they supervise. This is true even if one were to contradict two shochtim or two butchers, since the community has appointed them to be relied upon. ”

“ It cannot be based on one’s ability to prohibit an item to himself (Heb. ‘shavyeh anafsheh chaticha d'issura’) , for that is only for an item that he believes to be actually prohibited, as one who would say a piece of meat contains Biblically forbidden fat or is otherwise actually non kosher, as it would be possible for that to be the case. ”

“ Because of this problem it would seem that a butcher would not be believed to claim that his animal was slaughtered properly unless he is corroborated by the managing shochet who oversees the slaughtering in the town. If, however, the town is a small one without a certified shochet, and a lay person brings a shochet from the city or takes his animal to the shochet in the city, we can again ask why would the lay person be believed? ”

“ Ravina states that “All experts can slaughter”, - meaning all who are expert in the mechanics even though it is not known whether they can complete the slaughter without becoming exhausted. “When are these words said? When it is known that he is expert in the laws of slaughter.” – meaning that an expert also has to know the laws. ”

“ Further analysis would lead one to wonder by what power one can prohibit his own slaughter, for only a community in its own city has actual legal authority, no different than the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, as I have written in Chosen Mishpat, chapter 2, and a lone individual - by what power can he prohibit items? ”

“ Finally, there is a responsibility on the communal court system to oversee and inspect the community’s Shochtim and examiners- (‘Bodkim’) on a regular basis, to ensure that they remain expert in their field and demonstrate fear of G-d in their behavior, for the possibility of danger is great when the responsibility for slaughter and examination are given over to many people with little oversight, especially in our generation, when irreligious behavior has increased. ”

“ This is because we assume the meat was found and slaughtered, and ‘most found engaged in slaughter are expert.’ We further assert that this individual must have changed his mind, decided not to take the animal, leaving it instead. Even if the individual were to have stolen the animal, the actual slaughter is still assumed to have been done by an expert, for as a matter of law suspicion of theft does not imply suspicion to eat non kosher food. ”

“ Section 3 The shechita of any Jewish person is believed to have been done properly, since the Torah itself believes every individual regarding his shechita, as the verse states: “...and you slaughter of your cattle and sheep...” (and then give certain cuts to the kohen.) (Dvarim, 12.22) . By sacrificial meat we also find similar verses, such as “...and he slaughters the young bull...” (Vayikrah, 1.5) . Here the Kohanim eat meat slaughtered by an individual without the requirement of witnesses to testify that it was proper. ”

“ Therefore, the requirement to test the individual in the first instance (‘L’chatchila’) is not a requirement of the law but is rather a pious practice (Rashba in Mishmeres HaBayis [SAME PAGE] ) .
However, on reflection, this does not seem to be the intent of the phrase (Rashba there) , and it is more probable that the reason is due to a type of majority presumption (‘rov’) , which is where the matter is found often and very commonly to incline in one direction (Tosfos, Gemara Bechoros 20.2 [in the comment beginning with “Chelev”] ) , and therefore it is not necessary to be strict post facto. ”

“ Certainly, the Rabbi of the town is believed in all matters, for once the community has appointed him to teach and rule should he state that a piece of meat is ‘treif’ how could they then eat from it? They themselves have accepted upon themselves to follow his rulings in all matters of law regarding what is permitted and what is prohibited. ”