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Chulin 20

CHULIN 19-20 - Two weeks of study material have been dedicated by Mrs. Estanne Abraham Fawer to honor the fourth Yahrzeit of her father, Reb Mordechai ben Eliezer Zvi (Weiner), who passed away 18 Teves 5760. May the merit of supporting and advancing Talmud study during the week of his Yahrzeit serve as an Iluy for his Neshamah.

1) [line 3] YEKABLU HA'ROVIN ES TESHUVASAN - "The 'Rovin' should accept the refutation against them (from the Mishnah)" (RASHI; see Insights to Chulin 20:1 for additional explanations.)

2) [line 8] L'MI'UTEI SHEN V'TZIPOREN - to exclude [performing Shechitah with] a tooth and a fingernail (which is valid for Melikah; see Insights to Chulin 20:2).

3) [line 8] B'HEDYA KETANI LEHU - they are taught explicitly in the Mishnah (on 15b)

4) [line 14] KOTZETZ V'YORED - he cuts and he presses down [his nail into the bird's neck, without cutting moving his nail in a back-and-forth motion]

5) [line 25] SHIPUY ROSHO - the slant of its head (i.e. the bottom of the back of the head where it slants inward towards the neck)

6a) [line 25] KEGON D'NAKAT MI'SHIPUY ROSHO - the case is where he held [the bird and performed Melikah] from the slant of its head
b) [line 26] V'HIGRIM V'AZAL AD D'MATA TATA'EI - and cut in the improper place until he came to the area below (the area which is valid for Shechitah, where the Simanim are)

7) [last line] EIN SHECHITAH L'OF MIN HA'TORAH / YESH SHECHITAH L'OF MIN HA'TORAH
(a) The laws of Shechitah (proper ritual slaughter) that permit an animal to be eaten were handed down to us through a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai (Chulin 28a, based on Devarim 12:21).
(b) There is a Machlokes as to whether these laws apply to birds as well. Those who maintain that the Torah (and the Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai) does *not* require that a bird be slaughtered learn this from the verse that states, "and you shall spill its blood" (Vayikra 17:13), which implies that spilling alone is sufficient (Chulin 27b). Even according to this opinion, a bird is permitted by the Torah only if it is killed by a person with a blow that severs the trachea or esophagus (RASHI to Chulin 27b DH Ein Shechitah).

20b---------------------------------------20b

8) [line 4] AFILU L'MAN D'AMAR KI'VEHEMAH - even according to the opinion that maintains that [a bird is slaughtered] like an animal (as derived from a Hekesh in the verse, "Zos Toras ha'Behemah veha'Of" (Vayikra 11:46))

9) [line 7] MI'DIVREI SOFRIM - from the words of the Sofrim, Torah sages of the early Tanaic period (i.e. it is a Rabbinical enactment)

10a) [line 13] NISHBERAH MAFREKES V'ROV BASAR IMAH - the neckbone (Mafrekes) was broken together with most of the flesh around it (before the Simanim were cut)
b) [line 13] NEVEILAH - it is rendered a Neveilah (an animal that died without Shechitah, and it is Metamei like a Neveilah; RASHI)

11a) [line 14] MALAK B'SAKIN - he performed Melikah (cutting the neck of the bird with a knife instead of with his fingernail; see Background to Chulin 19:11)

b) [line 14] METAMEI VEGADIM A'BEIS HA'BELI'AH (NIVLAS OF TAHOR)
(a) Normally, items that are Tamei spread Tum'ah through touching them or carrying them ("Maga" or "Masa"). The only object that is Metamei mid'Oraisa *while being eaten* is Nivlas Of Tahor (the carcass of a Kosher bird). Nivlas Of Tahor is a kosher bird that died or was killed without Shechitah. (This includes a bird that is unfit to be brought as a Korban upon which Melikah was performed.) It is *only* Metamei while in the Beis ha'Beli'ah (throat), during the process of being swallowed.
(b) A Nivlas Of Tahor is Metamei the person eating it, as well as any clothes or utensils that he is touching at the time that it is in his throat, giving them the status of "Rishon l'Tum'ah." (Once it is swallowed, the person remains Tamei, but is only Metamei food and drinks, i.e. he is a Rishon l'Tum'ah).

12) [line 15] MELIKASAH ZU HI SHECHITASAH - Melikah is its Shechitah (and, therefore, whatever Shechitah accomplishes, Melikah should also accomplish)

13) [line 15] TEHANI LAH SAKIN L'TAHARAH MI'YEDEI NEVEILAH - cutting it with a knife should be effective in purifying it from its state of Neveilah (SHECHITAS TEREIFAH)
The Gemara (Chulin 128b) teaches that when an animal that is a Tereifah (an animal with a fatal blemish) is killed by being slaughtered with a proper act of Shechitah, its carcass does not become a Neveilah and is not Metamei (although, of course, it is forbidden to eat).

14a) [line 16] MIPNEI SHE'HU MACHALID - because it is an act of Chaladah. Cutting the bird's neck with a knife constitutes "Chaladah." (a) Although "Chaladah" normally refers to inserting the knife into the middle of the thickness of the neck and cutting outwards from there, this is clearly not the case when cutting the neck of a bird with a knife. RASHI explains that "Chaladah" here means that the knife is not visible at the time that it cuts the Simanim. When the knife is cutting from the back of the neck to the front (in the manner in which Melikah is done), it is hidden between the vertebrae at the time that it cuts the Simanim. (b) TOSFOS explains that cutting the neck from the back to the front, as opposed to cutting it from the front to the back, constitutes "Chaladah.
b) [line 17] MIPNEI SHE'HU DORES - because it is an act of "Derasah," pressing the knife into the neck (without a sliding, cutting motion, since that is the manner in which Melikah is supposed to be done; see above, entry #4).

15) [line 19] K'CHULDAH HA'DARAH B'IKAREI VATIM D'MECHASYA - like a rodent (rat, weasel or marten) that lives in the foundations of the houses that is concealed

16) [line 22] KEDEI L'KAYEIM BAH MITZVAS HAVDALAH - in order to fulfill with it the Mitzvah of Havdalah, separating the head of the bird from the rest of the body.

17) [line 23] MI'UT SIMANIM - a minority of the Simanim. The Rabanan (21a) maintain that for Shechitah, it suffices to cut a majority of the Simanim, leaving a minority of the Simanim intact. For the Havdalah (see previous entry) of an Olas ha'Of, however, the entirety of the Simanim must be cut when separating the head from the rest of the body.

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