שחיטה א

Likutay Halachos – Yoreh De'ah – Shechitah 1

And therefore the measure is, at any rate, a hair's breadth. For the hairs are the mosrai mochin [surplus/residue of the brain-faculties], and when the mind is blemished, G-d forbid, then the damage reaches the hairs more than anything, for they grow and emerge from the turbidity of the brain. Therefore one must guard the mind very carefully so that it not be blemished at all — to the extent that even a single hair's breadth of his hairs should not be blemished at all. For by the tzadik, whose mind is holy, even his hairs — which are the surplus of the brain-faculties — are also holy. And this is the aspect of the measure of the blemish of the knife — which is the aspect of pegam ha'bris, as mentioned above — being a hair's breadth. That is, that not even a single hair of his hairs should be blemished — the aspect of the surplus of the brain-faculties, as mentioned above.

And therefore, the shechitah is only valid when performed by a Jew [Yisrael]. However, the slaughter of a non-Jew [nochri] renders [the animal] a nevailah, even if he does not worship idols, and even if he is a minor, and even if others are watching him (Yoreh De'ah, Siman 2:1). For, on the contrary, the non-Jew renders the living creature a nevailah through his slaughter, for he is from the seventy nations, who are immersed in the above-mentioned comprehensive evil. And none is fit to slaughter except a Jew, for they are all in the aspect of guardians of the bris, and they have the power to subdue the comprehensive evil of the seventy nations, as it is stated: "And Your people Yisrael — all of them are righteous [tzadikim]" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

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And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is forbidden to slaughter unless one shows his knife to a chacham [sage/scholar], who will inspect the knife for the shochet [slaughterer], and afterward he may slaughter. For the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, which is the aspect of "a sword unto Hashem" mentioned above, the aspect of the knife as mentioned above — it is impossible to receive this except from the tzadik and the chacham of the generation, who merits the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, as explained there in the above-mentioned discourse. And therefore, one must receive from him specifically the knife of shechitah, which is the aspect of the speech of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, as mentioned above. [This section] pertains to [the section] above.

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And therefore, one must be proficient and know the five laws of shechitah (Yoreh De'ah, Siman 23:1), corresponding to the ה [hei] of da'as [knowledge], which is the aspect of tikkun ha'bris, that is achieved through the valid shechitah as mentioned above.

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And this is the aspect of [the requirement that the slaughterer be] mumcheh [an expert] and muchzak [established/presumed fit] (Yoreh De'ah, Siman 1:1) — which the shochet must be. That is, mumcheh is the aspect of completeness in the five laws of shechitah, which is the aspect of tikkun ha'bris, as mentioned above. And likewise, he must be muchzak — that he not be faint-hearted, that he not faint. For he must be muchzak — that he have a strong and mighty heart, to clothe himself with a spirit of gevurah [strength] from Hashem, to wield "the sword unto Hashem" mentioned above, to wage the war of Hashem of Hosts, to subdue the comprehensive evil, the spirit of animality, through the shechitah, as mentioned above. For tikkun ha'bris is the aspect of azus [boldness], the aspect of Boaz — "bo az" [in him is strength], "in him is might" [bo tukfa], as is brought. And this is [the reason] that it is forbidden to slaughter before eight days have passed after [the animal] was born, just as with a korban [offering], of which it is written: "Seven days it shall be under its mother, and from the eighth day onward it shall be accepted as an offering" (Vayikra 22:27), etc. For the korbanos are the aspect of tikkun ha'bris, for they come to subdue and remove the spirit of animality, as mentioned above. Therefore it is not accepted as an offering until the eighth day (Vayikra 12:3), in the aspect of milah [circumcision], which is tikkun ha'bris, whose commandment is on the eighth day. For the essential tikkun ha'bris is in the aspect of the eighth day, which is above the seven days — which is the aspect of da'as, from which the essential tikkun ha'bris is drawn, as is brought. And seven days must pass over it, in order to emerge from the koach ha'medameh [the imaginative faculty], the power of animality, whose primary hold is in the aspect of the seven days, through fallen loves [ahavas ha'nefulos], as brought in the words of Rabbeinu (in Siman 54). But in the aspect of the eighth day, which is the aspect of mochin [brain-faculties/higher consciousness], [the power of animality] has no hold there. And then the milah is performed — which is the subduing of animality and tikkun ha'bris. And likewise, the korban also is not accepted until the eighth day, for it is also the aspect of tikkun ha'bris, as mentioned above. And likewise, the shechitah, which is also the aspect of tikkun ha'bris, the aspect of a korban, as mentioned above — in order to subdue the power of animality as mentioned above — therefore one must also wait until the eighth day, as mentioned above. As Rabbeinu wrote there in the discourse "A Prayer of Chavakuk" (Section 3): that the subduing of the comprehensive evil through the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh is the aspect of milah, the aspect of Chashmal, see there. And this is the aspect of the shechitah with the above-mentioned knife — the aspect of "a double-edged sword" (Tehillim 149:6), the aspect of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, as mentioned above. It follows that it is in the aspect of milah, and therefore one must wait until the eighth day, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of covering the blood with earth [kissui dam b'afar]. With earth specifically, for it is the aspect of the above-mentioned sword, which is the aspect of tefillah [prayer], the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of the speech of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, as mentioned above. All of this is the aspect of earth [afar], which is the aspect of tefillah, the aspect of the above-mentioned sword, as Rabbeinu, may his light shine, wrote elsewhere (in Siman 9), in the aspect of: "He renders His sword like dust" (Yeshayahu 41:2). As Rabbeinu, may his light shine, wrote regarding "and he weighed the dust and smelled" etc. (Bava Basra 73a) — earth is the aspect of Malchus, as is known. And therefore, the covering, even though it is a mitzvah in its own right, is the completion of the shechitah (as brought in the Shulchan Aruch). For it is the aspect of actual shechitah, and it is the completion of the shechitah. For the shechitah is with the above-mentioned knife, through which the spirit of animality is subdued, in the aspect of: "an avenging sword, avenging the covenant [bris]" (Vayikra 26:25), in the aspect of: "and My sword shall consume flesh" (Devarim 32:42). For it is the aspect of kalah [a bride/consummation], "that consumes all and destroys all," as mentioned above. And through this very shechitah with the above-mentioned sword, they rectify and vivify the soul that is there, in the aspect of: "And you who cling to Hashem your G-d are alive" (Devarim 4:4), etc., as mentioned above. And this is also the aspect of the covering of the blood — to rectify the remaining sparks and souls that remained in the blood itself. For the blood is the soul, and as our Sages of blessed memory said: "blood, in which the soul departs," etc. Therefore one must cover it with earth, which is the aspect of the above-mentioned sword, in order to confine the transgression and seal the sin, to purify and cleanse the soul that is there, to subdue the evil that surrounds it and to consume it and eradicate it through the earth — the aspect of the above-mentioned sword. And to rectify and elevate the soul that is there, to elevate it to its root, to give it life through this, as mentioned above.