Chullin 28

Yesterday, we encountered a mishnah that taught the following:

In the case of one who slaughters by cutting one siman (i.e., the windpipe or the gullet) in a bird, and two simanim in an animal, his slaughter is valid.

Rabbi Yehuda says: The slaughter is not valid until one cuts the veins.

The Gemara is interested in understanding Rabbi Yehuda’s position and how it relates to the anonymous one above it. The discussion is, as one might expect, graphic. But the payoff is in better understanding talmudic logic and grasping another detail of kosher slaughter, so we will dive in.

There are two major tubes (what the rabbis called simanim) in the throat of all animals: the windpipe (trachea) and the gullet (esophagus). The anonymous first line in the mishnah reminds us that for most animals, both simanim must be severed for a slaughter to be deemed kosher. For birds, however, only one must be cut. This is a widely accepted rabbinic view. At first glance, it appears that Rabbi Yehuda simply adds another requirement: In addition to the simanim, the (major) veins in the neck must be cut as well.

An initial read of the mishnah might suggest that Rabbi Yehuda’s statement applies to both birds and animals. However, on today’s daf, Rav Hisdah teaches that it applies only to birds:

Rav Yehuda said that one must cut the veins only in the slaughter of a bird, as one typically roasts it in its entirety as one whole entity; therefore, one must cut the veins to ensure that the blood drains. But with regard to the slaughter of an animal, since it is typically quartered into limbs, resulting in the blood draining more readily, one need not cut the veins.

Rav Hisda suggests that Rav Yehuda’s requirement is practical. Kosher meat must be drained of blood. Because birds are small and often cooked whole, the requirement to sever the veins in their necks helps ensure that blood will be properly drained before they are cooked and eaten. Larger animals do not require this step because they will ultimately be quartered, giving the blood ample opportunity to drain.
The Gemara objects, noting that Rabbi Yehuda’s language, “until one cuts the veins,” suggests that one is required to cut through the simanim until the veins are severed as well. Read this way, the cutting of the veins appears to be a required step, rather than one that was later added to facilitate the draining of blood. If so, Rav Hisda is incorrect and Rabbi Yehuda’s statement applies to both birds and other animals.

In response to its own challenge, however, the Gemara suggests that what Rabbi Yehuda really meant was “until one punctures the veins during the slaughter.” This means the cut made by the slaughterer should cause the blood to drain, which, as explained above, is a necessary step in the case of birds — restoring the possibility that Rav Hisda is correct.

This back-and-forth continues for a bit. Eventually, the Gemara asks: If the severing of the veins is done for the sake of draining the blood, what does it matter if it is performed at the time of slaughter? As long as the blood is removed from the carcass, the meat is permitted for consumption. To this, the Gemara responds:

Rabbi Yehuda holds that at the time of slaughter, the blood emerges quickly because the blood is warm. When it is not at the time of slaughter, the blood does not emerge quickly because it is cool.

It does matter when the blood is drained because a delay allows the blood to cool and congeal, slowing the rate of flow, potentially resulting in inadequate drainage.

Let’s recap all this. Two possible readings of the mishnah emerge: In one, the mishnah reads as a dispute between the tanna kamma, the anonymous first position, and Rabbi Yehuda, in which the latter requires the severing of the veins as a part of all ritual slaughter and the former does not. The other possible reading, in line with Rav Hisda, is that Rabbi Yehuda’s position adds to the first, serving both a legal and practical purpose: cutting, or at least puncturing the veins of a bird at the time of slaughter is an efficient and, ultimately, required way to remove the blood from the carcass.
 
Later legal sources accept Rav Hisda’s reading of the mishnah and incorporate the resulting conclusions into their law codes, which looks like this: A shochet (kosher slaughterer) is required to sever or pierce the neck veins of a bird while the animal is still twitching. But if they fail to do so, the animal is not disqualified — it simply cannot be roasted whole. It must be cut into pieces and the blood allowed to drain before it is cooked and eaten.

Read all of Chullin 28 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on May 28, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.