Leviticus 22:28 states a prohibition: “Whether a bull or a sheep, you shall not slaughter it and its offspring in one day.” A mishnah towards the start of today’s daf holds that this rule of not slaughtering a mother and its young on the same day applies to non-sacred animals and sacrificial animals alike.
The Gemara sets out to demonstrate how this is known. First, it demonstrates that the ban indeed applies to sacrificial animals:
The sages taught in a beraita: From where is it derived that the prohibition against slaughtering an animal and its offspring in a single day applies to sacrificial animals? It is derived from a verse, as the verse states: “When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born …” (Leviticus 22:27), and it is written in the following verse (28): “And whether it be a bull or a sheep, you shall not slaughter it and its offspring in one day.” The juxtaposition of the verses teaches with regard to the prohibition against slaughtering an animal itself and its offspring that it applies to sacrificial animals.
In the verse before the prohibition on slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day, the Torah tells us animals are candidates for sacrifice starting eight days after birth. The Gemara yokes this to the next verse, concluding that the ban on slaughtering a mother and its offspring on the same day applies to sacrificial offerings.
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This seems like a reasonable conclusion. So how do we know that it also applies to non-sacrificial animals?
The repetitive phrase, “a bull or a sheep,” interrupted the topic.
If these two verses are closely linked, and yet they repeat the phrase “a bull or a sheep,” reasons the Gemara, this appears redundant. Recall that the sages assume all sacred text is meaningful and no word is wasted. Therefore, the repetition of “a bull or a sheep” must be teaching us something — specifically, that the prohibition extends to both sacrificial and non-sacrificial animals.
While the Talmud grapples with the practical halakhic concerns, other rabbinic texts leverage this poignant rule for allegorical purposes. Genesis Rabba recalls the fraught night that Jacob anticipated his imminent reunion with Esau, terrified his estranged brother would kill his entire family in one day. The midrash places this prayer in his mouth: “Master of the universe, it is written in Your Torah: ‘A bull or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day’ (Leviticus 22:28). If this wicked one comes and eradicates my children and their mothers as one, the Torah scroll that You are destined to give on Mount Sinai, who will read it? I implore You, deliver me from his hand…”
Elsewhere, this principle that one should not kill mother and child on the same day is cited as condemnation of past massacres of the Jewish people (see Lamentations Rabba). And in another vein, Deuteronomy Rabba connects the ban on same-day slaughter to ritual circumcision on a baby’s eighth day as dual signs of God’s mercy.
Practically, Jewish law forbids the slaughter of a mother and offspring on the same day — whether for food or as an offering. But it’s clear that’s only part of the meaning derived from these verses, which are so emotionally poignant when applied not only to animals but also to humans.
Read all of Chullin 77 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on July 16, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
