Today we start chapter 6 of Tractate Chullin. This chapter is all about the mitzvah of kisui ha-dam, literally “the covering of the blood.”
Leviticus 17:12-13 teaches: “No person among you shall partake of blood, nor shall the stranger who resides among you partake of blood. And regarding anyone, whether an Israelite or a stranger who resides among them, who hunts down a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten: they shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.”
The mishnah that opens our chapter explains exactly when this mitzvah is required.
Covering the blood is in effect both in the land of Israel and outside the land of Israel, in the presence of the Temple and not in the presence of the Temple.
The mitzvah of kisui ha-dam is operative wherever animals are slaughtered, and regardless of whether the Temple is standing. This is a mitzvah that unites Jews across space and time. The mishnah continues:
With regard to non-sacred animals, but not with regard to sacrificial ones. And it is in effect with regard to an undomesticated animal and a bird, with regard to those available in his home, and with regard to those that are not available (and are hunted in the wild).
As stated in Leviticus 17:14, only the blood of wild animals — think deer, gazelles or giraffes — and birds must be covered. The blood of domesticated animals, such as cows and sheep, are not covered. The mishnah adds that the blood of sacrificial birds, even though they are birds, is not covered. The Talmud on tomorrow’s daf is going to explain why these birds are exempt.
Before we get to that discussion, it’s worth understanding what exactly this mitzvah is about. If it’s about the sanctity or specialness of blood, then it should apply to all animals, including domesticated animals.
Over the centuries biblical commentators have offered a number of explanations for this mitzvah.
The 13th-century French biblical commentator Chizkiya ben Manoach (known as Chizkuni) reads this commandment as a fence against eating the blood. If the blood is just lying on the ground, then someone might be tempted to come collect it and eat it. Covering the blood with dirt renders it inedible.
Ovadya ben Yaakov Sforno, a 16th-century Italian rabbi and philosopher, builds on this idea that blood might be eaten, but gives it a supernatural spin. He suggests that since wild animals are primarily found in the wilderness, where demons roam, to prevent the demons from feeding on exposed blood (as apparently, per Sforno, demons are wont to do), such blood must be covered.
The 19th-century scholar Samuel David Luzzatto offers a more rationalist explanation, stating that one is required to cover the blood of animals and birds slaughtered in the wild so that no one else comes by and, seeing the blood, thinks that a human has been murdered. He is particularly concerned that the land of Israel does not get a reputation as a place where murder is rampant and condoned (though the Mishnah insists that the mitzvah must take place wherever wild animals and birds are slaughtered).
A kosher slaughterer should have extensive training in the laws of shechita. But many people — not just professional slaughterers — are involved in producing kosher meat. Many of us live in places where people hunt for sport and for food. All three of these explanations insist that even such slaughter must be shaped and sanctified through Jewish ritual.
Read all of Chullin 83 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on July 22, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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