{"id":12379,"date":"2026-07-18T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12379"},"modified":"2026-08-09T10:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T07:27:09","slug":"17-18-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/","title":{"rendered":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita"},"content":{"rendered":"

The laws of she\u1e25ita<\/em> were given to Moshe at Sinai, as it is stated: \u201cYou shall slaughter from your cattle and from your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I commanded you\u201d (Devarim 12:21; \u1e24ullin<\/em> 28a). In she\u1e25ita<\/em>, the two simanim<\/em> must be cut: the windpipe and the esophagus. These simanim<\/em> are the channels of life: the windpipe supplies oxygen, and the esophagus supplies food. When they are cut, the animal\u2019s source of life is severed (SA YD 21:1). To spare the animal suffering and because of the prohibition of eating blood, the arteries and veins must be cut together with the simanim<\/em>. Once the arteries are cut, the animal no longer feels pain and its life departs without suffering; cutting them also drains the blood that is forbidden to eat, as explained below in section 3.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

She\u1e25ita<\/em> is performed with a sharp knife drawn across the soft front of the neck, where the simanim<\/em> and arteries are located. If, however, one slaughtered from the back of the neck, then as soon as the knife struck and cut the spinal bone, the animal became a neveila<\/em>, and continuing the cut until reaching the two simanim<\/em> would no longer help. If one began slaughtering from the side of the neck, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is valid as long as both simanim<\/em> were cut without touching the spinal bone. In turkeys and doves, the simanim<\/em> are located at the sides of the neck. The sho\u1e25et<\/em> must position the birds so that the simanim<\/em> face the front of the neck, ensuring the cut does not strike the spinal bone (SA YD 20:3\u20134).<\/p>\n

Five laws of she\u1e25ita<\/em> were given to Moshe at Sinai: shehiya<\/em>, derasa<\/em>, \u1e25alada<\/em>, hagrama<\/em>, and ikur<\/em>. If any of these requirements is not met, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid and the meat is classified as neveila<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Shehiya<\/em> refers to a pause during the act of she\u1e25ita<\/em>. The act of she\u1e25ita<\/em> must be continuous; if the sho\u1e25et<\/em> pauses even momentarily, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid. True, the Sages said that a pause invalidates only if it lasts as long as it takes to perform she\u1e25ita<\/em> (\u1e24ullin<\/em> 32a). Nevertheless, according to many Rishonim, this means the time it takes to cut most of the simanim<\/em> \u2013 an interval of less than a second, too brief to measure \u2013 and the practice is therefore to invalidate the she\u1e25ita<\/em> after any pause at all (Rashi; Mahari Weil; Rema YD 23:2; Kaf Ha-\u1e25ayim<\/em> 13).<\/p>\n

Derasa<\/em> refers to slaughter by pressure rather than by cutting. She\u1e25ita<\/em> must be performed by drawing the knife back and forth across the neck, not by pressing the knife into it. Any pressure of the knife into the neck, even slight pressure, is derasa<\/em> and invalidates the she\u1e25ita<\/em>. If the knife is at least twice the width of the neck, one may, when necessary, perform a valid she\u1e25ita<\/em> with a single cutting motion. Ideally, however, one should use such a knife while moving it back and forth, so as to avoid any possible concern of derasa<\/em> (SA YD 24:1\u20136; Shul\u1e25an Arukh Ha-Rav<\/em> 9; Simla \u1e24adasha<\/em> 3).<\/p>\n

\u1e24alada<\/em> refers to concealed she\u1e25ita<\/em>, where the knife is inserted into the neck and cuts from within. Such a she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid. The word \u1e25alada<\/em> denotes concealment, like a weasel (\u1e25ulda<\/em>) that hides in holes, because the knife is concealed inside the neck. If an animal had heavy wool on its neck and the sho\u1e25et<\/em> inserted the knife beneath the wool and slaughtered, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid out of concern for \u1e25alada<\/em>, and the animal\u2019s meat is forbidden to eat (\u1e24ullin<\/em> 30b; SA YD 24:7\u20138). When an animal has thick wool on its neck, the practice is to shear it before she\u1e25ita<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hagrama<\/em> refers to slaughtering outside the section of the neck designated for she\u1e25ita<\/em>. The cut must not be made too high, toward the mouth, or too low, toward the lungs and stomach; if it is, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid. For this reason, the accepted practice is to slaughter near the middle of the neck, avoiding any concern of hagrama<\/em> (SA YD 20:1\u20133; 24:12\u201314).<\/p>\n

Ikur<\/em> refers to she\u1e25ita<\/em> in which the simanim<\/em> are torn, uprooted, or displaced rather than cut properly in their place. It invalidates she\u1e25ita<\/em> in one of two ways. The first involves the knife: if the blade has a nick, it can tear or puncture the windpipe and esophagus rather than cut them cleanly, and the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid. The second involves the simanim<\/em> themselves: if one of them has become dislodged from its natural place in the neck, and it is cut in that state, the she\u1e25ita<\/em> is invalid (SA YD 24:15\u201318).<\/p>\n

\n
\n
[1]<\/a>.At minimum, she\u1e25ita<\/em> is valid if most of both simanim<\/em> are cut in a domesticated or wild animal, or most of one siman<\/em> in a bird (SA YD 21:1). However, if the arteries and veins were not cut, one may not roast the entire animal or bird at once. Since its blood did not drain properly, roasting will not extract the blood from it (SA YD 22:1\u20132; see Rema to SA YD 22:2). After she\u1e25ita<\/em>, the sho\u1e25et<\/em> must check whether the simanim<\/em> were cut properly (SA YD 25:1).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The laws of she\u1e25ita were given to Moshe at Sinai, as it is stated: \u201cYou shall slaughter from your cattle and from your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I commanded you\u201d (Devarim 12:21; \u1e24ullin 28a). In she\u1e25ita, the two simanim must be cut: the windpipe and the esophagus. These simanim are the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-18"],"yoast_head":"\n02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The laws of she\u1e25ita were given to Moshe at Sinai, as it is stated: \u201cYou shall slaughter from your cattle and from your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I commanded you\u201d (Devarim 12:21; \u1e24ullin 28a). In she\u1e25ita, the two simanim must be cut: the windpipe and the esophagus. These simanim are the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\"},\"headline\":\"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":877,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"18 - Laws of She\u1e25ita\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/\",\"name\":\"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-18-02\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\",\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/eladgg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"The laws of she\u1e25ita were given to Moshe at Sinai, as it is stated: \u201cYou shall slaughter from your cattle and from your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I commanded you\u201d (Devarim 12:21; \u1e24ullin 28a). In she\u1e25ita, the two simanim must be cut: the windpipe and the esophagus. These simanim are the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00","author":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/"},"author":{"name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674"},"headline":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita","datePublished":"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/"},"wordCount":877,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["18 - Laws of She\u1e25ita"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/","name":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T21:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-09T07:27:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-18-02\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02. The Laws of She\u1e25ita"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674","name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/eladgg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12380,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379\/revisions\/12380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}