Talking Talmud

More on Hilkhot Shabbat - with a baraita that connects between Hullin and Shabbat. One who cooks on Shabbat without intent, one can eat that food (though the person who cooked it may have to wait until after Shabbat, depending on whom you ask) - even before the end of Shabbat. If it was intentional, then the food can't be eaten, even after Shabbat, by anyone. Also, what about doing shechitah for someone who is ill on Shabbat, in the event that such a person would need that meat on Shabbat? The ill person is eligible to eat this meat, of course, but can a healthy person eat from that same shechitah that was done on Shabbat? Note the rabbinic decree to prevent the temptation of increasing the cooking on Shabbat. Plus, all tools that are sharp enough and smooth enough will yield a kosher shechitah.

A new mishnah (a tiny one)! One who slaughters an animal on Shabbat or Yom Kippur is liable for a death sentence, but the shechitah itself is kosher. But that would only hold true in the case where nothing could have been done to prepare the same shechitah before Shabbat (at the latest, some time on Friday) -- otherwise, it has to be prepared in advance. Especially if meat were to be given to dogs, for example. But can an animal really be "prepared" in advance? Are they really in the world to serve human beings? The Gemara says that their primary purpose is to live in the world, reproduce, and so on. Also, the rest of the Gemara addresses many different concepts of Shabbat - the first being "nolad" -- that which comes into existence on Shabbat. With application to the juices that emerge from the fruit over Shabbat (grapes, olives, and more). Plus, the concern regarding when animals are in the service of human beings - after shechitah is clear, but when in the decision to slaughter the animal to begin with?

A case where one brings produce to the roof of a building to keep it away from insects, but it gets wet from dew, which makes the produce eligible to become impure. Plus, the ways in which intent (or lack thereof) has impact on the kashrut of one's shechitah (or one's sacrifice). Also, two very brief mishnayot: 1. If a non-Jew slaughters an animal in a way that would be kosher if it were done by a Jew, the animal is considered a "neveilah" and it imparts ritual impurity. 2. If one slaughters at night - or if a blind person slaughters - the shechitah is kosher, with some apparent difference of opinion whether that is considered kosher even in an ideal situation or only after the fact.

Do you need to see the entire process of shechitah to be able to trust that it was done properly? The Gemara has a case that does require one to see the entirety of the process, but we know that that isn't usually how it works (so often, we do not see any of the process of shechitah!), so the sages delve into the particulars of the case. Perhaps it's a question of whether you know the shochet's level of knowledge and expertise. Also, if one chooses an agent to go slaughter an animal and the agent discovers that the animal was already slaughtered - can it be trusted to be a kosher shechitah? What about terumah that was set aside? Would it have been set aside properly?

A quantifiable majority determines the outcome of an unknown, as per the biblical verse: "Follow the majority." But with an unquantifiable majority - what is the source for the principle to apply in those cases as well? Note that the Gemara supports this principle with 9 examples -- that is, 9 sources as possibilities from which it is understood or derived. Note also that checking the reality of the situation isn't the issue; the sages are intent on establishing the sources and using the majority to establish "truth," rather than looking for the truth in other ways.