On the oraita (Torah law) level, a person is not allowed to slaughter a korban (offering) outside the Beit HaMikdash. If he does so, he is liable to karet (excision), and the animal is not allowed to be eaten. We’ll talk about the halakha (Jewish law) when somebody slaughters a regular animal, a Chulin animal—that means it hasn’t been designated as a korban—outside the Beit HaMikdash, but says that he is doing it for the purpose of offering it as a korban. On the oraita level, here as well, the animal is allowed to be eaten because it was never actually designated as a korban. The person just said, “I’m slaughtering the animal for the sake of a korban.” But he never said that the animal was a korban. Therefore, on the oraita level, he could eat it. But there is a machloket (dispute) over whether the animal is asur (forbidden) on a deRabbanan (rabbinic law) level.
The Mishnah says, “HaShochet l'shem (for the sake of) olah (burnt offering). L'shem zevachim (sacrificial offerings). L'shem asham taluy. L'shem Pesach. L'shem todah (thanksgiving offering). Shechitato pesula.” (One who slaughters for the sake of a burnt offering, sacrifices, an offering for uncertain guilt, the Passover offering, or a thanksgiving offering: his slaughter is invalid.) Somebody slaughters an unconsecrated animal—that’s the key over here—outside the Beit HaMikdash, and says he is doing it for the sake of an olah, for the sake of a shelamim (peace offering). Both of these, an olah and a shelamim, can be offered voluntarily whenever anybody wants. Therefore, the Hachamim (sages) were concerned that if someone said they were slaughtering the animal for the sake of an olah or a shelamim, people would think that they had just made it holy on the spot. So again, it’s an unconsecrated animal for the sake of an olah, for the sake of a shelamim. L'shem asham taluy, for the sake of an asham taluy. This is brought when somebody did something that is possibly punishable by karet or requires a chatat (sin offering) if it was done unintentionally.
For example, somebody has two pieces of fat in front of them. One of them is chelev (forbidden fat), and the other is regular shuman, regular fat. A person eats one of them. If he eats one on purpose, or eats one by mistake thinking they were both shuman, that they were both okay, then he has to bring an asham taluy. If he definitely ate a piece of chelev, then he would be liable to karet if he did it on purpose. If he did it by mistake, he would have to bring a korban chatat. But here, whether it was done on purpose or by mistake, he has to bring an asham taluy, because the sin would have been punishable by karet if it was done on purpose and definitely happened, and would have required a korban chatat if it was done by mistake and definitely happened.
L'shem Pesach, or he brings a korban for the sake of korban Pesach. It is only offered at the end of Pesach. A person could consecrate an animal any time during the year and keep it all the way until Pesach. If he slaughtered it early, it has to be offered according to the laws of the shelamim. So, a person is doing all of this. We say the shechita (ritual slaughter) is pasul (invalid) on the Rabbanan level, and the animal is not allowed to be eaten. The Hachamim were nervous that people might think the slaughterer had made the animal a korban right before the shechita. When they see the animal being eaten, they are going to come to the mistaken conclusion that you are allowed to eat a korban that was slaughtered outside the Beit HaMikdash. To prevent this mistake, the Hachamim said that the shechita is invalid. Rabbi Shimon says no: the shechita is valid because the Hachamim had no concern that people were going to think this. Bottom line, the person didn’t consecrate it. The person didn’t make it holy. Therefore, the korban is valid.
We have two people holding a knife and slaughtering an animal together. One of them intended to do something wrong: he intended to perform shechita for the sake of one of the korbanot we listed above. The other person intended to do the shechita for something acceptable, for something that was okay. “Shechitatan pesula.” In this case as well, the shechita is invalid. The hashash, the nervousness of the Hachamim above—that people were going to see this mistake being done, that someone was going to slaughter the korban outside the Beit HaMikdash and eat it—applies here as well. This concern applies. As some say, the shechita is pasul.
Everything we listed above—all the korbanot—is offered on a voluntary basis. The olah and the shelamim can be brought whenever someone would like, even by someone who is not obligated to bring these types of korbanot. So, if the slaughterer had an improper intention or said that he was doing it for the sake of the korbanot, it’s possible that he consecrated the animal on the spot. Therefore, the Hachamim made a decree that you’re not allowed to eat the meat, as we just went through.
Now we’ll talk about korbanot that cannot be offered voluntarily. “HaShochet l'shem chatat.” If somebody slaughters an unconsecrated animal outside the Beit HaMikdash for the sake of a chatat, we’ll go through these korbanot one by one, but let’s get to the conclusion and then come back. L'shem asham vadai, for the sake of a definite asham. L'shem bechor. For the sake of a bechor. L'shem ma'aser. For the sake of ma'aser. L'shem temurah. For the sake of a temurah. Shechitato kesherah. The shechita is valid, and the animal is allowed to be eaten. These korbanot cannot be offered voluntarily, so we’re not nervous that somebody will suspect the slaughterer already consecrated the animal before the shechita. There’s no reason to forbid the meat because everyone who sees what’s happening knows that the animals are not consecrated.
Let’s go through them one by one. The chatat is brought when somebody violates an aveirah (transgression) that, if he did it on purpose, would make him liable to karet. If he did it by mistake, he has to bring a korban chatat. There are five different sins for which a person has to bring an asham vadai. Both this and the chatat are involuntary. They can’t be brought on their own. They are brought only for violating certain sins. So if a person sins, people are going to know about it. Word gets around. They do vidui (confession), they transgress and they want to feel that busha, that shame. And that’s how they receive their kapparah (atonement). If a person didn’t make these confessions, if it wasn’t known around town that they did these things, people would know that they didn’t sin and therefore would know that they were not obligated, even if they ended up bringing a chatat. So when someone sees them slaughtering a chatat and they say it’s for the sake of a chatat, people are going to know that it wasn’t designated as a chatat because they would have known if that sin had happened. The same is true for an asham vadai. Therefore, here we say the shechita is kesherah because everyone knows that the animals were not consecrated.
When dealing with a bechor, the firstborn of a person’s cows, goats, and sheep are consecrated at the moment they are a bechor, the moment of their birth. We’re talking about the firstborn here. The owner has to give them to the Kohen (priest), who has to offer them as korbanot. They are automatically consecrated at the moment of birth. As for ma'aser, the owners of cows, sheep, and goats have to gather all the newborn animals every year and allow them to pass one at a time through the pen. The tenth animal that leaves the pen is marked off with red paint, and it’s a ma'aser offering. Then it’s eventually offered on the Mizbeach (altar), and the owner and his guests eat it. An animal becomes a bechor or ma'aser only through these specific situations; it can’t be offered voluntarily. Therefore, if someone takes an animal and says that he’s slaughtering it for the sake of a bechor or for the sake of ma'aser, people aren’t going to think that he consecrated it for that purpose, since it’s impossible to do so. It automatically becomes consecrated either at birth or by being the tenth. Therefore, they’re not going to assume that it’s already a bechor or already a ma'aser, because here, too, they would have known that the person had a bechor or had ma'aser that he had to bring.
And then temurah. If a person had a korban and wanted to replace it with another animal, he couldn’t do that. The one that you tried to replace it with as well, the temurah, also has a certain sanctity to it. Therefore, when a person has a korban in his keeping, people are going to know about it. If they don’t know about a korban, he’s not going to be suspected of designating a temurah as a replacement. In all of these cases, the shechita is kosher, and the animal is allowed to be eaten. The animals we mentioned, these korbanot, are not allowed to be offered voluntarily. We’re not nervous that people are going to suspect the slaughterer consecrated the animal before the shechita. So the Hachamim had no reason to forbid eating the meat.
Now we’ll finish with the general rule. “Zeh ha-klal: kol davar ha-nidar veha-nidav, ha-shochet lishmo asur. Ve-she-eino nidar ve-nidav, ha-shochet lishmo kasher.” If somebody slaughtered an unconsecrated animal outside the Beit HaMikdash for the sake of the korban, they’re not allowed to eat it. If somebody slaughtered an unconsecrated animal outside the Beit HaMikdash for the sake of any type of korban that could be brought or vowed or donated—that means it could be brought voluntarily—then it’s prohibited to be eaten. “Ve-she-eino nidar ve-nidav, ha-shochet lishmo kasher.” If he slaughtered it for the sake of a korban that cannot be brought as a vow or a donation or anything like that, which means it cannot be brought voluntarily, then it can be eaten.