If an animal was very weak and possibly very close to death before the Shechitah (slaughtering), there is always the possibility that it died before the Shechitah was completed, in which case the animal would be a nevelah (died before the Shechitah was completed). If it was a nevelah, you are not allowed to eat it. So what we need is a little bit of proof that the animal was alive at the moment of Shechitah, and that the Shechitah itself killed the animal. Here, we’ll talk about what signs we could use to show that the animal was alive at the time of Shechitah. The Mishnah says: If somebody is slaughtering an animal, that is a case of sakana. That means it is very close to death. The animal can’t stand up on its own, and even if it stands up, it falls down. We’re not talking about a case where the animal is a terefa. If it’s a terefa, that means the animal is about to die because of a blemish or wound, and it’s definitely not kosher (fit for consumption). Here, we’re talking about an animal that seems to be healthy in its body, but maybe it died a second before the Shechitah happened, and therefore it was already dead and you can’t eat it. In that type of situation, we have to suspect that it died before Shechitah unless it makes a movement with its front leg or its back leg. If it moves right when Shechitah is happening, we see that it was alive until that time, and therefore the Shechitah killed it and it’s allowed to be eaten. If you’re slaughtering a healthy animal, of course it’s going to move around and feel that pain. If the animal was alive at that moment, it’ll move around. That’s how you have a sign that it didn’t die. It’s enough if blood squirts out at the moment of Shechitah. A healthy animal, an animal that’s alive, is going to have a stream of blood come out of it once its throat is slit. Therefore, according to Rabbi Eliezer, that would be enough to prove that it was alive until the moment of Shechitah. You don’t need to see an actual movement from the animal.
Rabbi Shimon is going to note a practical application of what Rabbi Eliezer told us: somebody slaughtering at nighttime, when it’s not possible to see the animals moving, wakes up the following morning and finds the sides of the animal’s neck full of blood. The animal would be kosher because it must have squirted out blood when the Shechitah was completed, which is enough to prove that it was alive at that moment. According to Rabbi Eliezer’s understanding, which we just brought above, that would be enough to prove that it was alive. The Hachamim (the rabbis) bring a third perspective. They give a third opinion. In order for the animal to show that it’s alive, it has to do one of three things. Like the original opinion of Rabbi Shimon, it has to move either its front leg or its back leg, or it has to wag its tail. If it moves its tail, that’s considered enough. So, the rabbis here disagree with the first opinion. They agree. They disagree with Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel. He is stricter. He says the animal has to move specifically its back or its front leg, but if it wags its tail, that’s not proof that it’s alive. According to Rabbi Eliezer, even if blood squirted from it, that could prove that it’s alive. So, according to the Hachamim over here, that wouldn’t be enough in that case either. So, they’re a middle opinion.
We’re talking here about both a small animal and a large animal: a small animal like a sheep or a goat, or a large animal like a cow. If an animal is close to death, you’re not allowed to eat it until you know with certainty that it was alive at the moment of Shechitah. But there is a further difference between the different types of animals. A small animal stretched out its leg, its foreleg, at the time, but did not pull it back. The animal is not kosher. This type of movement happens automatically as these small animals’ lives are coming to an end. When this small animal reaches its end, that movement doesn’t prove it was alive at that point in time, as opposed to this type of movement by a large animal. A large animal doesn’t move its back leg behind it when it’s about to die. Therefore, with a large animal, it would serve as proof of life.
In what case did we say this ruling, that a slaughtered animal has to show signs of life in order to allow it to be kosher? Only when it was presumed to be kosher and close to death before the Shechitah. But if the animal was presumed to be healthy at that moment in time, then even if it doesn’t have one of these signs, if it doesn’t move at all when the Shechitah is completed, we’re not worried at all. We know it was alive, and therefore the animal would be kosher.