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The Polished Knife Enactment

A polished knife (sakin meluṭash) is a slaughtering knife whose cross-sectional profile is already triangular before sharpening begins.[1] This method of manufacturing slaughtering knives was introduced by the disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch,[2] and allows the knife to be sharpened in a way that achieves both sharpness and smoothness simultaneously.

The Slaughtering Knife edit

One of the most essential elements of shechitah — the Jewish method of ritual slaughter — is the slaughtering knife itself, called the chalaf. The name derives from the Hebrew word meaning "to exchange," since the knife transitions the animal from life to death, from a state of prohibition to a state of permissibility.[3]

For details regarding the preparation, sharpening, and inspection of the knife, as well as the rulings of the Chabad Rebbes and the customs of Chabad shochtim (ritual slaughterers), see Shechitas Lubavitch.

The Polished Knife Enactment edit

Rationale edit

The Alter Rebbe himself explains the rationale for the enactment in a responsum addressed to opponents in Vilna.[4] In brief: a knife that is not polished is very difficult to make both smooth and sharp at once. While it is technically possible, it is not within the ability of every person, and even a skilled sharpener must invest considerable time — and conditions are not always ideal for the slaughterer. By contrast, with a polished knife, the task is straightforward for a craftsman, requiring no great investment of time.

The Alter Rebbe does not explain in that letter precisely what a polished knife is and how it is sharpened; that knowledge was transmitted among shochtim as an oral tradition from generation to generation, and was later set down in writing by Rabbi Shalom Ber Levin (who received it from Rabbi Dovber Yunik), and has since been printed in several places.[5]

What Is a Polished Knife edit

 
Cross-sectional profiles of polished and unpolished knives

The diagrams at left illustrate the difference between a polished and an unpolished knife (the standard type used for slaughter before the Alter Rebbe's enactment). Each diagram shows a cross-sectional profile — that is, as if the knife were sliced through and one is viewing the thickness of the metal at the cut.

Diagram A shows an unpolished knife before sharpening.

Diagram B shows an unpolished knife sharpened at a sharp angle. Such sharpening can produce a very keen edge, but it is extremely difficult to achieve a smooth surface on the blade's edge; the tip typically catches on the finger during inspection, and a nick (pegimah) — a disqualifying flaw — is highly likely.

Diagram C shows an unpolished knife sharpened at a sharp angle by someone who is not a craftsman. Because the sharpening surface is wide, the sharpener's hand will almost inevitably shift, causing the blade to become rounded and the tip to be nicked.

Diagram D shows an unpolished knife sharpened at an obtuse angle. This makes it easy to achieve a smooth surface, but difficult to achieve sharpness — and a slaughterer forced to draw the knife back and forth repeatedly may come to commit derasah (pressing down rather than drawing the knife in a clean stroke, which renders the animal non-kosher).

Diagram E shows a polished knife before sharpening.

Diagram F shows a polished knife after sharpening. Only this type of knife can readily be made both sharp (minimizing the risk of derasah) and smooth (minimizing the risk of a nick).

Significance of the Enactment edit

The Alter Rebbe wrote: "In the matter of slaughter with polished knives — this is a great and weighty mitzvah, which our holy masters of blessed memory upheld and literally gave their lives for, holding that no amount of money is worth having a reliable slaughterer."

At the same time, the Alter Rebbe wrote that those who do not use polished knives must not be regarded as eating forbidden meat: "But if one sometimes sits at a se'udas mitzvah with the people of one's town who do not slaughter with a polished knife — Heaven forbid to distance oneself from them or regard them as eating neveilah. Perish the thought of even mentioning it. I myself have never been strict about their utensils, even those used that very day."[6]

The Opposition edit

Regarding the reasoning of those who opposed the enactment, the Alter Rebbe wrote:[7] "I still cannot fathom the position of those who disagree — what it is and why." He elaborated further in one of his letters:[8]

When the renowned Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, av beis din of his community, visited our region in 5563 (1802–03), several leading figures of our province (who are not among our followers at all) heard from him in the name of his illustrious teacher, the pious Gaon of blessed memory, that there is no prohibition whatsoever in slaughtering with polished knives according to the halachah as stated in the Talmud and the legal authorities. Whatever ruling may have come from him[9] was only in the nature of a protective fence specifically for our followers — in the same category as the other restrictive decrees that went forth as if by error from the ruling authority in 5532 (1771–72), treating our people as if they were heretics — among those to be put down, not to intermarry with, and so forth — all of this based on reports received from reliable and trustworthy individuals in the eyes of your honored Torah for many years.

Acceptance of the Enactment edit

Though in towns with separate Chassidic and Mitnagdic (traditionalist-rabbinic opposition) communities — each with its own slaughter — there were various tensions, the enactment gradually gained acceptance in many communities. As the Alter Rebbe wrote:[10] "Throughout the provinces of Ukraine, Galicia, Podolia, and most of Volhynia they eat from polished knives — including in the great city of Dubna, where our followers are not present at all; and likewise in Ostra, Kremenets, Lutsk, and other major communities that have no connection to our followers — and also in the Holy Land, and many Sephardim as well."

The great efforts of the Alter Rebbe and the Chassidim to quiet the controversy are evident from his further appeal to the opponents:[11]

They have not explained to me what the stumbling block is by which they cause the public of their community to stumble, and therefore I do not understand why their honored Torah has issued such sharp words regarding polished knives on account of the decrees of 5532. And what they wrote in their letter — that one should be concerned about a great controversy — I do not fully understand. Is not their honored Torah seated upon the chair of halachic authority, to guide the people in the commandments of God and His Torah? They are the leaders of the thousands of Israel in their community, and the eyes of all Israel are turned to them — the body follows the head. If their honored Torah were to rule permissively — who would dare question their judgment, God forbid? Everything follows the conclusion; let us conclude and seal this in peace — for I am peace.

After the Alter Rebbe's second imprisonment, the great controversy began to fade. From 5564 (1803–04) onward — when Rabbi Avraham Avli of Posval, who maintained warm relations with the Chabad Rebbes,[12] was appointed av beis din of Vilna — Mitnagdic communities generally permitted the appointment of Chassidic shochtim who slaughtered exclusively with polished knives. This is documented in Vitebsk in 5565 (1804–05)[13] and in the Lithuanian town of Birzh in 5580 (1819–20),[14] where communities were permitted "to take for their needs a shochet who will slaughter for them according to their practice." Gradually the polished knife enactment was accepted throughout the Jewish world. As Sheerit Yehuda records:[15]

They labored greatly and endured much suffering and many trials in fierce battles against the opponents — until their righteousness came to light and the land was quiet.

Today, not a single unpolished knife is to be found among shochtim anywhere; all have universally accepted this stringency of the Alter Rebbe.[16]

See Also edit

Further Reading edit

  • "VeEs Vahev BeSufah" — on shechitah and the polished knife enactment — Bnei Heichala, issue 2, 19 Kislev 5785 (2024), from the series by Rabbi Hillel Anixter on controversies, published in Bnei Heichala.

Notes edit

  1. ↑ Shiurei Halakha LeMaaseh, part 2, by Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levin (citing Rabbi Dovber Yunik), pp. 11ff.
  2. ↑ Sheerit Yehuda by the Maharil (brother of the Alter Rebbe), Yoreh Deah, §19.
  3. ↑ Based on Kuntres Shechitas Lubavitch, Mordechai Bistritzky, 5769 (2008–09).
  4. ↑ Responsa, §7.
  5. ↑ Yagdil Torah (New York), no. 19, §80; and in the new edition of Shulchan Aruch HaRav, among other places.
  6. ↑ Responsa of the Alter Rebbe, Shaar HaMiluim, §5; see also Yagdil Torah (New York), no. 19.
  7. ↑ Responsa, §10.
  8. ↑ Igros Kodesh, letter 103.
  9. ↑ The reference is to the Vilna Gaon.
  10. ↑ Igros Kodesh, letter 103.
  11. ↑ Igros Kodesh, letter 103.
  12. ↑ As recounted in Toldos Chabad BePolyn Lita VeLatvia, ch. 5.
  13. ↑ Igros Kodesh, ibid., appendix 35.
  14. ↑ MiBeis HaGenazim, p. 158.
  15. ↑ Sheerit Yehuda, by the Maharil (brother of the Alter Rebbe), Yoreh Deah, §19.
  16. ↑ See further in Sefer Hilchos Shechitah im Biurei Hilchos, p. 250.
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