Barry Epstein asked:
Chizkiah: If hte slaughterer cut the animal in 2, it is a neveilah. If he cut the animal in 2 through the neck, is it still a neveilah? Why?
Barry Epstein, Dallas, USA
The Kollel replies:
Rashi says earlier (on 21a) that it is a Neveilah. Chizkiyah is not speaking about the Kashrus of the Shechitah; obviously, the case of cutting the neck is referring to a case in which he either cut through the Mafrekes (spine), or he chopped it off not through Shechitah. The novel teaching of Chizkiyah is that the animal has the status of a Neveilah even before it actually dies.
D. Zupnik