Why a Gentile's Slaughter Is Treated as Carrion

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 34:4

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they go astray after their gods and sacrifice to their gods" (Exodus 34:15). Since Scripture warned against eating from such a sacrifice, you may learn that the sacrifice itself is forbidden. From here the Sages said: the slaughter performed by a gentile yields carrion [neveilah], and it conveys ritual impurity by being carried.

Themes

IdolatryCommandmentsPurity

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