2,485. The Place to Slaughter an Animal

Hilchos Shechita 1:5

An animal is be slaughtered on the neck, any place on which is fit for slaughter. As far as the esophagus, from the start of where it contracts when cut to the place where hair grows so that it starts to be craggy like the stomach – this is the place of slaughter of the esophagus.

Hilchos Shechita 1:6

If one slaughters above this at the entrance to the esophagus, or below it at the start of the bowels, the slaughter is invalid. The measure of the entrance to the esophagus, above which slaughter is invalid in an animal, is enough to grasp with two fingers; when it comes to a bird, it depends on the bird’s size.