פסחים-לד

A רב who was sitting near a fireplace at an inn on a terribly cold winter day, saw a שוחט drink four shot glasses of whiskey to battle the cold just before going to slaughter a calf for the owner of the inn.  The רב approached the שוחט, and asking מחילה, suggested that perhaps he should take a rest before the שחיטה because it’s אסור לשחוט after drinking.  The שוחט in effect told him to mind his own business.  “Now I understand the reason for something that had been troubling me in the הגדה של פסח,” the רב said.  “The חד גדיא relates ואתא מלאך המות ושחט לשוחט.  I never understood why.  What did the שוחט do to deserve death?  Unlike the שונרא, the כלב, the מקל, and the others who did evil and deserved what they got, why was the שוחט punished?  In slaughtering the שור, he made a ברכה on the שחיטה and was מקיים a מצוה מן התורה.  But now it’s clear to me.  The שוחט in the חד גדיא already drank theארבע כוסות and therefore deserved to be punished.”

05/07/2020