Comentario sobre Hulín 2:5

בידים מסואבות – without the ritual washing of the hands, for the Rabbis decreed that “hands” are [naturally considered] “second” degree of Levitical uncleanness and we are dealing with unconsecrated food that was made on the purification of food dedicated for sacred purposes for something that is “second” degree of Levitical uncleanness makes something else “third” degree of Levitical uncleanness, for had we been dealing with unconsecrated meat alone, if they had been made fit [ for Levitical uncleanness] by contact with blood, something that is second degree of Levitical uncleanness does not make something else third degree of Levitical uncleanness.

Introduction In order for food to become susceptible to impurity it must come into contact with one of seven liquids (see Leviticus 11:38). When an animal is slaughtered, assumedly blood will come out and render the meat susceptible to impurity. Our mishnah discusses a situation where an animal is slaughtered and blood does not come out.

לפי שלא הוכשרו בדם – since food does not receive susceptibility for ritual uncleanness until water comes upon it, or one of the seven liquids which are: water, wine, olive oil, milk and bees’ honey, blood and dew (see also Leviticus 11:34: “ As to any food that may be eaten, it shall become impure if it came in contact with water; as to any liquid that may be drunk, it shall become impure if it was inside any vessel.”).

If one slaughtered cattle or a wild beast or a bird and no blood came out, they are valid and may be eaten by him whose hands have not been washed, for they have not been rendered susceptible to impurity by blood. Although blood did not come out of the animal (be it wild or domesticated) or the bird, the animal can still be eaten. We don’t assume that the animal was already dead when it was slaughtered and therefore no blood came out. We also don’t prohibit the animal because of the blood inside the animal, because blood that is inside an animal is not prohibited. Since the meat cannot receive impurity, one who has impure hands because he has not washed them can eat the meat without fear of causing it to be impure. This would have important ramifications if the animal was sacred and was being eaten by priests. Alternatively, it would have ramifications if the person simply desired to eat his meat in a state of purity.

הוכשרו בשחיטה – for since ritual slaughter is permissible for this meat, anything like a limb from a living animal is also compared to food regarding defilement, but the Halakha does not follow Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi Shimon says: they have been rendered susceptible to impurity by the slaughtering. Rabbi Shimon says that the very act of slaughtering renders the animal susceptible to impurity. Since the slaughtering causes the animal to become permitted for eating, it also causes the animal to become susceptible to impurity.