Shehitah Kabbalah (License to Perform Ritual Slaughter) Granted to Menahem Judah Raphael ben Abraham Hayyim Modigliani Signed by Judah Leon, Samuel ben Abraham Fiano and Aaron Joseph ben Shabbetai Efrati [Rome] 1 Adar 5504 (February 14, 1744)

rare illustrated license to perform shehita

The Hebrew bible distinguishes between animals that may be eaten and those whose flesh is forbidden.  However, in order to be deemed kosher or ritually fit for consumption, meat from permitted animals must also be slaughtered in a religiously prescribed manner.  The laws of shehitah (ritual slaughter) govern the method in which permissible animals are to be killed and who may perform this task.  Due to the complexities of the rules and regulations governing shehitah, communal religious leaders began, as early as the 13th century, to require potential ritual slaughterers (shohetim) to be examined and approved by a rabbi or another qualified expert. The actual licensing of shohetim by means of a written document was instituted only in the sixteenth century.  These licenses testified to the fitness of the bearer to perform shehitah and as is the case in this document, often adjured the shohet to maintain high standards of cleanliness, both in terms of personal hygiene as well as to maintain sanitary conditions in the abattoir.

This decorated kabbalah (license) was granted to Menahem Judah Raphael Modigliani, a member of an illustrious family of Italian Jews. The text states that his examiners, whose names appear below the text as signatories have examined him and found him to be “well-versed, expert and worthy to slaughter.” Furthermore, they attest that he has “passed before us through the crucible of examination . . . therefore, we have placed our hands on him [an allusion to rabbinic ordination] and granted him permission  from now on to perform shehita for himself as well as for others.”  Modigliani is then “roused in the fear of God” and enjoined to avoid complacency and to assiduously review all he has learned, once a month for the coming two years “so that the laws may be as routine in his mouth [in the future] as they are now that he stands before us, and that he might fulfill them all the days of his life.”

An elegant neo-classical border of floral-filled urns, flowing vines and two cameo busts surrounds the page and set within a cartouche at the top of the document is a vignette of two stylishly dressed young men.  The scene depicts the moment after the shohet has recited the blessing.  His assistant holds steady the animal being slaughtered, here a waterfowl, while the shohet draws the sharpened knife across the bird’s throat, thus accomplishing the rite of shehitah.