Why is it forbidden to slaughter an ordinary animal in the Temple courtyard?
The Temple courtyard is reserved exclusively for consecrated sacrificial animals. An ordinary animal slaughtered there produces ritually pure meat, but the act itself is forbidden — and the meat is forbidden for benefit.
Question 2
If a person draws the knife only forward (and not back) during shechitah, what is the ruling?
Halachah 8 rules that a single forward or single backward stroke is sufficient as long as the slaughter is thereby completed.
Question 3
A water-powered wheel with a knife affixed to it spins on its own. A person places the neck of a fowl against the blade. What is the ruling?
Halachah 12 distinguishes: if a human turns the wheel, the slaughter is valid. If water alone powers the wheel and no human action drives the cutting, the slaughter is invalid.
Question 4
A person slaughters an animal thinking: 'I will sprinkle this blood for the sake of a false deity.' What is the status of the meat?
Halachah 14 rules that intending to sprinkle blood or burn fat for false deities at the time of slaughter renders the meat forbidden.
Question 5
Two people hold one knife and slaughter together. One intends the slaughter for a false deity; the other has no particular intent. What is the ruling?
Halachah 20 rules the slaughter invalid. Since both people's physical participation in the act is significant, the idolatrous intent of one disqualifies the entire slaughter.