Khullin 41 Does it pass the smell test?

Israel having a monotheistic faith was unique in the ancient world. Being a minority, Jews were susceptible to the influences of idolatry of the surrounding nations. The prophet Hosea criticizes the people for taking the very grain, wine, and oil that God provided them and dedicating those resources to false gods (Hosea 2). Jeremiah rebukes the people for chasing after foreign gods. (Jeremiah 2) Indeed the entire Bible can be looked upon as a war against idolatry. The rabbis faced the same problem and continued their war against idolatry.

The rabbis on today’s daf TB Khullin 41 worry about mar’it ’ayin (מרעית עין). Mar’it ’ayin is “appearance, a halakhic law that branches out from the rule "And you shall be clean from the Lord and from Israel ," which prohibits certain actions that in themselves are not sinful , but may appear to be sinful, or create the impression that other actions that are forbidden are permitted. This includes the obligation not to be suspected by people of doing inappropriate acts.” (https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%9F)

Although shekhita, slaughtering the animal, is the first of the four steps of animal sacrifice in the Temple, is a religious act, shekhita of khullin, non-sacrificial animals i.e. meat we can put on our table, isn’t a religious act. It is only a matir (מתיר) that allows us to eat it. Nevertheless, the rabbis forbid certain acts of shekhita because of mar’it ’ayin. Somebody watching you might think that you are sacrificing the animal to a foreign god.

“MISHNA: One may not slaughter an animal and have its blood flow, neither into seas, nor into rivers, nor into vessels, as in all those cases it appears that he is slaughtering the animal in the manner of idolaters. But one may slaughter an animal and have its blood flow into a round excavation containing water. And on a ship, one may slaughter an animal onto vessels as it is clear that his objective is to avoid sullying the ship. One may not slaughter an animal and have its blood flow into a small hole in the ground at all, but one may fashion a small hole inside his house so that the blood will enter into it. And in the marketplace one may not do so, so that he will not appear to emulate [yeḥakkeh] the heretics. 

“GEMARA: The mishna teaches: One may not slaughter an animal and have its blood flow, neither into seas, nor into rivers, nor into vessels, but one may slaughter an animal and have its blood flow into a round excavation containing water. The Gemara asks: What is different about slaughter into seas? Is it that one may not perform it, as onlookers will say: He is slaughtering to the angel of the sea? If so, slaughter into a round excavation containing water should also be prohibited, as onlookers will say: He is slaughtering to his reflection [bavua], which is also similar to idolatry. Rava said: The tanna’im taught that halakha in the case of murky water, in which no reflection can be seen.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The rabbis were worried when a person slaughter sent animal that he should not give the appearance of worshiping a foreign god even though that is the farthest thing from his mind. In other words, does his shekhita past the “smell test.”