daf bit: Chullin 4

[cellio]

This new tractate begins with a discussion of who may ritually slaughter animals. We're not talking about the temple service here but just about ordinary food; animals and birds (but not fish) must be killed in a certain way in order to be kosher.

The talmud takes a fairly liberal view of who can perform this job. The g'mara on today's daf brings the following teaching: all may slaughter, even a Cuthean (Sammaritan, a non-Jew who adopted Jewish practice from the written torah but not oral), even an uncircumcised Israelite, and even an Israelite apostate. The g'mara clarifies that the uncircumcised Israelite rejects that mitzvah (but not others), and that the Israelite apostate rejects the laws concerning idolatry specifically. If the apostate rejected all Jewish law, then he could not be trusted to perform the slaughter correctly. An idolater who nonetheless follows the laws of kosher slaughter, on the other hand, is fine. (4b)

Edit: However, this opinion is refuted later.