R. Shlomo Chaim Kutain (d. 5688), a chossid of the Rebbe Rashab, served as the shochet and mohel in Lubavitch. As a full-time resident of Lubavitch, he was very close to the Rebbe Rashab, and to the Frierdiker Rebbe in his youth.

Continuing the family tradition of his father and grandfather before him, R. Shlomo Chaim was an expert shochet, and taught shechita to many of the temimim in Lubavitch and to the Frierdiker Rebbe himself.

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R. Shlomo Chaim’s grandfather, R. Tzvi Hirsh, was the shochet in Lubavitch during the Tzemach Tzedek’s lifetime. When he reached seventy years of age, the Tzemach Tzedek called for him and said, “Hirshel, people are saying things about you” [that he had unsteady hands and should discontinue shechita]. “Rebbe,” he replied, “If you tell me to put the knife down, I will.”

The Rebbe, knowing that R. Tzvi Hirsh would refrain from shechting if he felt weak, did not require him to stop, yet he called for a water test. A cup of water was brought, and R. Tzvi Hirsh held it perfectly steady, like a young man.

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When he was still a young bochur of fifteen, the Rebbe Maharash chose Shlomo Chaim to be the shochet, though he instructed him to marry first. Until he was eighteen years old, an older shochet would be there as well, but the main shochet was the young Shlomo Chaim.

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R. Yisroel Jacobson recalls his experience learning shechita from R. Shlomo Chaim:

In Lubavitch, the practice was for many bochurim to learn shechita. It seems that this was one of the missions of Tomchei Temimim to produce G-d-fearing shochtim. Many of these bochurim were the ovdim, who would daven at great length and would come to him at around 3 pm after lunch.

Back then, the pace of life was slower, especially in the small towns; people didn’t have ambitions to move ahead, and everything took time. For this reason, the bochurim learned shechita for two or three years before becoming a shochet.

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R. Shlomo Chaim would say, “Do you know why the shechita knife is called a ‘chalaf’? Since it makes the switch (chiluf) between ‘life’ and ‘death’ (a kosher or unkosher animal).