To avoid tearing, and to ensure the cut is thorough, such slaughter is usually performed by a trained individual, with a large, razor-sharp knife, which is checked before each slaughter to ensure that it has no irregularities (such as nicks and dents); if irregularities are discovered, or the cut is too shallow, the meat is deemed unkosher. Rabbis usually require the slaughterer, known within Judaism as a "shochet", to also be a pious Jew of good character and an observer of the Shabbat. In smaller communities, the "shochet" was often the town rabbi, or a rabbi from a local synagogue, but large slaughterhouses usually employ a full-time "shochet" if they intend to sell kosher meat.