Tuvya Marcus asks:
Rashi D"H - Bmakom Sh'Somchim - A Yisrael is allowed into the Azara for Semichah.
Is that a sevara or does he have a source?
Tuvya Marcus , Jerusalem Israel
The Kollel replies:
This is based on the Halachah later in the Mishnah that Shechitah must immediately follow Semichah, and this is not possible unless the Semichah is done in the same place, meaning that the Yisrael is there to perform his Semichah (since the Yisrael may do the Shechitah). Since the second Halachah is derived from the verse, "v'Samach Yado... v'Shachat" (Vayikra 1:4), it would seem that this, too, is mid'Oraisa.
Yoel Domb