Prohibition of Blood/2

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Prohibition of Blood

Exegetical Approaches

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Blood is the Soul

Blood is prohibited from consumption since blood is the source or symbol of  the animal's soul and life force. This position subdivides regarding why this is problematic:

Sacredness of Life

Mixing of Animal and Human Nature

Sanctified to Hashem

Since the blood of animals is thrown on the altar and sanctified to Hashem, it is not fit for human consumption.

"וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לְכַפֵּר עַל נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם" – This verse forms the basis for this approach, but commentators focus on different aspects of it, leading to two related, but somewhat distinct understandings of the prohibition:
  • Apportioned to Hashem – According to Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, and Ramban, the crucial point of the verse is that the blood is dedicated to the altar.13 Blood is off limits to man because it is Hashem's portion of the sacrifice (חלק גבוה).
  • Role in atonement – Ralbag, Abarbanel and R. Hoffmann, instead, focus on the blood's role in atonement.
    • R. Hoffmann explains that if the animal's blood is supposed to represent and substitute for the sinner's soul, being sacrificed in the sinner's stead, it is inappropriate for it to be consumed.14
    • Ralbag adds that Hashem wanted to ensure that man recognize the atoning powers of blood so that he feel that his sacrifice was effective in achieving penance. As such, Hashem prohibited its consumption, highlighting its unique role.15
"כִּי הַדָּם הוּא הַנָּפֶשׁ" – According to this approach, this phrase comes to explain not why it is prohibited to eat blood, but why blood was chosen to serve as atonement and is sprinkled on the altar. Since blood represents or is the source of the animal's soul, it can represent man's soul and act as its substitute on the altar.
Why is blood of non-sacrificial meat prohibited? As only the blood of domesticated animals being offered as a sacrifice is sanctified to Hashem and used for atonement, this approach must explain why blood of "בשר תאווה"  (meat eaten for pleasure) and non domesticated animals and birds are also prohibited:
  • Safeguard – Ramban suggests that this is simply a safeguard to ensure that no one err and eat the blood of animals which can be sacrificed.
  • Distinct prohibition – R"Y Bekhor Shor and the Netziv,16 though, concede that this reasoning cannot account for the prohibition regarding non-domesticated animals and suggest that they are prohibited for other reasons.17
Spilling vs. covering blood
  • These sources explain that since the blood of non-domesticated animals is not sprinkled on the altar, it was necessary to institute a different reminder that it is prohibited to eat of it and thus it is covered. No such reminder is necessary for domesticated animals eaten for pleasure, since those animals are associated with sacrifices and it is known that their blood in general serves to atone on the altar (even if in this particular instance the animal is being eaten). 
  • Ramban adds that in the Wilderness period, eating meat for pleasure, not as part of a sacrifice, was prohibited regardless, so the scenario never arose.  By the time the nation settled in Israel, there was less of a need for a reminder, as the people were already accustomed to not eating blood.18
Prohibition to Noach – If the prohibition of blood is related to the sacrificial service, one might question why Noach was already commanded, ""אַךְ בָּשָׂר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ דָמוֹ לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ" (Bereshit 9:4), centuries before the service was instituted:
  • Different prohibition – Most of these sources follow Bavli Sanhedrin 59a and assume that the prohibition to Noach did not refer to eating blood but rather to  eating a limb from a live animal (אבר מן החי). 
  • Blood sacred even then - Ibn Ezra and Ramban, in contrast, understand that blood was already prohibited to Noach. If so, perhaps from the very first sacrifices brought by man, blood was already allotted to Hashem and not to man.19
Connection to fat – These sources assume that the two prohibitions share a single explanation; both fat and blood are Hashem's portion and therefore prohibited to man.  It is for this reason that the two prohibitions are often mentioned together.
Biblical parallels – R"Y Bekhor Shor compares the prohibition regarding blood to several other commandments which similarly stem from the fact that an object is sanctified to Hashem. He points to the prohibitions of making incense and the anointing oil or wearing wool and linen (a mixture reserved for priestly garments)20, pointing out that in all these cases "דהוה ליה כמשמש בשרביטו של מלך ואסור", it is as if one is using the scepter of the king and is prohibited.
General view of sacrifices
לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַל הַדָּם – These sources suggest that this is a distinct prohibition and says nothing about not eating blood itself. Most, looking to the verse's immediate context of sorcery, relate it to idolatrous divination practices in which blood of an animal was spilled and a meal was eaten in the belief that this would invite demons who could foretell the future.

Distancing from Idolatry

Consuming blood is prohibited since it is related to idolatrous practices.

Connection between blood and Idolatry
"לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַל הַדָּם"
Context in Vayikra 17
"וְנָתַתִּי פָנַי בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֹכֶלֶת אֶת הַדָּם"