Prohibition of Blood/1

Prohibition of Blood

Introduction

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Multiple Mentions

The prohibition of blood is repeated multiple times in Torah.  When discussing the sacrificial procedures, Vayikra 3 and Vayikra 7 ban the consumption of both fat and blood, punishing the offender with being "cut off" from the nation (כרת).  Vayikra 17 and Devarim 12 return to speak of the prohibition, this time in the context of the obligation to sacrifice in the Mikdash and the laws of meat eaten for pleasure (בשר תאווה).¹ The injunction is mentioned yet again in Devarim 15:23, where Hashem warns that though a blemished first born might be eaten, its blood may not. Two other verses, as well, might allude to the ban, though these are less explicit and open to interpretation.  In Bereshit 9:4, Hashem commands Noach, "אַךְ בָּשָׂר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ דָמוֹ לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ" and in Vayikra 19:26, the nation is commanded, "לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַל הַדָּם".‎² 

This seven-fold repetition of the prohibition suggests that Torah views the consumption of blood as a very severe offense.  What, though, is problematic about the deed? Why is blood off limits to man?

Multiple Explanations

Vayikra 17 contains the most elaborate discussion of the issue, including a multi-faceted explanation for the prohibition:

EN/HEע/E

(י) וְאִישׁ אִישׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמִן הַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם אֲשֶׁר יֹאכַל כׇּל דָּם וְנָתַתִּי פָנַי בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֹכֶלֶת אֶת הַדָּם וְהִכְרַתִּי אֹתָהּ מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּהּ. (יא) כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר בַּדָּם הִוא וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לְכַפֵּר עַל נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי הַדָּם הוּא בַּנֶּפֶשׁ יְכַפֵּר. (יב) עַל כֵּן אָמַרְתִּי לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כׇּל נֶפֶשׁ מִכֶּם לֹא תֹאכַל דָּם וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם לֹא יֹאכַל דָּם.

These verses make three points about blood, implying that each plays some role in the reason for the prohibition: it is home to the animal's soul ("נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר בַּדָּם הִוא"), it is sprinkled on the altar ("וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ"), and it atones ("כִּי הַדָּם הוּא בַּנֶּפֶשׁ יְכַפֵּר").

• What is the relationship between these factors?  Are these distinct reasons for the prohibition of blood, or do the various points complement and explain each other? If the latter, which is the primary concern that leads to the ban?
• What is the import of the fact that "נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר בַּדָּם הִוא", and why should this forbid its consumption?³ 
• Why is it that blood, specifically, was chosen both to be dedicated to Hashem and to atone, and how might this relate to the reason for the prohibition?
• If the prohibition stems from the role played by blood in the sacrificial service (being dedicated to Hashem and atoning), why is it not limited to animals fit for sacrifice?⁴

Context

How might the differing contexts of the various directives regarding blood shed light on the prohibition?

• Bereshit 9:4 –The command to Noach is sandwiched between the directive that he may eat meat and the prohibition against murder. Does this imply that the prohibition is a direct outgrowth of the permissibility to eat meat?⁵  Moreover, does the placement suggest that the consumption of blood is viewed as being somewhat comparable to the act of murder?
• Vayikra 3:17 and Vayikra 7:26 – Does the juxtaposition of the prohibition of blood and fat in these chapters suggest that the two share a common reasoning?
• Vayikra 17⁶ – The first half of Vayikra 17 discusses the Wilderness period prohibition to slaughter meat for food if not part of the sacrificial service (בשר תאווה)‎⁷ and the prohibition to sacrifice to Hashem outside of the Mikdash (שחוטי חוץ). The verses explain that this was instituted so that the people not sacrifice to demons, and transgressors are compared to those who spill blood. How might these laws and reasoning bear on the prohibition to eat blood?
• Vayikra 19:26 – Finally, the prohibition, "לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַל הַדָּם" in Vayikra 19 is followed by a warning against divination. Might this suggest that the ban regarding blood, too, is connected to magical practices?

Sprinkling, Covering or Spilling?

The Torah mandates three distinct practices of what should be done with the prohibited blood of slaughtered animals.  Blood of sacrificial animals is sprinkled on the altar,  blood of non-domesticated animals, not fit to be sacrificed, is covered, and, finally, the blood of domesticated animals slaughtered for food is simply spilled on the ground.  What accounts for the difference in law?  Why is it only non-domesticated animals whose blood is covered? What is the goal of this practice regardless?  If this is a preventative measure to ensure that blood is not consumed, should not such a measure be equally necessary for domesticated animals?

¹ See the discussion in the bullet below that not all agree that Vayikra 17 refers to בשר תאווה.

² As mentioned, not all understand these verses to refer to the prohibition to eat blood.  Bavli Sanhedrin 59a (and many in its wake) assume that the verse in Bereshit refers, instead,  to eating the limb of a live animal, and many read the verse in Vayikra 19 literally to refer to eating a meal on or around blood, but not to eating the blood itself.

³ In connecting blood to the soul, is Torah suggesting that blood represents the animal's vitality or its inner nature? If the former, does this imply that eating blood is akin to murder? If so, though, why is it that blood is prohibited but slaughtering an animal is permitted?

⁴ Why is the blood of non-domesticated animals, blemished firstborns, and animals slaughtered for food also banned?

⁵ This, in part, depends on whether or not one assumes that Noach was the first to be permitted to eat meat or if this was already allowed to Adam.  See Permission to Eat Meat for various positions.

⁶ The context of the prohibition in Devarim 12 is similar.  It, too, speaks of the need to sacrifice only "in the place which Hashem will choose" and of the laws of eating meat for pleasure.  In contrast to Vayikra 17, however, it allows slaughter of meat for pleasure even without a sacrifice, but only after the nation arrives in Israel.

⁷ Not all understand the chapter in this manner. See R. Akiva in Sifre Devarim 12:23 and Bavli Chulin 16b-17a who claims that בשר תאווה (meat slaughtered for food outside the sacrificial service) was never prohibited. According to him, then, the entire unit speaks of  only of animals being offered as a sacrifice. See Rashi on Vayikra 17:3, "במוקדשין הכתוב מדבר".  [Most other commentators, however, assume that according to the simple reading of the verses, the chapter speaks of two distinct prohibitions, first the prohibition of בשר תאווה and then that of שחוטי חוץ.]