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Consuming Blood
#11
(11-30-2012, 08:56 AM)Kat450 Wrote: thank you for your reply. what about about Rashi's commentary?
"with its soul, its blood: As long as its soul is within it."
As, Judaism teaches that the blood is the soul

That is not what Judaism (i.e. the Torah) teaches. The physical blood is not the soul. The spiritual soul is in the physical blood, as long as the animal is alive. When the animal dies, the spiritual soul departs from the animal and returns to its spiritual source. Therefore, the phrase "as long as its soul is within it" means "as long as it is alive".

(11-30-2012, 08:56 AM)Kat450 Wrote: wouldn't that mean any blood left in the flesh we are not permitted to eat? thank you

It's not forbidden based on that commandment to Noah, as explained. (Although Rashi cites a minority opinion, which you didn't mention, that Gentiles are forbidden to drink the blood of a living animal. But the actual Torah Law follows the majority opinion as cited by Rambam in Laws of Kings, that Gentiles were never forbidden to drink/eat blood of a living or a dead animal. Gentiles are however warned against inflicting unnecessary pain or suffering on living creatures.)

Jews are forbidden from eating the blood of animals and birds, from a separate Jewish commandment.

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#12
Director Michael [/quote' Wrote: That is not what Judaism (i.e. the Torah) teaches. The physical blood is not the soul. The spiritual soul is in the physical blood, as long as the animal is alive. When the animal dies, the spiritual soul departs from the animal and returns to its spiritual source. Therefore, the phrase "as long as its soul is within it" means "as long as it is alive".

Sorry that is what I meant. But now I don't completely understand why Jews are commanded to remove the blood as I thought it was because of the soul. I know why Jews are forbidden from drinking the blood, but why remove it from the meat?


Director Michael [/quote' Wrote: It's not forbidden based on that commandment to Noah, as explained. (Although Rashi cites a minority opinion, which you didn't mention, that Gentiles are forbidden to drink the blood of a living animal. But the actual Torah Law follows the majority opinion as cited by Rambam in Laws of Kings, that Gentiles were never forbidden to drink/eat blood of a living or a dead animal. Gentiles are however warned against inflicting unnecessary pain or suffering on living creatures.)

Jews are forbidden from eating the blood of animals and birds, from a separate Jewish commandment.

I didn't see that Rashi opinion on Chabad. I'm not entirely sure how to ask my next question. If the purpose of removing the blood is because of the soul, would one be wrong to agree with Rashi's opinion and take steps to remove the blood?

Thank you, also I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative if I am I apologize as I'm just trying to understand so again thank you. Smile
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#13
(12-01-2012, 05:56 PM)Kat450 Wrote:
Director Michael Wrote: That is not what Judaism (i.e. the Torah) teaches. The physical blood is not the soul. The spiritual soul is in the physical blood, as long as the animal is alive. When the animal dies, the spiritual soul departs from the animal and returns to its spiritual source. Therefore, the phrase "as long as its soul is within it" means "as long as it is alive".

Sorry that is what I meant. But now I don't completely understand why Jews are commanded to remove the blood as I thought it was because of the soul. I know why Jews are forbidden from drinking the blood, but why remove it from the meat?

Jews are forbidden to eat any blood of birds or animals, from the Jewish commandment in Leviticus 7:26 - "And you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwelling places, whether from birds or from animals." That is why Jews have to remove the blood from the meat of kosher animals and birds, in order to make the meat kosher for Jewish consumption.

(12-01-2012, 05:56 PM)Kat450 Wrote: I didn't see that Rashi opinion on Chabad. I'm not entirely sure how to ask my next question. If the purpose of removing the blood is because of the soul, would one be wrong to agree with Rashi's opinion and take steps to remove the blood?

The reason why Jews remove the blood from meat is not because of the soul. The reason is because they are explicitly commanded not to eat blood.

Rashi's opinion on Genesis 9:4 is only that Gentiles should not drink the blood of a living animal. After the animal is dead, the blood is permitted for Gentiles according to all the Rabbinical opinions.
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#14
(12-02-2012, 02:19 PM)Director Michael Wrote: The reason why Jews remove the blood from meat is not because of the soul. The reason is because they are explicitly commanded not to eat blood.
Rashi's opinion on Genesis 9:4 is only that Gentiles should not drink the blood of a living animal. After the animal is dead, the blood is permitted for Gentiles according to all the Rabbinical opinions.

I got the information about the blood and the soul of an animal from an traditional-Jewish information website
This is what it says about the soul:
"The Torah prohibits consumption of blood. Lev. 7:26-27; Lev. 17:10-14. This is the only dietary law that has a reason specified in Torah: we do not eat blood because the life of the animal (literally, the soul of the animal) is contained in the blood."
Should I not trust this site?
Again thank you for your reply and your guidance.
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#15
The web site you looked at is only giving a very shortened description of this topic. There are details it left out, which is the reason for your confusion. In fact, as explained in the "Code of Jewish Law", the Torah is only prohibiting Jews from consuming a certain category of blood which can be known from the context of the verses.

The Torah makes prohibitory statements against Jews consuming "blood" in Lev. 3:17, 7:26-27, and, 17:10-14. In the context of each of those places, the text is speaking about an animal that receives kosher slaughter by a cut through the animal's throat, and it cuts through a major artery with blood pumping straight from the heart. For Jews, the animal's life-blood that flows out has to either be offered on the Temple altar (if the animal is being sacrificed in the Temple), or it has to be allowed to flow out onto the ground. It is only this life-blood that flows out from the wound that is identified as severely forbidden for Jews to consume (because the animal's soul is in its flowing life-blood, while the heart is still beating), for which the penalty is stated in the verses as "karet" ("cutting off") of a Jewish transgressor's soul. Jewish Torah Law goes further, and prohibits (only) any other blood of the animal which has been "flowing", even if it is not life-blood. So after the slaughtered animal is dead, any blood that drips out from the wound is still prohibited for Jewish consumption, but only with liability to a lesser punishment.

After meat is cut off from the animal, the residual blood that is IN the flesh (part of the muscle) is not flowing blood, and after the liquid (flowing) blood on the surface of the meat is rinsed off with cold water, a Jew is permitted by Torah Law to eat the meat raw, as it is, without any need to apply salt to draw out the residual blood inside the flesh, because that blood is not flowing, and it is permitted as part of the meat. (See Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Forbidden Foods, Ch. 6; the actual Jewish Law in detail is found in the Code of Jewish Law / "Shulchan Aruch", and Jews without formal Rabbinical learning should consult with a reliable Orthodox Rabbi).

HOWEVER, if a Jew wants to eat the meat cooked (which is almost always the case), a problem arises, because while the meat is being cooked, the residual blood will begin to FLOW inside the meat, and once it starts flowing, it becomes forbidden for a Jew to eat (and NOT because there is any amount of the animal's soul left in the blood, because there is NOT). So for Jews, meat that is to be eaten cooked has to have the residual blood extracted while it is still fresh, so the blood is still able to be drawn out. That is accomplished by the Jewish procedure of salting and rinsing the meat.

Furthermore, that's why the fresh blood of kosher fish (and kosher grasshoppers, which we can no longer identify) is permitted to be eaten by Jews, because it doesn't flow in the creature in the same way that it flows in mammals and birds.

In any event, this is only a Jewish spiritual commandment, and it does not apply to Gentiles.
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