From Parsha to Halakha Kedoshim: Eating before the blood
There are many ways each of us expresses our values. If we think it’s important to tell the truth we will try to be honest in our relationships, correctly file our taxes, and even avoid misleading strangers. All these things are rooted in truthfulness, and the common thread is easily recognized.
In Parshat Kedoshim the mitzvah of “lo tokhlu al ha-dam” – “You shall not eat over/on/with/before the blood” seems to prohibit a specific action, but it’s unclear what that action is. Chazal (the Talmudic sages) explain that this mitzvah expresses a general value through several concrete actions.[1]
What does “lo tokhlu al ha-dam” mean?
This mitzvah has several possible interpretations. Perhaps “eating over the blood” refers to an occult practice as in the verse’s second half, “you shall not practice divination or soothsaying.”[2]
Or perhaps a clue can be gleaned from parallel language used in the middle of Saul’s war with the Philistines in the Book of Shmuel. At the end of a day of battle while fasting we’re told: “The people descended on the loot and they took sheep and cattle and calves and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate over the blood.”[3] To rectify the wrongdoing Saul builds an altar and asks that the people bring him the animals to slaughter. This makes it seem that the sin was eating animals that were improperly slaughtered or without also making an offering to God.[4]
So far the general direction of the interpretations have something to do with eating an animal and blood – either as a part of a pagan ritual or devoid of a halakhic ritual.[5] Yet Chazal suggest several additional explanations that may seem irrelevant at first glance. Some of these explanations are supported by the story in Shmuel, like the prohibition against eating an animal before it has died (since “ha-dam hu ha-nefesh,” the blood is the lifeforce) and another against eating from sacrifices before the blood has been sprinkled on the altar.[6]
Other explanations are more curious. The verse also prohibits eating before praying – since the blood is our nefesh (lifeforce or soul).[7] Or the blood is that of someone who is executed by Beit Din (the courts), – as their family members are not given the traditional “seudat havra’a,” first meal after the funeral, and the Beit Din that sentenced them does not eat that day. The verse is also read as the prohibition against the gluttonous eating and imbibing of the ben sorer u’moreh, rebellious son, since such eating leads to the spilling of his blood – his execution.[8]
“Lav she-bi-klalut”
Chazal do not see these various explanations of “lo tokhlu al ha-dam” as contradictory. These aren’t independent prohibitions, instead they explain that the mitzvah is a “lav she-bi-klalut,” one general prohibition that serves as a paradigm with multiple expressions. Since the expressions are not the actual prohibition, someone who willfully violates one of them is not liable for lashes.[9]
So what is the general prohibition at the root of these violations? All of them involve eating, but the blood is understood in vastly different ways. Alternatively, it’s understood as an animal’s blood – sprinkled on the altar or used for an occult ritual, or the animal’s lifeforce, or a human life – that of someone who was executed or our own life – the focus of our prayers.
Perhaps we can find an answer in a midrash that connects this mitzvah with the previous mitzvot:
“When you come to the land and you plant fruit trees, you shall treat the orla (unharvested/forbidden) fruits as orla, and they shall be orla for the first three years you may not eat them. And in the fourth year all the fruit shall be sanctified hilulim (rejoicing in thanksgiving) for the Eternal. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit and add its produce shall be increased for you, I am the Eternal your God.”[10]
The midrash connects these two mitzvot:
“It’s necessary for what follows, as it says, ‘they shall be orla for you,’ and it says, ‘you shall not eat over the blood.’ What does one have to do with the other? The Holy One, blessed be He said to Israel: You can wait three years for orla, but you can’t wait for your wife to keep [the laws of] nidda? You can wait three years for orla but you can’t wait until your animal is drained of blood?”[11]
The midrash connects the yearslong wait until one can enjoy the fruit of their trees in their own home and waiting to eat meat or enjoy relations with one’s spouse. The midrash refers to different types of “consuming” and the self-restraint required to observe these mitzvot.
Chazal interpret the general mitzvah of “lo tokhlu al ha-dam” in several different ways, but all of them involve some sort of self-restraint.[12] Someone who must eat before the animal has even expired is a glutton with no self-control. The same can be said for someone who eats from a sacrifice before the blood is sprinkled on the altar, and someone who eats a meal by an execution. Each of these people puts the indulgence of their physical urges before their respect for life – be it animal or human. Perhaps the most extreme example is that of the ben sorer u’moreh, who disregards all societal norms and devalues his own life, rebelling against his parents and his God.
These are not the only Torah passages that are dedicated to the value of self-restraint. Indeed, according to Ramban the mitzvah of “kedoshim tehiyu” that provides the name of this week’s parsha also contains elements of this value and the need to be conscious of one’s physical actions. “Therefore, after the Torah details the prohibitions that are completely proscribed, it generally commands us to separate ourselves from things that are permitted…”[13]
Parshat Kedoshim begins with a general mitzvah to practice self-discipline; just because something is not prohibited, doesn’t mean it’s proper behavior. Within we have the specific mitzvah of “lo tokhlu al ha-dam” which the sages applied to clear instances of gluttony and lack of self-restraint. The Torah demands that we value the dignity of life – oneself, others, and even animals. We have to give these things their due respect before we focus on our physical urges.
If we follow the general idea of this “lav she-ba-klalut,” the Torah tells us that we’re not meant to merely focus on what’s on our table, we have to raise our eyes to see the life and soul of everything around us.
[1]Vayikra 19:26
[2] See Rashbam for example
[3] Shmuel I 14:32
[4] ibid 35-36. Compare to TB Zevachim 120a, Rashi Shmuel I 14:33, Ibn Ezra Vayikra 19:26, Radak Shmuel I 14:32.
[5] Ibn Ezra Vayikra 19:26 explains this is two sides of the same coin.
[6] TB Sanhedrin 63a
[7] TB Berachot 10b
[8] TB Sanhedrin 63a
[9] See Mishneh Torah Hilkhot Shekhita 1:2; Hilkhot Sanhedrin 13:4.
There is an explicit punishment for ben sorer u’moreh in Devarim 21:18-21 (but no explicit prohibition). There’s also another verse that’s cited as the source of the prohibition against eating from sacrifices before the blood is sprinkled, along with the punishment. See Devarim 12:17; Mishneh Torah Hilkhot Ma’aseh Korbanot 11:14.
[10] Vayikra 19:23-25. Compare Ibn Ezra Vayikra 26.
[11] Vayikra Rabba 25:8
[12] Compare to Sefer HaCHinuch Mitzvah 248.
[13] Ramban Vayikra 19:2
