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GENESIS — 9:4 life-blood

GEN681 The concept that blood holds the life force is a key teaching of Torah. When Cain kills his brother Abel, it is Abel’s blood that cries out to God for justice Genesis 4:10. Similarly, Leviticus 17 teaches that spilling the blood of an animal is also considered murder unless the blood is ritually drained at an altar site.  Deuteronomy 12 adds that if one does not have access to an altar, the animal’s blood must be poured into the ground. AGTJL 522

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GENESIS — 9:4 life-blood

GEN680 The act of atonement appears to have sought to restore the interrupted relationship with God, to counteract the evil consequence of the offense committed, to prevent the offense from being seen by God, and to have God close His eyes to the offense of the people. As the ultimate subject of atonement was God, the notion of to “atone” came to be equivalent of to “forgive.” Forgiveness represented the result of the covering, wiping out or atoning the sin. A.B. Davidson, Theology of the Old Testament, p 329. In line with universal ancient practice, the rites of atonement assumed sacrificial form. Indeed, the entire institution of sacrifice maybe considered as aiming at the atonement of men with God. It is based upon primitive notions regarding the sacrosanct nature of blood as the vehicle of life (cf, Lev. 17:11; [this verse]; Deuteronomy 12:16). Sacrificial blood is covenantal in character. It restores the bond to fellowship with God, and is, therefore, effective in ritual purgation.  H. Schultz, American Journal of Theology, IV, pp. 265-266; S.R. Driver, Book of Leviticus, p. 78.  The deepened prophetic idea of sin is the obverse of holiness and of righteousness challenged the popular notion that ritual exactness was sufficient to cover up moral obloquy and wrong. Some iniquities, like those of the house of Eli, were not to be “expiated with sacrifice nor offering forever”(I Samuel 3:14). In the view of Amos, the wickedness of Israel requires more than holocausts to be expiated. The sole way of securing God’s salvation from the overhanging doom that threatened the nation was by seeking God, by practicing justice and righteousness. Hosea similarly announces that God desires mercy rather than sacrifice. Isaiah stresses that the sin of Jacob can  be wiped away only through the extermination of all idolatry and the whole-hearted return to God, by ceasing to do evil and learning to do good. In the same spirit, Micah argues that God requires neither human or animal sacrifices, but only doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with Him. Jeremiah is equally firm in repudiating the efficacy of oblations and in insisting that righteousness alone can save the nation.  Though the words of the prophets sound as if they were unconditionally opposed to every form of ritual, Jewish tradition has understood them as merely protesting against all ritual that is intended to wipe away outraged righteousness. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,” the sage admonishes (Psalms 15:8). This seems to be also the view of Psalms 50:8-13 and 51:18-21. While denying that communion with God is effectively mediated by sacrifice, these—possibly emended verses—point to the sacrificial worship that will be acceptable to God.  COHON 188-9

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GENESIS — 9:4 life-blood

GEN682 The process of creation underscores the unity and holiness of all life, for the Creator blessed the so-called lower orders of creation in words identical with the benediction pronounced upon the human race in [Genesis 1:28] One of the ethical consequences of th[e] insight into our unity with the animal world is the horror at inflicting unnecessary pain upon them.  At the one end of the spectrum is the prevention of cruelty to animals, for which the rabbis coined the poignant phrase, “the pain of the living creatures.” At the other end of the spectrum is the doctrine of vegetarianism, the avoidance of the use of animals for food.  Though espoused by a small minority, vegetarianism has excellent biblical warrant in its favor.  In verse [Genesis] 29, God permits only the eating of fruits and vegetables.  Not until Noah emerges from the Ark after the Flood are he and his descendants allowed to eat meat, with the proviso that blood is not to be ingested [this verse].  The pouring out of the blood after the slaughter of an animal for food is enjoined by biblical law (Leviticus 17:13-14), since blood is the seat of life.  The act constitutes a symbolic sacrifice, a recognition that all life is sacred. GORLAW 71-2

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GENESIS — 9:4 life-blood

GEN673 … does an animal’s death fulfill a purpose?  The Torah seems to say—whether you agree with its reasoning or not—that the animal’s purpose is to nurture bigger animals and human beings.  Human beings, after all, also nurture the earth when we die and are buried.  Although God seems to see nurturing other creatures as one of the purposes for the existence of animals, God clearly wants human beings go think about the lives they are taking. Consider the long lists of creatures permitted and forbidden, the near-death struggle in Parashat Vayishlach from which Jacob emerges wounded in his loins, the source of the prohibition against sirloin and tender loin and porterhouse.  Consider the statement in [this verse] that blood represents the life that belongs to God and not to us, and the Rabbis’ tortured extensions of the simple command to avoid boiling a kid in its mother’s milk.  Talking an animal’s life may be permitted, but we are to empathize with the animal’s pain, with tzaar baalei chayim.  If the ideal is the reinstatement of the Edenic condition, then to confront the realities of consuming animals with every meal we buy, prepare, and consume not only builds our Jewish identities, but also makes us aware many times each day of God’s mitzvot—and reminds us of our failure to create societies free from violence and lustful appetite.  (By Richard N. Levy, "Kashrut: A New Freedom for Reform Jews") SACTAB 70

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