Abstaining from Blood
Irish breakfast: a traditional meal consisting of eggs, bacon, and blood sausageThe Torah prohibits the consumption of blood. It is surprising how many verses are dedicated to this prohibition. It is also remarkable how severely the Scriptures speak about the subject. It is called "a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places" (Leviticus 3:17). One who eats blood is "cut off from his people," and God "sets his face against that person" (Leviticus 7:27, 17:10, 14). We must not eat it, so that “all may go well with you and with your children after you” (Deuteronomy 12:24).
The prohibition is not simply against drinking blood. The Torah indicates that animals that are slaughtered must be properly bled before the meat is eaten. The Scriptures tell us, "You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it" (Leviticus 19:26). This law was even given to Noah, centuries earlier (Genesis 9:4). Instead, it repeatedly states that we should "pour it out on the earth like water," (Leviticus 17:13; Deuteronomy 12:16, 24, 15:23).
The Torah speaks of this in emphatic terms:
Only be sure [literally, "strong"] that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. (Deuteronomy 12:23)
How is one to be "strong" not to eat the blood with the flesh? At the very least this suggests that removing the blood from the slaughtered animal requires an intentional, concerted effort.
The Scriptures tell us the story of Saul's men, after striking down the Philistines:
They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint. The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. Then they told Saul, "Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood." And he said, "You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here." And Saul said, "Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, 'Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.'" So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. (1 Samuel 14:31–34)
These men were not drinking the blood as a beverage. They were not pagans; they were just being careless, slaughtering the animals in an improper way ("on the ground") that did not allow the blood to drain.
The idea that there is a certain way that animals must be slaughtered can be found in the Torah:
If the place that the LORD your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill [Hebrew: zavach] any of your herd or your flock, which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. (Deuteronomy 12:21)
"Kill" is an imprecise choice of words in this translation. The Hebrew term zavach (זבח) specifically means "slaughter," and it is frequently used in regards to sacrifices. How are we to slaughter an animal "as I have commanded you"? This suggests that a proper method of slaughter was demonstrated to the ancient Israelites.
There are explicit parameters around the method of the animal's death. The Torah states:
"You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs." (Exodus 22:31)
"You shall not eat anything that has died naturally." (Deuteronomy 14:21)
The translation of Deuteronomy 14:21 is somewhat loose. Literally, the text reads, "You shall not eat any carcass." Since we cannot eat a live animal, any animal we eat will be a carcass at some point. For this reason, the translators felt the necessity of providing further interpretation. However, it is important to note that it is irrelevant whether the animal died of natural or unnatural causes. Thus, this verse instructs that someone must have killed the animal in an acceptable way, whatever that is. If an animal did not die in the proper manner, then the animal is not kosher, regardless of whether or not the blood has been drained from the carcass.
In conjunction with this list, we should also consider the four apostolic injunctions upon Gentiles, which includes the instruction to abstain from "what has been strangled" (Acts 15:20, 29, 21:25).
While the term "strangle" in English specifically denotes death by constraint around the neck or windpipe, the Greek term (pniktos, πνικτός) has a broader definition which includes choking, suffocation, and asphyxiation, not merely strangling. For example, the Gospel of Mark uses a form of this word to describe the demon-possessed pigs that were "drowned" in the sea (Mark 5:13).
The term pniktos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew term for "choke" (chanak, חנק). This Hebrew word is a technical term in traditional kosher law. The Mishnah (Chullin 1.2) explains that dull blades or cutting instruments cannot be used in kosher slaughter, since the blood will then enter the animal's windpipe, thus "choking" the animal. Rather than dying of blood loss (as seems to be the Torah's intention) the animal dies of asphyxiation, rendering it "strangled."
Deer hunting: animals frequently expire long before the blood is drained (source)Although the Torah does not explicitly describe the proper method of slaughter, traditional kosher slaughter is done in such a way that the major blood vessels in the neck are cut with a sharp knife, without damaging the windpipe. That way, the animal's death is almost painless, and the heart continues to pump the blood out of the body until the animal falls asleep.
One cannot prove purely from biblical text that this is the only proper method of slaughter. Nonetheless, at the very least we can see that the method of death and the method of slaughter are significant in terms of biblical kosher law. We would do well to investigate whether or not other killing and butchering methods meet this standard.
When animals are slaughtered according to USDA regulations, they are first stunned (rendered unconscious), and only then is the animal cut and bled. The USDA highly discourages bleeding without stunning, as is required by traditional kosher law. Stunning is performed in any of the following ways: a) a mechanical blow to the brain, b) electrical shock, or c) gassing with either carbon dioxide or a combination of inert gases. The electrical shock method is sometimes performed in a way that causes cardiac arrest.1
Animals that are hunted for food are subject to more issues. These animals are frequently in a stressed condition at the time of death. Their muscles clench and their bodies are surging with adrenalin, which may inhibit the draining of blood. Their death may be slow and painful, and there may be considerable time between killing and bleeding the animal.
We must also consider the differences in perspective regarding death between biblical law, civil law, and modern science. While civil law and modern science may define death as a cessation of brain activity or cardiac arrest, the Bible seems to draw a connection between life and breathing. That is to say, a biblical definition of death appears to be when breathing ceases.2 Thus, there may be a point at which the USDA considers the animal to be alive, although biblically the animal may already be dead.
Do the typical USDA method of slaying animals meet the biblical standard? The Jewish community has concluded decisively that it does not.
- 1. USDA, Guidelines for the Slaughter of Animals. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/oie/downloads/tahc-guide...
- 2. See Genesis 1:30, 2:7, 6:17, 7:15, 22, 25:8, 17, 35:29, 49:33; Job 12:10, 14:10; Mark 15:37, 39; Luke 23:46; Acts 5:5, 10, 12:23.