Also, according to "Questions from readers", The Watchtower, November 1, 1961, pages 669–670, we are to check with our butcher to make sure that the animal was properly drained of its blood.
How do you do this when you go out to a restaurant?
Christ Alone vs IsaacAustin (blood)
by isaacaustin 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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TD
Then how can we explain the case of Acts 15 when the law had clearly been finished. There were to be no more animal sacrifices. An animals life was no longer taken to atone for the sins of the people. But yet, still, Jehovah's people were to abstain from blood.
In the early days of Christianity, prior to the ascendancy of Pauline theology, 'Christians' were mostly Jews who had added belief in Jesus to a full observance of the Law, including the mandated sacrifices. Blood spilled either by a Rabbi or Shochet (It doesn't matter in Judaism) could not be eaten.
This resulted in a rift early on in the movement because Jews will refuse to eat at the same table with anyone who won't observe Kashrut.
Hence the Apostolic Decree, which through compromise helped to mend the rift. --No you didn't have to be circumcised to become a Christian, but yes, you did have to observe the minimum requirements of the alien resident living in Israel. The injunction against eating blood was reiterated later on in the Didache.
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cofty
The situation that led to Acts 15 was the question of circumcision. Should gentile christians be required to keep all of the law or not?
The Law already stipulated that there were three things a foreigner had to comply with when living among Israel.They can be summed up as idolatry, fornication and blood.
Murder, theft etc were a given but these three additional requirements were imposed on non-Jews in order to make fellowship possible.
The meeting at Jerusalem decided that gentile Christians were not required to keep the whole law but ruled that they should observe those three things.
"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” - Acts 15:19-21
This was therefore a specific instruction for a particular situation in order to maintain peace and fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
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cofty
ditto TD you beat me to it.
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cofty
Let's look at this from a different perspective.
The Law makes clear that blood was to be used only only the altar in order to make atonement for sin.
What if the owner of a herd of cows bled them a little at a time, letting blood run into a bowl until they had a decent quantity to take to the Tabernacle?
I'm sure you agree that this would not have any sacrificial merit.
The blood of the animal represented its life that had been sacrificed in place of the penitent sinner.
If blood taken from a live animal had no sacrificial value why would blood donated for transfusion be any more significant?
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Finkelstein
Just a bit of insight to the Kosher butchering laws still active today.
Shechita
The Hebrew term shechita (anglicized:/ ? ? x i? ' t ?? / ; Hebrew: ????? , [?χi'ta] ), also transliteratedshechitah, shehitah, shehita, is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds for food according to Jewish dietary laws (Deut. 12:21, Deut. 14:21, Num. 11:22) The animal must be killed "with respect and compassion" [1] [2] by a shochet (Hebrew: ???? , "ritual slaughterer"), a religious Jew who is duly licensed and trained. The act is performed by severing the trachea, esophagus, carotid arteries, jugular veins and vagus nerve in a swift action using an extremely sharp blade ("chalef") only by the highly qualified shochet. This results in an instant drop in blood pressure in the brain and the irreversible expiration of consciousness. According to Jewish religious sources, the animal is now insensible to pain and exsanguinates in a lenient, prompt and precise action. [3] The animal can be in a number of positions; when the animal is lying on its back, this is referred to as shechita munachat; in a standing position it is known as shechita me'umedet. Before slaughtering, the animal must be healthy, uninjured, and viable. If the hindquarters of kosher mammals are to be eaten by Jews, they must be 'porged' – stripped of veins, chelev (caul fat and suet) [4] and sinews [5] in accordance with a strict procedure. [6] Because of the expense of porging and the skill required to properly separate out the forbidden parts, a large portion of the meat of kosher mammals slaughtered through shechita in the United States winds up on the non-kosher market.
Preparation
The animal must be kosher. For mammals, this is restricted to ruminants which have split hooves. [7] For birds the issue is more complicated. Biblically, all birds not specifically excluded in Deuteronomy 14:12–18 are permitted, [8] but according to rabbinical law, only birds with a tradition of being eaten are allowed. [9]
The kosher animal cannot be shot dead by a hunter, or poleaxed, which had been common for centuries, or stunned, as is common practice in modern animal slaughter since the first half of the twentieth century, as it is considered that this would injure the animal rendering the shechita invalid, as the meat would be treifa (non-Kosher) [10] [2] After shechita of mammals the shochet must feel the area around the lungs for scabbing, adhesions or other lesions, which would render the animal not kosher.
Source
The Torah (Deut. 12:21) states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtered 'as I have commanded thee' but nowhere in the Torah (Five books of Moses) are any of the practices of schechita described. Instead, they have been handed down in Judaism's traditional Oral Torah, and codified in halakha in various sources, most notably the canonical codex of laws Shulchan Aruch.
Duties of the shochet
To fulfill the basic law of shechita, the majority of both the trachea and esophagus (windpipe and food pipe) of a mammal, or the majority of either one of these in the case of birds, must be incised with a back and forth motion without violating one of the five major prohibited techniques, or various more detailed rules. The five major forbidden techniques include: pressing, pausing, tearing, piercing, or covering. A shochet must have studied these laws and demonstrate a thorough understanding of them, as well as have been carefully trained, before he is allowed to 'shekht' meat unaided.
The Five Forbidden Techniques when Using a Chalaf (Sakin) to Slaughter Animals
- ?????ShehiyahDelay or Pausing- A pause of hesitation during the incision of even a moment makes the animal's flesh unkosher. The knife must move in an uninterrupted sweep. Shehiyah occurs if the shochet accidentally stops the slaughtering process after either the trachea or esophagus has been cut, but before they have been cut the majority of the way through. Pausing can happen accidentally if muscle contractions in the animal's neck pull one of these organs out of contact with the blade. The latter case is especially common in turkeys.
- ????DerasahPressing - The knife must be drawn across the throat by forward/backward movements, not by hacking or pressing. Any undue pressure renders the animal unkosher. Derasah is the forbidden action that occurs when the shochet pushes the knife into the animal's throat, chops rather than slices, or positions the animal improperly so that either its head presses down on the blade as it expires or the shochet must push the knife into the throat against the force of gravity. There are those [11] who feel that it is forbidden to have the animal in an upright position during shechita due to the prohibition of derasah (pressing). They feel that the animal must be on its back, lying on its side, suspended upside down by a rope or chain, or – as is done in most commercial slaughter houses – placed in a barrel-like pen that restrains the animal's limbs while it is turned on its back for slaughter. However, an expert shochet can slaughter the animal while it is upright without pressing the knife. This method is employed in most smaller operations in America.
- ????HaladahDigging or Burying The knife must be drawn over the throat so that it is visible while shechita is being peformed. It must not be stabbed into the neck or buried by fur, hide, or feathers in the case of a bird. Haladah occurs if the shochet either accidentally cuts into the animal's throat so deeply that the entire width of the knife disappears in the wound, uses a knife that is too short so that the end disappears in the wound, or if a foreign object falls over the knife so the shochet loses sight of the incision.
- ?????HagramahSlipping - The limits within which the knife may be applied are from the large ring in the windpipe to the top of the upper lobe of the lung when it is inflated, and corresponding to the length of the pharynx. Slaughtering above or below these limits renders the meat unkosher.
- ?????IqqurTearing - If either the esophagus or the trachea is torn during the shechita incision the carcass is rendered unkosher and cannot be eaten by Jews. Iqqur occurs if the shochet accidentally uses a chalaf with an imperfection on the blade, such as a scratch or nick, that causes a section of blade to be lower than the surface of the blade. [12] [13] [14]
Giving of the Gifts
Once the animal has been checked and found to be kosher, it is a Mitzvah for the shochet to give the foreleg, cheeks, and abomasum to a Kohen. Beit Din -in terms of the root of the obligation, has the Halachic authority to excommunicate a shochet who refuses to perform this Mitzvah. In any case, it is desired that the shochet himself refuse to perform the shechita unless the animal's owner expresses his agreement to give the gifts.
The Rishonim point out the Shochet cannot claim that since the animal does not belong to him, he cannot give the gifts without the owner's consent. On the contrary, since the average shochet is reputed to be well versed and knowledgeable in the laws of Shechitah ("Dinnei Shechita"), Beith Din relies on him to withhold his shechita so long as the owner refuses to give the gifts;
The obligation of giving the gifts lay upon the Shochet to separate the parts due to the Kohanim. Apparently, the reasoning is that since the average Shochet is a "Friend", since he completed the prerequisite of understanding the (complex) laws of Shechita and Bedikah. It is assumed that he -as well- is knowledgeable in the details of the laws of giving the gifts, and will not put the Mitzvah aside. This, however, is not the case with the animal's owner, since the average owner is an Am ha-aretz not wholly knowledgeable in the laws of the gifts -and procrastinates in completing the Mitzvah —Shulchan Gavoah to Yoreh Deah 61:61
Minor rules
The animal's blood may not be collected in a bowl, a pit, or a body of water, as these resemble ancient forms of idol worship. If the shochet accidentally slaughters with a knife dedicated to idol worship, he must remove an amount of meat equivalent to the value of the knife and destroy it. If he slaughtered with such a knife on purpose, the animal is forbidden as not kosher. It is forbidden to slaughter an animal in front of other animals, or to slaughter an animal and its young on the same day, even separately. This is forbidden no matter how far away the animals are from each other. An animal's "young" is defined as either its own offspring, or another animal that follows it around, even if of another species. [citation needed]
The knife
The knife used for shechita is called a hallaf by Ashkenazim or a sakin (Hebrew: ????) by all Jews. By biblical law the knife may be made from anything not attached directly or indirectly to the ground and capable of being sharpened and polished to the necessary level of sharpness and smoothness required for shechita. The Minhag now is to use a metal knife.
The knife must be minimally 1.5 or 2 times as long as the animal's neck is wide, depending on the species of animal and the number of strokes needed to slaughter the animal, but not so long that the weight of the knife exceeds the weight of the animal's head. If the knife is too large, it is assumed to cause pressing. The knife must not have a point. It is feared a point may slip into the wound during slaughter and cause piercing. The blade may also not be serrated, as serrations cause tearing.
The blade may not have imperfections in it. All blades are assumed by Jewish law to be imperfect, so the knife must be checked before each session. The shochet must run his fingernail up and down both sides of the blade and on the cutting edge to determine if he can feel any imperfections. He then uses a number of increasingly fine abrasive stones to sharpen and polish the blade until it is perfectly sharp and smooth. After the slaughter, the shochet must check the knife again in the same way to be certain the first inspection was properly done, and to ensure the blade was not damaged during shechita. If the blade is found to be damaged, the meat may not be eaten by Jews. If the blade falls or is lost before the second check is done, the first inspection is relied on and the meat is permitted.
In previous centuries the hallaf was made of forged steel, which was not reflective and was difficult to make both smooth and sharp. The Baal Shem Tov, fearing that Sabbateans were scratching the knives in a way not detectable by normal people, introduced the Hasidische Hallaf. The Hasidische Hallaf differs from the previously used knife in that it was made from molten steel and polished to a mirror gloss in which scratches could be seen as well as felt. The new knife was controversial and was one of four reasons listed in the Brody Cherem for the excommunication of the Chassidim . [15]
Today the Hasidische Hallaf is the only commercially available knife for shechita and is universally accepted. [citation needed]
Carcass preparation
Bedikah
An animal must be checked again after it has been shekhted to see if there were any internal injuries that would have rendered the animal unhealthy before the slaughter, but were simply not visible because they were internal. The inspector must check certain organs, such as the lungs, for any scarring which would render the animal treif (not kosher).
Glatt
Glatt means "smooth" in German and Yiddish. In the context of kosher meat, it refers to the smoothness, or lack of blemish, in the internal organs of the animal. In the case of a scab or lesion on a cow’s lungs specifically, there is debate between Ashkenazic customs and Sephardic customs. Ashkenazic Jews hold that if the patch can be removed and the lungs are still airtight (a process that is tested by filling the lungs with air and then submerging them in water and looking for escaping air) then the animal is still kosher, while Sephardic Jews hold that if there is any sort of scabbing or lesion on the lungs, then the animal is not kosher. “Glatt” meat would literally mean that the animal has passed the stringent Sephardic requirements.
Porging
After the animal has been thoroughly inspected, there are still steps that have to be taken before the animal can be sold as kosher. The Torah prohibits the eating of certain fats and organs, such as the kidneys and intestines, so they must be removed from the animal. These fats are typically known as chelev. There is also a biblical prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve (gid hanasheh), so that, too, is removed.
The removal of the chelev and the gid hanasheh, called nikkur, is considered complicated and tedious, and hence labor intensive, and even more specialized training is necessary to perform the act properly. While the small amounts of chelev in the front half of the animal are relatively easy to remove, the back half of the animal is far more complicated, and it is where the sciatic nerve is located.
In countries such as the United States, where there exists a large nonkosher meat market, the hindquarters of the animal (where many of these forbidden meats are located) is sold to Gentiles so as to simplify the process. This tradition goes back for centuries [16] where local Muslims accept meat slaughtered by Jews as consumable; however, the custom was not universal throughout the Muslim world, and some Muslims (particularly on the Indian subcontinent) did not accept these hindquarters as halal. In Israel, on the other hand, specially trained men are hired to prepare the hindquarters for sale as kosher.
Blood
The blood must also be removed from the meat, as there is a biblical prohibition against the eating of blood as well. ( Gen 9:4 , Lev 17:10–14 , Deut 12:23–24 ) All large arteries and veins are removed, as well as any bruised meat or coagulated blood. Then the meat has to be purged of all remaining blood (kashering). The process is generally done by letting the meat soak for around 30 minutes, covering it with salt and then allowing it to drain. In Sephardi traditions, [citation needed] one generally leaves the salt on for a full hour and then rinses the meat thoroughly. The meat is then considered kashered. However, if the meat has been left for more than three days after being slaughtered without being kashered, then the blood is considered to have “set” in the meat, and it is no longer salvageable to eat except when prepared through broiling with appropriate drainage.
There's little argument that the ancient Hebrew laws concerning blood was established as a dietary law.
They saw blood as life itself so therefore it was perceived to be sacred.
Of course there are many other elements needed to make a animal live such as air/oxygen .
Blood is referred to many times as an organ in a form of a liquid.
I think some of the psychological mix up in how the WTS/JWs drew their interpretation from scripture comes in
the fact that when one is trying to save a person's life by using a BT, the significance of the sacredness of blood
gets ornately exemplified.
This was a dietary restriction law and just that., to intensionally try to place something else or slightly related is not
being truthful toward the original expression.
It should be noted that a few ancient civilizations practiced the eating of animal blood as to inherent the spirit
and characteristics of that animal. Thats why you'll see many kings or deities of the ancient world in pictographs
with animal parts as apart of their image.
The sacredness and the importance of blood was recognized in many parts within ancient world not just singularly
within the Hebrews of Judean.
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DesirousOfChange
So if one was to abstain from alcohol, would it be ok then to take alcohol through the veins or other orifaces?
So if one was told to abstain from drinking alcohol, would it be improper to use it to sterilize a wound?
So it is with the command to not EAT blood.
If a person was unable to eat and thus dying from malnutrition, would they be given blood transfusions to save their life?
NO. Because intravenous blood transfusion would not "feed" them. They would instead be given glucose intravenously or perhaps an enteral feeding tube would be utilized.
Clearly transfusion does not equate with EATING.
Doc
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creativhoney
the bible states that blood is life
it also states that there is no greater gift I can give than lay down my life for my brother.
does this mean I should give blood?
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Finkelstein
When one puts in consideration of the fact that these ancient people had no idea of the biology of animals.
It was observed that if blood drained out of an animal or human through acts of slaughter or otherwise
that life would stop abruptly, this has to be where they took it upon themselves to identify blood as something ornately special.
Also most likely the reason that other ancient cizations of that era also assumed blood to be something of notable special significance.
Some of this appealing sacredness of blood is still practices in tribal ceremonies still to this day.
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smmcroberts
Thanks for playing devil's advocate, CA.
Here's a couple of your points I'd like to add my two-cents to:
So there are exceptions to Jehovah's rule of abstaining from blood? Can we find a single example of this in the Bible? Where did God EVERY allow for any type of blood to be ingested into the body in any form?
One good example has already been given in a previous post, here's one in which we are not only allowed to "ingest blood," but actually invited and encouraged to do so:
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John 6:51-58)
even in emergency situations where we could die, we are not to eat blood.
Jesus would disagree; he gave an explicit lesson on this very subject with the point being that it was not only acceptable but basically a no-brainer that one should break God's Law in order to save one's life:
Now it happened that he was proceeding through the grainfields on the sabbath, and his disciples started to make their way plucking the heads of grain. So the Pharisees went saying to him: “Look here! Why are they doing on the sabbath what is not lawful?” But he said to them: “Have YOU never once read what David did when he fell in need and got hungry, he and the men with him? How he entered into the house of God, in the account about Abiatharm the chief priest, and ate the loaves of presentation, which it is not lawful for anybody to eat except the priests, and he gave some also to the men who were with him?” So he went on to say to them: “The sabbath came into existence for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the sabbath”
–Mark 2:23-17 (NWT)As I argued in my blog, I think the above quote is the best single argument against the WT stance on blood. Let them argue that transfusions are against God's law all they want; the above quote renders it a moot point.
