*** w51 7/1 415 Questions from Readers ***
Why do not Jehovahs witnesses refuse to eat meat, inasmuch as some blood remains therein even though the animal has been properly bled?
Some say that it is the intersticial fluids and not blood that runs out of meat. Any blood remaining in the body would congeal after a time and after exposure to air, and so would not be fluid after purchase from a butcher shop. However, a reputable book on physiology presents reasonable argument to the effect that some congealed blood is left behind even in well-drained carcasses. In an endeavor to remove all blood strict Jews go to great extremes. Code of Jewish Law,
a compilation of Jewish laws and customs by a rabbi and published by a Hebrew publishing company in New York city, details the great pains to be taken with meat. The meat is submerged in water for half an hour, is then salted and put in position for draining for an hour as the salt draws out the blood, and is thereafter thoroughly washed three times. However, Jehovahs witnesses do not pursue such extremes, which seem typical of the Pharisaical zeal that fussed over trivialities and "disregarded the weightier matters of the Law". As Jesus said to them, "Blind guides, who strain out the gnat but gulp down the camel!" (Matt. 23:23, 24, NW ) The point is this: Jehovah God gave the ordinance not to eat blood, when he said man could eat animal flesh. At that time he instructed that his requirement would be met by allowing the slaughtered animals carcass to bleed, to drain. It is his law we are seeking to comply with in this matter of blood, and after we have followed his requirement to bleed the animal, and thus met his demands, is that not sufficient? We need not become absurd and quibble like a Pharisee, piling on burdens beyond the requirements of divine law.Matt. 23:4.