The Torah contains no fewer than six mentions of the prohibition against consuming blood.1 The following mention, in the portion of Acharei, contains the most detail and is therefore the primary source for this prohibition:
And any man of the House of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My attention upon the soul who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have therefore given it to you [to be placed] upon the altar, to atone for your souls. For it is the blood that atones for the soul.
Therefore, I said to the Children of Israel: None of you shall eat blood, and the stranger who sojourns among you shall not eat blood. And any man of the Children of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who traps a quarry of a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, and sheds its blood, he shall cover it [the blood] with dust. For [regarding] the soul of all flesh, its blood is in its soul, and I said to the Children of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the soul of any flesh is its blood; all who eat it shall be cut off. 2
This verse contains what can be seen as two reasons for this law:
- “For the soul of the flesh is in the blood”
- “The blood that atones for the soul.”
Below, we will examine how the commentaries interpret and elucidate these reasons, as well as some other explanations they suggest.
1. Blood Was Designated for Atonement
Rashi explains that the two interpretations of the verse are interconnected: the life of every creature depends on its blood, and therefore, G‑d designated blood to be placed on the altar to atone for the human soul. He writes, “Let a soul come and atone for a soul.” Since blood carries the soul and serves as the means of atonement in the Temple service, it is too sacred to be consumed as food.3
2. Humans Were Not Originally Permitted to Eat Animals
Nachmanides, explains that at the time of Creation, G‑d only permitted humans to eat plant life, not creatures with souls. Only after the Flood, when Noah offered sacrifices and gained favor in G‑d's eyes, did G‑d permit the consumption of meat. However, even then, the soul of the animal—which resides in its blood—was not permitted to be eaten. This reflects the idea that while the body of the animal may serve human needs, its soul must be treated with reverence and is reserved for atonement before G‑d.
3. Spiritual Incompatibility: A Soul Should Not Consume a Soul
Nachmanides goes on to offer a theological argument: the soul of a human should not consume the soul of another living creature, as all souls belong to G‑d. He quotes Ecclesiastes: “As the death of one, so is the death of the other; they all have one spirit.”4 The human soul is elevated and eternal, while the animal soul is temporary and earthly — and the Torah seeks to avoid the spiritual confusion that results from a living soul ingesting another soul.
4. Blood Coarsens the Soul
Finally, Nachmanides argues that what a person eats becomes part of them. Blood, unlike other foods, binds quickly and directly with the person’s own blood and essence, without undergoing major digestion. Eating blood, then, causes the human soul to become coarsened, drawing it toward the nature of the animal soul that resided in the blood. This leads to spiritual dullness and a loss of sensitivity, as the human soul is degraded by absorbing the traits of the animal soul.
Due to the fact that the animal’s soul remains present in its blood, consuming that blood causes a direct spiritual merging between the human and animal. Such a union is unnatural and spiritually damaging. The soul of a person should rise upward, while the soul of an animal returns to the earth. Mixing the two defies that spiritual direction. The proper role of animal blood is to be offered on the altar, not absorbed into the human being.5
5. Blood Leads to Violence
In a similar vein, the Sefer Hachinuch writes that abstaining from blood refines human character. He explains that consuming blood leads to coarseness and cruelty, as blood is associated with wildness and violence. By avoiding it, we are trained to be more sensitive and ethically elevated. The Torah's goal in forbidding blood is to instill discipline and develop a more compassionate nature, distancing us from animalistic tendencies.6
6. To Uproot Pagan and Magical Beliefs
Maimonides states that the prohibition against ingesting blood is aimed at eradicating the idolatrous practices of the surrounding nations, who believed that drinking blood brought supernatural powers, prophecy, or communion with spirits. By forbidding blood absolutely, the Torah distances the Jewish people from these harmful beliefs and their moral consequences.7 This is in line with a Midrashic interpretation: “Rabbi Yehuda stated: this teaches that they were steeped in blood [consumption] prior to the giving of the Torah.”8 We can infer from this that the Torah's repeated warnings imply that this was a strong and widespread temptation.
7. Blood as Passion
The Rebbe explains that the prohibition against eating blood alludes to a deeper spiritual message: blood represents passion and emotional heat. Even in realms where physical pleasure is permitted—such as eating meat—the Torah warns, “Only be strong not to eat the blood,”9 meaning, don’t invest your inner emotional energy into material pleasures. A Jew’s “heat” should be directed exclusively toward holiness, just as in the Temple the blood was sprinkled on the altar as a sacred offering. If one’s passion is not focused on G‑dliness—even if the act itself is technically permissible and even done “for the sake of Heaven”—that emotional energy still does not belong in the realm of the mundane. The Torah’s instruction is: “pour it on the ground” — the Jew should have no attachment to that kind of unholy excitement.10
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