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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Eating Meat - What Does It Mean?

Within parashat R'eh we read an interesting section about eating meat: 

"When the Lord enlarges your territory as He has promised you, and you say ‘I shall eat some meat,’ for you have the urge to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you wish. If the place where the Lord has chosen to establish His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord gives you, as I have instructed you; and you may eat to your heart's content in your settlements... But make sure you do not partake of the blood; for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the flesh. You must not partake of it; you must pour it out on the ground like water."

Rules

The words seem simple enough - eating meat is fine, just pour the blood out. But we know that there are complex issues for us to consider. First of all, the Torah already suggests that there are rules (not specified) surrounding the slaughter. This can be inferred from the text:  you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord gives you, as I have instructed you. In fact, Jewish Law developed an extensive set of rules governing the blades (length, sharpness, lack of nicks, etc.), the location and specific method of cutting the animal, as well as the appropriate words spoken by the slaughterer beforehand, as well as when the blood is poured upon the earth. 

Rationale 

As we have seen, the writer of the text did not give us much to go on in terms of meaningful context. There is a phrase which could help us get started: make sure you do not partake of the blood; for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the flesh. While the phrase is a bit cryptic, it suggests that our abstaining from consuming blood is important because blood symbolizes life. The rituals are grappling with the implications of killing as part of our diet. 

A Few Luminaries from the Past Weigh In...

Maimonides, wearing his physician's garb, claimed that meat is part of a balanced and healthy human diet. Even so, he stressed the importance of minimizing the animal's pain. This idea (captured by the phrase tza'ar balei chayim, in rabbinic Hebrew), according to rambam, isn't only about compassion for animals; it's about humans striving to avoid becoming cruel. This position was echoed by Rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Halakhist, Aharon HaLevi of Barcelona ((1235 – c. 1290), known as the Ra'AH.

Kli Yakar (the pen name of Rabbi, poet and Torah commentator Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz [Born in in Lemberg, Poland, 1550. Died March 3, 1619] taught that the optimal expression of human self-discipline would be to avoid consuming meat. The tradition's various stringencies were in place to limit the consumption of meat to people with a strong physical craving. 

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (born in 1865 – died in 1935; first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine. He founded the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav. Kook was a preeminent Jewish thinker, Halakhist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar, one of the most celebrated and influential Rabbis of the 20th century.) considered animal slaughter and consumption to be morally wrong. The laws of slaughter, according to Kook, were a concession to human weakness; something that could, hopefully, be overcome some day. 

Questions to Ponder

Here we are, struggling to avoid becoming cynical in response to too many kashrut scandals. Greed, a sense of impunity, and contempt for law have, unfortunately, done serious damage to the images surrounding kosher slaughter. Our sages' words can illuminate our path forward. They remind us that kashrut is not the mere accumulation of details about prayers, blades, and meat preparation. Rituals - if they are to function - convey meaning. They are shorthand for the values we try to put in play as we see the world through a Jewish lens. Compassion and respect for all life are central to this conversation. If we can renew that sense of focus, kashrut can regain its relevance.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Aaron