04_Explanation of Rashi Reah

8/14/2019 04_Explanation of Rashi Reah

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23. However, be strong notto eat the blood, for the

blood is the soul; and you

shall not eat the soul withthe flesh.

Rashi quotes twodifferent opinions from

the Midrash to explainthis:

In this weeks TorahPortion in Chapter 12 it

says:


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However, be strong not to eat theblood: Since it is stated be strong[i.e., resist temptation], you learn

that the [Israelites] were inclined toeating blood. Therefore, it is

necessary to state,be strong.[These are] the words of Rabbi

Judah.

Rabbi Simeon the son of Azzai,however, says: Scripture

comes only to caution you andto instruct you as to what

extent you must be steadfastin [fulfilling] the

commandments: If regardingblood, which is easy to watch

out for, since a person has nodesire for it, [the Torah]

needed to strengthen you withits admonition, how much

more so [must one strengthenoneself] for all other


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Looking at the verse on asimple level, it would seem to

be pretty obvious what isbothering Rashi here.

We do not find the Torahtelling us to be strong

regarding other Mitzvot! Wefind this term used regardingMitzvot in general, but not for

an individual Mitzvah.

Rashi is explaining why theTorah uses this word onlyregarding the prohibition

against eating blood.


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This leaves us with anumber of questions, as is

to be expected.

1. We have already discussedthe reason that Rashi

sometimes gives twoanswers to a question isbecause the first answer is

close to answering the

question, but it has somedifficulty. The secondanswer takes care of thatproblem, but isnt as good

as the first.(Continued)


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This leaves us with a number

of questions, as is to be

expected.

We need to understand

what is lacking from thefirst answer. We also

need to understand why

the first answer is betterthan the second.


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Rabbi Yehudah says that theJews were inclined to eatblood, and according to

Rabbi Shimon Ben Azzai no

one was interested indrinking blood!

2. The argument between RabbiYehudah

and Rabbi Shimon Ben Azzai

regards the facts.We always try to avoid such

arguments,especially here where they both

say the exact opposite!


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3. Rabbi Shimon BenAzzai says that no onedesired blood, while

Rabbi Yehudah saysthat they were inclinedto eat blood.

Why does Rashi changethe expression from one

to the other?


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4. A little further on (Verse25) says that, You shallnot eat it, in order that it

be good for you.

Rashi explains that If [inthe case of] blood, whichdisgusts a person, he who

abstains from it earnsmerit [both] for himself

and for his children afterhim. To say that blood

disgusts a person is not inaccordance with either

opinion!


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5. We know that Rashionly quotes a teachingin someones name if it

adds something to theunderstanding!

What do we gain fromknowing what RabbiYehudah said and whatRabbi Shimon Ben Azzai

said?


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We know that Rashibrings his

explanation from theSifri which is a

Midrash.

Nevertheless, Rashimakes a number ofnoteworthy changes inthe version presented

by the Sifri!


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Change # 1:

In the Sifri RabbiYehudahs words are that

we were inclined to eatblood before the Giving ofthe Torah. According to

this both versions of RabbiYehudah are totally

different.


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Change # 2:

The Sifri quotes Rabbi

Yehudahs words in brief this teaches that theywere inclined to drink

blood. Rashi, on the otherhand, goes on at length

From the word be strongyou learn


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Change # 3:

In the Sifri it explains the

opinion of Rabbi ShimonBen Azzai that there is noMitzvah that is easier than

not eating blood, whileRashi says that no one

desires blood.


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It is possible thatRashi had a different

version of the Sifrithan what we have.

The question remainswhy Rashi chose that

version rather thanthe more common

version!


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We finally come tothe answer!

Rashi could not quotethe Sifris version of

Rabbi Yehudah,

because the prohibitionagainst eating bloodwas always stated a

number of times.If the Jews wereinclined to eat blood

before the giving of the

Torah (because of the


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There are a numberof answers to this

question!

The Torah should have

said to be strong thefirst time the prohibition

against blood was

stated. Why wait untilthe end of the 40th

year?


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Thats why Rashigives a long

explanation of RabbiYehudahs opinion:

Because it says to bestrong here, we see

that the Jews were stillinclined to eat blood at

the time this

commandment wasgiven.


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Nevertheless, RabbiYehudah is not

arguing a fact withRabbi Shimon Ben

Azzai!

It is possible that oneshould not desire blood,

or even be disgusted byit, and still be inclinedto drink it because theythink it has a medicinalbenefit or some othersort of benefit. This isbecause they became

accustomed to it in


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However, this is notenough of a reason

to say be stronghere only!

1. Since they were inclined to

eat blood, the Torah shouldhave said to be strong earlier,

in Vayikrah. That was evencloser to the time that we left

Egypt! Why wait until the 40th

year?


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2. Since the Torah already

warned us a number oftimes not to eat blood

before the 40th year, whyshould we still be inclined

to eat it?

Moreover


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Finally:

The Jews who wereentering Israel were not

even the generationthat lived in Egypt. After

all of the prohibitionsagainst eating blood,they certainly should

not have been so

inclined!


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This explains whyRashi needs another

answer!

But this cannot be the

only answer. Because itimplies that the be

strong has nothing to

do with blood per se.Especially because of

the way it fits in.


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First the Torah gives uspermission to eat meat

when we desire it. Itcontinues and says just

be strong and dont eat the

blood. This implies thatthere is a connection

between desiring to eat,and the prohibition against

blood.


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Why does Rashi

name both Rabbis?

A very sharp studentwill ask why there is

such a great differencebetween Rabbi Yehudahand Rabbi Shimon Ben

Azzai! The reason isbecause each followshis own opinion as we

find elsewhere.


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When the Torah says thatan animal carcass shouldbe given to a stranger or

sold to a gentile, RabbiYehudah takes it literally.The same applies here we take the fact that the

Torah is discussing bloodliterally, and dont look at

the possibility that it refers

to teaching us about otherMitzvot.


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We find in Pirkei

Avot that heteaches that we

must fulfill an easy

Mitzvah the sameway as a difficultone. He means

even an easy

Rabbi Shimon Ben

Azzai is quite different.


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The prohibition

against eating bloodis because the blood

is the soul. Even

though the soul of ananimal is containedwithin its flesh as well,the blood is the soul.

The deeper teaching of

Rashi here is:


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Meat doesnt have

quite the strength tomake such a bigdifference, and needsto be digested, etc.

before it becomes apart of the person.Blood doesnt need

Whatever a person eats

comes his own blood and flesh.

04_Explanation of Rashi Reah

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