soapboxdiner
On things kosher
Hey all you local book club ladies! For all of our mutual edification on a point of interest, I have a bit of a follow-up regarding the significance of bloodletting in preparing/eating of kosher meats. Forgive me if this is common knowledge to you, as most of you are probably much more well-versed in the mythology and folklore of early Judaism/Christianity than I am, but it is new to me in as much as I'd never concentrated in the purpose or significance of the following verses beyond thinking them strange... so. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on these topics, and for sparking in me the interest to dig deeper into them. I've been captivated and fascinated.
...
If one is to believe Gen. 9:4,
But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
To this, the NIV study guide accompanying the verse gives further detail and reasoning by stating:
9:4 you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood. Lev. 17:14 stressed the intimate relationship between blood and life by twice declaring that "the life of every creature is its blood." Life is the precious and mysterious gift of God, and man is not to seek to preserve it or increase the life-force within him by eating "life" that is "in the blood" (Lev 17:11) - as many pagan peoples throughout history have thought they could do.
Which all got me very curious about what exactly Leviticus 17:11 says. I'd always thought that blood was considered "unclean", but it appears I've been reading my bible wrong all this time. It isn't necessarily that the blood is unclean, it is that blood holds the "precious and mysterious gift" of creation that belongs solely to God. I wonder, does this suggest that all those Levitical ramblings about "uncleanliness" would more mean a tainting by way of partaking in actions and functions that do not belong to man but to God, rather than meaning all things hygienic? Interesting. There God goes being all secretive and possessive over his knowledge again.
I suppose that "precious and mysterious gift" thing would shed an entirely different light on the OT prohibition of sex when a woman is menstruating. Here I'd been taking the "unclean" thing way too literally. It would appear (in my opinion) simply to the vestigial superstitious carry-over regarding women (as life-givers) being more powerful and creative/destructive when their creative abilities are apparent. Can't have had women maintain any amount of inherent spiritual power, now. Best to strip them of all that right now.
I have to say, rehashing our discussions, this topic as well as the coital sheets and Judaism/Hasidism in general have captured my interest. I'll leave some links to a couple of the sites I've dug up. I'll probably eventually post them permanently on my links page, but for now I'll just post them here as personal bookmarks.
and another good Lilith link just because her story is one of my favorites
9:08 pm - 12.09.02
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