Someone mentioned this in today's class, and I'm sorry I can't remember who to give the credit to, but I was really interested in the idea of of animal blood being poured on the ground as an act of "returning" it to the Earth.
In Genesis, after Adam and Eve sin and eat the forbidden fruit, God tells them that "[they] are dust, and to dust [they] shall return" (3:19). This calls to mind an image of human bones disintegrating inside a coffin over time. Both in biblical times and now, a body buried in the ground would eventually decompose and become a part of the soil, thus "returning" it to the Earth.
Later, in Deuteronomy, God's will is interpreted through Moses, who commands that the Israelites will "not eat the blood; for the blood is the life, and [they] shall not eat the life with the meat" (Deut 12:23). Instead, they will "pour [the blood] out on the ground like water" (Deut 12:24), thus allowing the blood, the life of the animal, to return to the ground and become dust.
This may not mean anything in particular, but I was intrigued by the act of returning something to the ground, possibly like putting the slaughtered animal to rest? Any thoughts?
I honestly don't remember who said this either, but I do recall it being said, and it resonated with me just as it did with you. When discussing this I immediately thought of the practice of eating Kosher meat and ritualistic slaughter, which is considered more humane in the eyes of many Jewish people. Essentially, Kosher meat must come from an animal who was killed in a swift and supposedly painless way, under the supervision of a Rabbi. I feel as though by returning the blood to the earth, where the animal technically originated from, you are respecting the life of that animal and giving it a proper burial, just as we many times bury the bodies of dead loved ones, returning them to nature, where all living creatures come from. These two practices definitely show how the Israelites were concerned with "putting the slaughtered animal to rest" just as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this rule, or command, from God to be quite interesting as well. I took note of and connected it specifically back to the fourth chapter of Genesis, when God reprimands Cain for murdering his brother Abel, telling him that his "brother's blood cries out" to Him. It's clearly a reference to Abel's soul, and overall I think that the point God makes by prohibiting them from eating meat with blood in it is made in order to emphasize the holiness of life and the spirit.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I was thinking! Both of you just said it in much more eloquent terms than I did. I also think that the deaths of the people in Esther (at the hands of the Jewish people) did not warrant any sort of rites or respect. Nothing was mentioned about putting their bodies to rest or returning them to nature.
ReplyDeleteAshes to Ashes. One can also view the returning of the blood to the earth as not only giving respect to the deceased animal, but as contributing back so that life in the future may continue. When we die decomposers break down our bodies and eventually deposit the nutrients back into the earth, which in turn helps plants grow and flourish, which provides food for herbivores, to which other larger animals prey upon, and which we humans in turn consume. It is one large cycle, and since blood is referred to as life, one can interpret this as returning life to the earth in order to provide for life in the future.
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