By my count, the Torah repeats a lesson and mitzvah four times in the span of a few, short verses in the fifth aliyah of Acharei, begginning at VaYikra 17:10: don't eat the blood of even a kosher animal, because "the soul of the flesh is in the blood," the blood was provided for atonement and not for eating (this part is repeated in two verses, not all four times), and if you eat it, your own soul will be cut off.
Besides instruction that, as clear as day, tells us not to eat blood because (1) the soul/nefesh is in the blood and (2) blood was provided to make atonement, and not for eating, what are these verses coming to teach us?
I think it speaks to a much higher point - as well as a much lower one. In Judaism, one of the most central points is that concepts, even the most spiritual, are not some intangible, ethereal entity that we can try and talk about but never experience. They are real and can be done in this objective, real universe. Lay tefillin. Put on a tallit. Eat matzah. Don't wear mixed clothing. Every mitzvah, I believe I have heard, can be physicaally accomplished. There is even extensive debate regarding whether the v'ahavta - a command to "love your G-d" - is a mitzvah since it cannot be performed physically.
Personally, I've always wondered where the soul is. And don't forget that, according to the kabbalists, there are five layers of "soul," and that the nefesh - to which the blood refers - is only one, and the lowest one at that. But it is clear - could not be clearer, in fact - that at least this nefesh soul is physical, and is in the blood. And that's what makes it unique. And that's why you can't eat it - because it is a soul, and you just don't eat souls.
But that doesn't mean they have no purpose. At least this nefesh level of soul is meant for something - and that, in the animal context, may be for sacrifice. In an odd line of thinking, it could be said that all animals are given blood/souls so that some of them - those animals mentioned specifically in the korbanot rites - could be offered.
But what about the other animals, and of course, the nefesh blood of humans, which should never be sacrificed? Well, that is why, in its repetition, the second prohibition on eating blood beginning at VaYikra 17:14 does not mention the sacrifice but merely (again) states that "the blood of any flesh you shall not consume because the life of all flesh is in its blood[.]" And that is simply reason enough - G-d placed the nefesh soul in all living creatures in their blood, not to be eaten. Basically, this soul is the property of G-d and not for you to consume, because it doesn't belong to you.
One of the take-home messages for me is oddly about physical health. The nefesh soul is in the blood, and I certainly want to take care of my nefesh, so I want to take care of my blood. And that means prioritizing physical health. And every time I think about my blood, I will think of the health of my soul, and vice versa.
It also re-affirms my commitment to vegetarianism - with a mitzvah so important it is repeated four times, I would obviously want to observe it as closely as possible, and in that way consuming no animal product whatsoever seems important so that I avoid any chance of eating the nefesh soul of an animal.
I hope to meditate more on the meaning, location, and composition of the soul and gain greater insights soon.
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