On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer

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בס”ד                                                                                                                                                           Yafit Clymer/Hadran/Zevachim

The Permission to Eat Meat- what for and why?

בראשית א׳:כ״ט

“וַיֹּאמֶר אֱ-לֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת כָּל עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת כָּל הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ פְרִי עֵץ זֹרֵעַ זָרַע לָכֶם יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה וּלְכָל חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּלְכָל עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל רוֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה אֶת כָּל יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב …”

Genesis 1:29

And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food;

סנהדרין נ״ט ב

• Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Meat was not permitted to Adam, the first man, for consumption, as it is written: “And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb that brings forth seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree..

The Gemara raises an objection to the assertion that eating meat was prohibited to Adam, from the verse: “And have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creeps upon the land” (Genesis 1:28). What, is it not stated with regard to consumption, i.e., doesn’t this verse mean that people may eat the meat of animals? The Gemara answers: No, the verse is referring to using animals for labor.

Rashi on Genesis 1:29:1

ולכל חית הארץ AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH — Scripture places cattle and beasts on a level with them (human beings: that is, it places all alike in the same category) with regard to food, and did not permit Adam to kill any creature and eat its flesh, but all alike were to eat herbs. But when the era of the “Sons of Noah” began He permitted them to eat meat, for it is said, (Genesis 9:3) “every moving thing that lives should be for food for yourselves … “even as the herb” that I permitted to the first man, so do “I give to you everything” (Sanhedrin 59b)

Radak on Genesis 1:29

לכם יהיה לאכלה, Permission to eat meat would be granted only after the deluge, and we are not sure of the reason for this. Perhaps the reason is that G’d had already foreseen that during the generation of the deluge Noach would be the one who would be directly instrumental in saving the animals, and permission to eat meat became part of Noach’s reward for his labour feeding all the animals in the ark for a full year. Seeing that G’d does not withhold reward from any creature, He would certainly not withhold it from human beings when warranted

דברים יב כ

כִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֥יךָ אֶֽת־גְּבֻלְךָ֮ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ֒ וְאָמַרְתָּ֙ אֹכְלָ֣ה בָשָׂ֔ר כִּֽי־תְאַוֶּ֥ה נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לֶאֱכֹ֣ל בָּשָׂ֑ר בְּכׇל־אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ תֹּאכַ֥ל בָּשָֽׂר׃ 

When יהוה enlarges your territory, as promised, and you say, “I shall eat some meat,” for you have the urge to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you wish.

רש”י

כי ירחיב וגו’. לִמְּדָה תוֹרָה דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ שֶׁלֹּא יִתְאַוֶּה אָדָם לֶאֱכֹל בָּשָׂר אֶלָּא מִתּוֹךְ רַחֲבַת יָדַיִם וְעֹשֶׁר (חולין פ”ד): 

— The Torah teaches the proper rule of life — that one should not desire to eat flesh unless he lives amidst abundance and wealth (cf. Sifrei Devarim 75:5; Chullin 84a; see also Rashi on Leviticus 17:13). 

כל אות נפשך וגו’. אֲבָל בַּמִּדְבָּר נֶאֱסַר לָהֶם בְּשַׂר חֻלִּין אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן מַקְדִּישָׁהּ וּמַקְרִיבָהּ שְׁלָמִים (שם ט”ז): 

— In the wilderness, however, the flesh of a non-holy animal was forbidden to them as food, unless one first dedicated it to the altar and offered it as a peace-offering (Sifrei Devarim 75:4; Chullin 16b). 

Or Hachayim

כי ירחיב Seeing G’d had objected to the excessive craving for a meat-diet displayed by the Israelites in Numbers chapter 11 where we were told about thousands dying on that account, such a craving had been taboo ever since. Only meat which had first been hallowed as a sacrifice had been permitted to be eaten by the average Israelite during the last 38 years. At this point Moses justifies the new legislation which sanctions the desire to have a meat-diet by referring to the difficulty of making the meat first a sacrifice and having to travel to Jerusalem to do so. It is assumed that the craving will re-surface as a result of most people living a long way from Jerusalem. G’d specifically sanctions the desire to eat meat with the words: “you may eat meat in accordance with all the desire of your soul.”

העמק דבר)Rav Naftalie Tsvi Berlin)  

כי ירחיב וגו׳ את גבולך. בעשירות: In Wealth

ואמרת אכלה בשר

As for the way of the rich to eat meat, even if they do not desire it or because they desire it, etc., even without expanding their borders and wealth:

מדרש ויקרא רבה כב ט

Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yishmael said: This is a permit that emerges from a prohibition. Because it was prohibited for Israel to eat meat of desire in the wilderness, the verse comes and permits it for them only by means of slaughter… 

פסחים מט :

תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי אוֹמֵר: עַם הָאָרֶץ אָסוּר לֶאֱכוֹל בְּשַׂר, (בְּהֵמָה) שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״זֹאת תּוֹרַת הַבְּהֵמָה וְהָעוֹף״: כׇּל הָעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה מוּתָּר לֶאֱכוֹל בְּשַׂר בְּהֵמָה וָעוֹף, וְכֹל שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה אָסוּר לֶאֱכוֹל בָּשָׂר בְּהֵמָה וָעוֹף.

The Gemara continues its discussion with regard to an ignoramus. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: It is prohibited for an ignoramus to eat meat, as it is stated: “This is the law [torah] of the beast and of the fowl” (Leviticus 11:46). He expounds: Anyone who engages in Torah study is permitted to eat the meat of animals and fowl, and anyone who does not engage in Torah study is prohibited to eat the meat of animals or fowl.

Shadal on Genesis 1:30:3

He gave to man all seed-bearing herbs and all fruit trees; and to the other animals only the green herbs, which grow without planting. And the intention of this is because man has the intelligence to plant, and this is not the case with other animals… And behold, one should ask why He didn’t mention the eating of meat – not with man and not with animals. And many already believed that the slaughter of animals was not permitted before the flood. And this is very unlikely; since in his nature and the build of his body and the shape of his teeth, man is fashioned for the eating of both [plants] and meat as one; and if it was not the will of the Creator that he should eat meat, He would not have formed his body [in this way]. And it appears to me that the permission to eat meat is included in the expression, “and have dominion over the fish of the sea, etc.” Since [in the case of] Noach (Genesis 9:2-3): after He said, “and your awe and dread will be upon all the animals of the earth, etc… into your hands are they given,” He explained and said “every crawling thing that lives on the earth, for you shall it be to eat.” But to Adam, He did not need to explain further, while with Noach; because it was necessary to warn him about the spilling of man’s blood, he preceded [that warning] by saying that He was not forbidding the slaughtering of animals… And at this point, it appears to me that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not want to say to Adam explicitly that he had permission to kill living souls, so that he not accustom his hands to spilling blood. Rather, He said to him that he would rule and have dominion over all animals; and the permission to kill them for the sake of eating them ‘was not explicitly said, but implicitly said.’ But after the flood – after the earth was filled with violence and all flesh had corrupted its way and the spillers of blood proliferated – then did God explain to Noach and his children that they have permission to kill and eat animals, but they do not have permission for ‘a man to kill his brother,’ though they should kill murderers

.

RAV KOOK (Talalei Orot, Hashkaphah al Ta’amei Hasmitzvot, Photocopy edition, Jerusalem, 1973, pp. 12-13)) The Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace (

And the time of this conquest (conquering the instinct to eat meat) has not yet come… (therefore) sometimes meat will be used as food as the price of passage into a brighter era… This is the essence of morality when it is joined to its Divine Source, that it recognizes that there is a time for everything and sometimes it closes off its wellspring in order to gather strength for times to come … thus the commandments concerning the eating of meat appeared in stages which lead to the highest goal … The covering of the blood of beasts or fowl … is the recognition of shame which is the beginning of moral healing “that you may remember and feel ashamed … when I have forgiven you” (Ezekiel 16:63): 

The Lubavitcher Rebbe

“אחור וקדם צרתני..” (תהלים קלט, ה). “…אם אדם ראוי, אומרים לו: ראשון אתה בין ברואיך. אם אינו ראוי, אומרים לו: תאכל בשר כאוות נפשך” (מדרש רבה, ויקרא יד, א).

“Back and front, you have afflicted me…” (Psalms 14:5). “…If a person is worthy, they say to him: You are the first among creatures. If he is not worthy, they say to him: Eat meat as your soul desires” (Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus 14:1).

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