Side-ring EXTRA · Ramban on blood as carrier of life
Ramban critiques a possible reading of Rashi and clarifies that blood and nefesh are two distinct substances; the blood is the carrier of the life, not identical with it.
English: The blood itself is not the soul; rather the soul depends upon the blood, and the blood carries the vitality.
Philosophical refinement of “damo be-nafsho”
Ramban preserves the severity of the prohibition while rejecting a strict identity of blood and soul. The blood is the vehicle of life; consuming it still appropriates what belongs on the Mizbeach for kapparah.