Reeh 12:23 · unit 1

TT #91 · Parashas Reeh · Second Aliyah · Passuk 12:23

The Complete Passuk

רַ֣ק חֲזַ֗ק לְבִלְתִּי֙ אֲכֹ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם כִּ֥י הַדָּ֖ם ה֣וּא הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ וְלֹא־תֹאכַ֥ל הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ עִם־הַבָּשָֽׂר׃

Only be strong not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

Chabad.org — 12:23

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sifrei / Keritot.

Sefaria — Sifrei Devarim

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
הַדָּם הוּא הַנֶּפֶשׁ – מְלַמֵּד שֶׁדָּם שֶׁהַנֶּפֶשׁ יוֹצְאָה בּוֹ קָרוּי דָּם, וְדָם שֶׁאֵין הַנֶּפֶשׁ יוֹצְאָה בּוֹ אֵינוֹ קָרוּי דָּם, מִכָּאן לְדַם הַתַּמְצִית שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַכְשִׁיר לְקַבֵּל טֻמְאָה.

English: “The blood is the life” — This teaches that blood with which the life departs is called blood, and blood with which the life does not depart is not called blood. From here [we learn] that the residual blood (dam ha-tamtsit) does not prepare [food] to receive impurity.

On the daf / in context: Only the blood that issues at the moment of death has the full legal status of “blood” for certain purposes, including the capacity to render food susceptible to tumah.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Sifrei) — defining which blood is legally “blood.”

What Is Learned

Only the blood with which the life departs is called blood in the full legal sense; residual blood does not render food susceptible to impurity.