Parshas Kedoshim

“You must not eat with blood!” (Vayikra 19:26)

It is a negative commandment that one may not indulge in excessive eating and drinking in one’s youth, with the conditions delineated in the laws of the rebellious son (ben sorrer umoreh), according to the explanations of Chazal. The prohibition for this comes from the verse “You must not eat with blood!”, which means to say that one may not indulge in the type of eating which leads to shedding of blood, which is the eating of a glutton and a drunkard, for one is liable for capital punishment for that evil eating.

Chazal also taught us many other prohibitions from the aforementioned verse: 1) It is forbidden to eat the flesh of an animal even after Shechita until the animal’s soul has departed. 2) It is forbidden to eat meat from a sacrifice until the blood has been sprinkled on the altar. 3) The relatives of a man who has been executed by Beis Din do not partake of the traditional mourners’ meal. 4) A Sanhedrin who are condemning someone to death must not eat for the whole of that day. 5) One may not eat before praying in the morning.

Amongst the roots of the commandment are that most of the sins of man are committed because of excesses of eating and drinking, as the verse states “And Yeshurun grew fat and kicked (rebelled)!”. The explanation for this is that food is the sustenance of the physical body, and profound reflection about spiritual matters and the fear of Hashem and his precious commandments is the sustenance of the soul, and the body and soul are opposites. It follows that when the sustenance of the body is greater, the sustenance of the soul will be weakened slightly, and it is for this reason that Chazal made sure not to enjoy food any more than absolutely necessary to keep themselves alive, as it says in Mishlei “A righteous man eats to satisfy his soul!”. It is for this reason that the Torah held us back (for our own good) from excessive eating and drinking, so that the body cannot become so strong that it will weaken the soul and destroy it altogether. This prohibition of the Torah in the chapter regarding the rebellious son applies at the beginning of the strength of the heat of his youth, and at the start of his obligation to look after his own health. This is during the first three months after he reaches adulthood and is obligated to keep the Torah and its laws, and from that time he should learn how to behave his whole life, for since the facts are that food and the requirement thereof is a constant factor in life without which it would be impossible to live, the Torah did not obligate us to keep them at all times. Instead, it teaches us this lesson at one time, in order to help us at all times.

Amongst the laws of this commandment are that he is not condemned unless he steals from his father, and buys cheap wine and meat, eats them outside his father’s property with a group of people who are all empty, low people, eat it when it is half-raw in the same way that a thief eats, with the wine half-diluted like the gluttons do, and he eats meat which weighs fifty dinar all at once, and drinks half a log of wine all at once.

This commandment applies only in a Court of Law with twenty-three judges, and only to males not females, who do not get as involved in eating and drinking like the men.