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What Does the Bible Say About..Eating Meat and Cutting Hair?

Leviticus: 7.26-27 forbids people to eat rare meat.... “Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.” (Gen. 9.4 · Lev. 17.10-14 ; 19.26 · Deut. 12.16, 23 ; 15.23 Leviticus 19.26 27) “Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood.” (Gen. 9.4 · Lev. 7.26, 27 ; 17.10-14 · Deut. 12.16, 23 ; 15.23)

Leviticus 19.27 forbids Shaving and cutting your hair short. “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”

Do the first passages mean that we can never eat meat? And do the last passages mean that I cannot cut my hair short?

Answer

To give a proper answer to your questions I would have to know if you are Jewish. If you are not, then the parts of the Law of Moses from Leviticus and Deuteronomy do not apply to you. If you are Jewish then the following answer may apply, but I would recommend you checking with a proper rabbinic authority.

Clearly the first passages do not forbid eating meat, because the passage in Genesis 9:4 specifies that men are allowed to eat meat. However, Jews are required to ensure that as much of the blood as possible be drained out of the meat. Therefore, it would be advisable to buy it from a kosher butcher who can ensure the animal was properly slaughtered and drained. Even then you may have to salt the meat to drain out more blood.

Authorities among the Jews differ as to the degree that you can cut your hair. Some point out that the next verse (Leviticus 19:28) goes on, “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead.” They would say that the prohibition on cutting certain parts of your hair apply only to doing so after a relative dies. Others would say that it applies at all times, and a Jewish man must grow a beard and payot (the long hair at the temples that are worn by some Chassids). Still others rule that you must not use a razor, but that scissors (and hair clippers and electric razors that work on the scissors principle) may be used to cut your hair. Again, if you are Jewish you should check with your rabbi. If you are not Jewish, the Law of Moses doesn’t apply to you anyway.