The Trait of Cruelty

 

by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto

"You shall not eat it, in order that it be well with you and your children after you" [Re'eh 12:25]

It is told that a non-Jewish researcher of the Tanach once approached Rabbi Yonatan Eibeshitz and asked him: Why specifically in this context, when talking about the transgression of eating blood, does the Torah add the blessing "in order that it be well with you and your children"? 

Rabbi Yonatan answered him: The Torah forbids eating blood since it clogs up the heart and implants the trait of cruelty in a person, and as we know the trait of cruelty is inherited by one's children through the parent's genes. 

This then is the implication of "You shall not it, in order that it will be well with you and your children after you". Do not eat blood so that both you and your children will possess a refined soul, and then automatically you will not have the tendency towards cruelty.