Eating Meat and מותר האדם מן הבהמה

(28) God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”(29) God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.

(3) Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these.(4) You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it.

(1) ה׳ spoke to Moses, saying:(2) Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelite people and say to them: This is what ה׳ has commanded:(3) if anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or sheep or goat in the camp, or does so outside the camp,(4) and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to ה׳, before ה׳’s Tabernacle, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that party: having shed blood, that person shall be cut off from among this people.(5) This is in order that the Israelites may bring the sacrifices which they have been making in the open—that they may bring them before ה׳, to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to ה׳;(6) that the priest may dash the blood against the altar of ה׳ at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to ה׳;(7) and that they may offer their sacrifices no more to the goat-demons after whom they stray. This shall be to them a law for all time, throughout the ages.(8) Say to them further: If anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who reside among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice,(9) and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to ה׳, that person shall be cut off from this people.

(20) When ה׳ enlarges your territory, as promised, and you say, “I shall eat some meat,” for you have the urge to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you wish.(21) If the place where ה׳ has chosen to establish the divine name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that ה׳ gives you, as I have instructed you; and you may eat to your heart’s content in your settlements.(22) Eat it, however, as the gazelle and the deer are eaten: the impure may eat it together with the pure.

The Sages taught: A person should always be willing to sell all he has in order to marry the daughter of a Torah scholar. If he cannot find the daughter of a Torah scholar, he should marry the daughter of one of the great people of the generation, who are pious although they are not Torah scholars. If he cannot find the daughter of one of the great people of the generation, he should marry the daughter of one of the heads of the congregations. If he cannot find the daughter of one of the heads of the congregations, he should marry the daughter of one of the charity collectors. If he cannot find the daughter of one of the charity collectors, he should marry the daughter of one of the schoolteachers. However, he should not marry the daughter of an ignoramus [am ha’aretz] because they are vermin and their wives are similar to a creeping animal, as their lifestyle involves the violation of numerous prohibitions. And with regard to their daughters the verse states: “Cursed is he who lies with an animal” (Deuteronomy 27:21), as they are similar to animals in that they lack any knowledge or moral sense.
The Gemara continues its discussion with regard to an ignoramus. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: It is prohibited for an ignoramus to eat meat, as it is stated: “This is the law [torah] of the beast and of the fowl” (Leviticus 11:46). He expounds: Anyone who engages in Torah study is permitted to eat the meat of animals and fowl, and anyone who does not engage in Torah study is prohibited to eat the meat of animals or fowl.

Lord of all the worlds! Not on account of our righteousness do we offer our supplications before You, but on account of Your abundant mercy. What are we? What is our life? What are our acts of kindness? What is our righteousness? What is our deliverance? What is our strength? What is our might? What can we say before You, Adonoy, our God and God of our fathers? Are not all the mighty men as nothing before You? Famous men as though they had never been? The wise as if they were without knowledge? And men of understanding, as if they were devoid of intelligence? For most of their actions are a waste, and the days of their life are trivial in Your presence. The superiority of man over the beast is nil, for all is futile. However, we are Your people, children of Your covenant, children of Avraham, Your beloved, to whom You swore on Mount Moriah; the seed of Yitzchak, his only son, who was bound on top of the altar; the community of Yaakov, Your firstborn, [whom]—because of Your love for him and Your joyous delight in him— You named him Yisrael and Yeshurun.

Nevertheless, Abel held that man has superiority over the animals and controls them, and is allowed to kill them for God—an opinion which is likely to lead to a recognition of the general superiority of man over the animals. Also he recognized the greatness of the Lord and brought of the first-born of his flock and of their fat ones. Hence God had respect unto Abel and his offering, because it was nearer the truth than the opinion of Cain, but He did not have respect unto Cain and his offering, because he was very far from the truth, since he thought man had no superiority over the animals and failed to appreciate the greatness of God in that he brought of the fruit of the ground instead of the fruit of the tree, as we said before. Therefore God said to him, “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up?” The meaning is, You are right, man is born a wild ass, and has no superiority over the animal in actuality when he comes into the world, but he has superiority potentially if he practises goodness and realizes his potentialities and recognizes the greatness of the Lord. If he does well, he will be lifted up above the animals. This is the meaning of the expression, “If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up?” For this reason envy took hold of Cain and he killed Abel. For he still held the opinion that man is not superior to the animal. Therefore he said to himself, Since God favors Abel and his present, it is clear that it is permitted to kill animals, and hence it is just as lawful to kill Abel as any other animal. On the other hand, since Abel’s opinion was not altogether correct, he was not protected by God from violence.

(10) A Torah Sage manages his financial affairs judiciously. He eats, drinks, and provides for his household in accordance with his funds and [degree of] success without overtaxing himself.
The Sages have directed [us] regarding the ways of the world: A person should eat meat only with appetite as [Deuteronomy 12:20] states: "If your soul should crave to eat meat..." It is sufficient for the healthy to eat meat [once weekly,] from Sabbath eve to Sabbath eve. If he is wealthy enough to eat meat every day, he may.
The Sages have [also] directed us, saying: One should always eat less than befits his income, dress as befits [his income], and provide for his wife and children beyond what befits [his income].

It is taught in a baraita: They said about Shammai the Elder that all his days he would eat in honor of Shabbat. How so? If he found a choice animal, he would say: This is for Shabbat. If he subsequently found another one choicer than it, he would set aside the second for Shabbat and eat the first. He would eat the first to leave the better-quality animal for Shabbat, which continually rendered his eating an act of honoring Shabbat.

However, Hillel the Elder had a different trait, that all his actions, including those on a weekday, were for the sake of Heaven, as it is stated: “Blessed be the Lord, day by day; He bears our burden, our God who is our salvation; Selah” (Psalms 68:20), meaning that God gives a blessing for each and every day. That is also taught in a baraita in more general terms: Beit Shammai say: From the first day of the week, Sunday, start preparing already for your Shabbat. And Beit Hillel say: “Blessed be the Lord, day by day.”