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Does Torah permit eating fish with blood still in it?

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Rabbi David Sperling

Iyyar 9, 5783
Question
You said, “ There is no prohibition against eating the blood of fish and therefore there is no need to salt and “kasher” fish before eating them.” But where in the Bible does it make such exception for fish blood?
Answer
Shalom, Thank you for your question. The law relating to blood of animals is found in Vayikra (Leviticus), chapter 7, verse 26 “You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings.” The Hebrew word used in the Torah, which is translated as “animal” is “behamah”. This word always refers to land animals, such as cattle, sheep etc. The Hebrew for fish, “dag”, is used when referring to fish of the sea. (See, for example, the first chapter of Berashit (Genesis) where the “behamot” are created on the 6th day, as opposed to the fish, which are created on the 5th day.) So, the Torah commands us to treat the blood of birds and land animals (sheep and cattle etc), differently from that of fish – as we wrote previously. I hope this is of some help, Blessings.
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