Meat From Heaven (San 59)

This post is Julia Rubin-Cadrain's idea:

In today's Daf we encounter a debate about whether Adam was a vegetarian. The crux of the argument is this: while we read explicitly in Genesis 1:29-30 that Adam was given every seed bearing plant to eat but was told to avoid animals for food (we would only be permitted to eat animals after the flood) we have a Baraita (an oral text outside of the Mishnah) that would seem to suggest otherwise. It reads:

R. Yehudah Ben Teima used to say: "Adam, the first man, would recline in the garden of Eden and the ministering angels would roast meat for him and strain wine for him."

So how do we reconcile these texts? The Rabbis come up with an interesting answer. They explain that the prohibition against eating animals was just that, a prohibition against eating animals. However, meat from heaven, given by the ministering angels was fine.

For us moderns, this text is a funny text. Meat is meat. We don't read that the angels roasted tofurky for Adam. And to assume that their meat could come from anywhere but a living creature is an act of faith (and the suspension of disbelief) that many of us are not ready for.

Nevertheless, we can look at this text as indicative of what actually happens in our day and age.  For God to order Adam to avoid meat when he would encounter it's source, the animals in Eden, is not hard to understand. Personally, I would have a hard time killing an animal myself and I know that I could not have ignored my fondness for it that may have sprouted while the animal was still alive. However, I don't encounter animals in my day to day life and because of this, I am fine eating meat from the store. For me, this is "meat from heaven." In my mind, I often forget that it comes from an animal; instead, it comes from the co-op or Whole Foods. And it doesn't help that the meat comes packaged in a way that removes any inclination of the source. Chicken comes in cubes, steak in strips, and fish in sticks.

Maybe then, this Talmudic discussion can act as a reminder to all of us to think about the source of our food. In this day and age, can we really count on the Angels to give us "meat from heaven?" If not, what is our relationship to the meat that we do eat? Whether we are vegans or frequent McDonalds, knowing where our food comes from will make us better consumers and more responsible eaters.