I was asked today by one of my students:
Q. I’m Vegetarian for Over ten years, and so I don’t understand about the meat that was eaten in the Holy Temple.
I answered her:
A. In brief, because this is really a very broad subject:
We have to eat because that is the way the Creator created the world. In order to remain alive we have to eat. Just that there are two ways eating, for my own self-gratification, or “Leshaim Shamayim” to do the Will of the Creator to preserve our bodies to do Mitzvot and good deeds, not focusing on my personal enjoyment.
The word for bread, lechem, is the same word as to fight, lochaim. Milchama, war. That is because whenever a person eats, there is a war, what’s going to happen, is he going to eat the bread, or is the bread going to eat him.
When we eat in the good way, it causes an elevation of the food. Before it was a vegetable. When I eat it, it becomes man.
Meat is a food-stuff which is permitted. Since the flood, G-d give mankind the right to slaughter animals and eat their meat. There are more restrictions of Jewish law regarding meat then for other food-stuffs. It has to be shechted properly, the blood has to be taken out of the meat.
All of the creation falls into one of three categories: Obligation (you have to do it), Permitted (you may do it but you don’t have to) and Forbidden (you may not do it).
Meat in general is permitted. You may eat meat, you also may refrain from eating meat. There is one night out of the year when the entire Jewish people are obligated to eat meat, and that is on the first night of Pesach (Passover), the Korban Pesach (the Pascal offering) when the Holy Temple is in existence, like it was and like it will be. We don’t have the Korban Pesach today since we don’t have the Bait Hamikdash.
In the Bait Hamikdash where the Divine service was being performed, part of the Divine service was to offer up designated sacrifices, including eating parts of them. This is what the Torah prescribes, and this is what was done, and what we will do hopefully very soon.
Hoping this helps,
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