Understanding Sacrifice

One of the most difficult elements of the Torah and the way of life it prescribes is the phenomenon of animal sacrifices and for obvious reasons.

First Jews and Judaism have survived without them for almost 2,000 years.

Secondly, virtually all the prophets were critical of them.

Not least Jeremiah in this week's

half-terror. None of the prophets sought to abolish sacrifices, but they were severely critical

of those who offered them while at the same time oppressing or exploiting their fellow human

beings. What disturbed them, what disturbed God in whose name they spoke, was that evidently some people

thought of sacrifices as a kind of bribe. If we make a generous enough gift to God, then he may

overlook our crimes and misdemeanors. This is an idea radically incompatible with Judaism.

Then again, along with monarchy sacrifices were among the

least distinctive features of Judaism in ancient times. Every ancient religion in those days,

every cult and sect had its altars and sacrifices. Finally, it remains remarkable how

simply and smoothly the sages were able to construct

substitutes for sacrifice, three in particular, prayer, study and siddaka. Prayer, particularly

Shachrit, Minha and Musaf, took the place of the regular offerings. One who studies the laws of sacrifices is as if he had brought a sacrifice, and one who

gives to Sadaka to charity brings, as it were, a financial sacrifice, acknowledging that

all we have we owe to God.

So that we pray daily for the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of sacrifices,

the principle of sacrifice itself remains hard to understand.

Many theories have been advanced by anthropologists, psychologists and Bible studies as to

what the sacrifices represented, but most are based on questionable assumptions that sacrifice is essentially

...