Project Genesis




Understanding Animal Sacrifice

The Torah commands us to sacrifice animals. I know that we no longer do this, and am glad we don’t, however, is there any place in the Torah that has changed this covenant?

If I am understanding your question correctly, you are asking if we have changed the Torah from a covenant needing to use sacrifices to one that does not involve using animal sacrifices. The answer is that we no longer use animal sacrifices in our worship services because we no longer have a temple in Jerusalem to do it. It is still as obligatory today as it was in the days when we had our holy temple. The idea of sacrifices was that the animal is in place of you for your sins. The animal was usually used for its meat and parts, not just discarded. Today we pray three times a day to reflect the tradition of daily services in the temple. I hope that this gives yo a basic understanding of the concept of sacrifices.

Be Well,
Rabbi Litt

[Also see this post and the articles that are linked to for further elaboration]

No Follow-ups »

No published follow-up questions.

We respond to every follow-up question submitted, but only publish selected ones. In order to be considered for publication, questions must be on-topic, polite, and address ideas rather than personalities.

SUBMIT A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION


Powered by WordPress