Do people still do burnt offerings nowadays with animals? I hope not. I know we no longer obey laws of stoning rebellious children to death. I have heard about the chicken twirling on Yom Kippur, also no longer practiced among the reformed and conservative, and even the average orthodox wave money over the head – far kinder in practice.
Q1: “Do people still do burnt offerings nowadays with animals?”
No. Since the destruction the Second Temple, animal offerings have been prohibited. Nevertheless, it is the universal conclusion from all the classical legal literature that, upon the rebuilding of the Temple, offerings will again come into practice. I find it difficult to imagine why this should appear in the least improper to the modern eye. Promoting a moral and just society through the deeply symbolic and sophisticated reminders of animal offerings seems to have worked remarkably well. Compare that with some dubious moral standards of our own society (in which slavery and runaway materialism, as two examples, are endemic) and a the Second Temple era looks pretty good. Slavery? How else can you describe prostitution, abuse of immigrant workers and our enjoyment of the fruits of abusive child-labor in the Third World?
If you have keen interest, time and energy necessary, I would highly recommend reading the commentary to Pentateuch by Rabbi S.R. Hirsch (19th Century German philosopher) – and particularly his commentary to the first few chapters of Leviticus.
Q2: “I know we no longer obey laws of stoning rebellious children to death.“
Actually we never did. The Talmud teaches that the requirements for conviction were so complex and demanding that the law was, in effect, inapplicable. So why, then, did the Torah offer it in the first case? To that the Talmud suggests that it is the moral lessons to be learned from the study of the subject that we are to gain; not its application.
Q3: “I have heard about the chicken twirling on Yom Kippur, also no longer practiced among the reformed and conservative, and even the average orthodox wave money over the head – far kinder in practice. “
There are many Jews who still do it and, assuming that the transport and care for the chickens is humane and proper throughout, there really shouldn’t be any real discomfort to the birds. My understanding is (never having seen it myself) that the waving is not in the least vigorous.
With my best regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
Ottawa, Canada
I absolutely agree that compared with societies that justify enslavement we are top notch in our practices and beliefs, but I missed the connection about the deep symbolism of these burnt animal offerings somehow having an impact on that.
That is a very big topic and I’m afraid I was a bit brief in my response. This essay of mine from an on-line book on Jerusalem’s Temple might give my answer some flesh:
http://torah.org/learning/basics/primer/temple/why_sub.html#korbon
The book’s main page can be found here: http://torah.org/learning/basics/primer/temple/
The symbolic system of the Temple (and its profound affect on every aspect of a Jew’s moral sense) is best described by Rabbi Hirsch. But, again, it does take an awful lot of work to get it.
With my best regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton