The Tora (Jewish scriptures) mentions several types of sacrifices, each with its own goal:
* Ola, Minha - for uplifting one's soul and bringing it closer to God (Ola is animal sacrifice totally burnt on the altar; Minha is a vegetarian sacrifice made of wheat and oil).
* Shlamim - a sacrifice for making peace (an animal sacrifice - some of it burnt on the altar, some eaten by the priests, and the rest eaten by the sacrificer and his family and friends).
* Hatat - a sacrifice for atonement regarding a sin made by mistake.
* Asham - a sacrifice for atonement regarding a sin made by neglection / on purpose.
* Temporal sacrifices - for every day, Shabbat or holidays.
Jewish scholars differ about why it is important to bring sacrifices:
1. Some say that each sacrifice has a substantial psychological and spriritual influence over the person who sacrifices, and over the animal sacrificed. It is a way to spiritually connect the person and his animal and bring them closer to God.
2. Others say that actually God would prefer not to have sacrifices, but, in the times of Tora, all other nations had sacrifices to their deities, some even had human sacrifices. It was not possible to bring us away from these practices immediately, so God allowed us some limited form of animal sacrifice. According to these scholars, the best form of worship is the prayer, which is much more spiritual and brings us closer to God than animal sacrifice.
The Halaka (Jewish oral law) forbids having a sacrifice outside the Temple Mount. Since the Temple Mount was out of reach for Jews in the last 2000 years, there are no sacrifices anymore. Instead of sacrifices, there are daily prayers, which are timed according to the times when the daily sacrifices were made when the Temple was functioning.
Again, Jewish scholars differ about this issue:
1. Those that think that sacrifices are spiritually important, want to rebuild the Temple and renew the sacrifices. There are some groups that actually want to start having sacrifices without the Temple, specifically the Passover sacrifice.
2. Those that think that sacrifices were only permitted as a means to drive us away from idolatry, also want to build the Temple, but they prefer to see it as a home of prayer. According to this opinion, the current situation, where we have prayers instead of sacrifice, actually matches God's will more than sacrifices, as prayers are more spiritual than sacrifices.
* Ola, Minha - for uplifting one's soul and bringing it closer to God (Ola is animal sacrifice totally burnt on the altar; Minha is a vegetarian sacrifice made of wheat and oil).
* Shlamim - a sacrifice for making peace (an animal sacrifice - some of it burnt on the altar, some eaten by the priests, and the rest eaten by the sacrificer and his family and friends).
* Hatat - a sacrifice for atonement regarding a sin made by mistake.
* Asham - a sacrifice for atonement regarding a sin made by neglection / on purpose.
* Temporal sacrifices - for every day, Shabbat or holidays.
Jewish scholars differ about why it is important to bring sacrifices:
1. Some say that each sacrifice has a substantial psychological and spriritual influence over the person who sacrifices, and over the animal sacrificed. It is a way to spiritually connect the person and his animal and bring them closer to God.
2. Others say that actually God would prefer not to have sacrifices, but, in the times of Tora, all other nations had sacrifices to their deities, some even had human sacrifices. It was not possible to bring us away from these practices immediately, so God allowed us some limited form of animal sacrifice. According to these scholars, the best form of worship is the prayer, which is much more spiritual and brings us closer to God than animal sacrifice.
The Halaka (Jewish oral law) forbids having a sacrifice outside the Temple Mount. Since the Temple Mount was out of reach for Jews in the last 2000 years, there are no sacrifices anymore. Instead of sacrifices, there are daily prayers, which are timed according to the times when the daily sacrifices were made when the Temple was functioning.
Again, Jewish scholars differ about this issue:
1. Those that think that sacrifices are spiritually important, want to rebuild the Temple and renew the sacrifices. There are some groups that actually want to start having sacrifices without the Temple, specifically the Passover sacrifice.
2. Those that think that sacrifices were only permitted as a means to drive us away from idolatry, also want to build the Temple, but they prefer to see it as a home of prayer. According to this opinion, the current situation, where we have prayers instead of sacrifice, actually matches God's will more than sacrifices, as prayers are more spiritual than sacrifices.
