Temple Sacrifices

[xkatz]

What will be the deal with sacrifices when there is a 3rd Temple? I don't believe in sacrificing living animals, but I think sacrificing plants or animals that died of natural causes would be fine.

 

[142857]

An animal which has died of its self is no good

 

[xkatz]

An animal which has died of its self is no good

Maybe not for human consumption under Halachic law, but why not for religious purposes?

 

[142857]

I think the idea would be to "sacrifice" somthing good.

Sacrifice: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

If a dead animal is no good for me....if I don't want it....it's no sacrifice....it's garbage.

God, the garbage man?

 

[Whoitbe]

The sacrifces in the temple are a troubling thing to understand, especially in modern day life where everyone is sympathetic towards animal life and the such. Granted, Judaism has very strict laws on animal treatment. But, sacrifice has always troubled me. I mean, animal sacrifice, no matter what, just comes off as a little barbaric.

I was raised to be affectionate of animals. I've been raised with tons. Had an emu and ridiculous ammounts of turtles and tortoises growing up. I love animals. But, at the same time I eat meat on a daily basis.*

One thing I've learned in my studies on Torah - each sacrifice corresponds to a different type of sin. Some his, the intrinsic nature of the animal being sacrificed carries a similar weight to the sin committed. I can't explain it as I'm not too familiar with the laws on sacrifice, but, I can find you some links which explain the holiness of animal sacrifice in jewish law. It is a somewhat hard thing to wrap your mind around - but so is everything else in life depending on how you look at it. Ask me for sources and I'll find you some very good ones if you're looking for real answers. I've got an entire library or book, no exagerations, at my dispense and am surrounded by plenty *of rabbis to reference to. It's not something that I've looked to heavy into. But, try reading rashis commentary on the chumash, particularly in the book of vayikra(Leviticus) or the rambans commentary - he usually gives some deep explanations into perplexing matters. Just for starters. But, if you really want a good explanation I'll find one for you.*Just ask, I've got an entire world of Torah at my hands to delve into. Oh the joys of studying on yeshiva it's a privelage and a blessing.

 

[Levite]

What will be the deal with sacrifices when there is a 3rd Temple? I don't believe in sacrificing living animals, but I think sacrificing plants or animals that died of natural causes would be fine.

Well, if animal sacrifice really was restored, one could not use an animal that died of natural causes. Nothing that is tamei (ritually impure) could be brought into the Temple precincts, because they were kept in a high state of taharah (ritual purity). Animals which have died from any cause except for shechitah (kosher ritual slaughter) are tamei, and would be forbidden in the Temple precincts.

However, we know that the Third Temple will not be built until moshiach comes. And when moshiach comes, he will have the authority to radically reinterpret, and will also know how to recreate the urim vetumim, the mysterious tools of sacred divination that the High Priest kept inside his ritual breastplate, and using which the High Priest and the king could inquire prophetically what God's will was in certain matters. So it is not out of the question to believe that perhaps the moshiach and the High Priest of his day will make use of those tools, and of that authority, and the rituals of the Third Temple would then be different than those of the first two.

Personally, I think that we have grown out of the need for animal sacrifice. I think God instructed us to do it in ancient times, because that was the universal practice, and our people would simply not have understood how to relate to God, how to expect His forgiveness for our sins, without that kind of blood ritual. They had a hard enough time just with the basic concept of monotheism. Giving up blood sacrifice would have just been too much for them.

But we have come a long way since then. I think most human beings understand that God does not require blood, either in prayer, or in praise, or in penitence; nor should animals need to die merely for our religious rituals. My guess is that there will be no more animal sacrifices. Not everything burned on the altar was animal: there were flour and oil offerings, bread offerings, even sometimes mixtures involving wine. Perhaps we will continue to offer those. But perhaps we will simply move away from that model of offering.

The offering of bringing first fruits seems like a good ritual to preserve. There was also a water-offering, poured out before the altar on Sukkot.

But most importantly, there was also the ketoret hasamim, the burnt incense.

I think that while blood may have been important to our ancestors, just as important was the column of smoke that arose from the altars, reaching high up into the heavens. It was said that in the days of the good kings, the Presence of God would manifest itself over the Temple in the form of a pillar of cloud that reached down from the heavens. The column of smoke from the altars reached upward, and thus in the symbol of smoke and cloud, Heaven and Earth touched, signifying for all the unique holiness of that place.

The same symbol, the same awesome sight, could be achieved only with an altar burning incense.

My personal opinion is that the animal sacrifices will simply drop away, and what will be retained is the burning of the incense.

 

[Zardoz]

I second the ketoret hasamim, that would be awesome.