Qorbanot: Sacrifices and Offerings
Level: Advanced |
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For a long time I was reluctant to write a page on the subject of qorbanot,
because it is a subject with little practical application today. However,
I felt I had to address these issues, because it is one of the two subjects
I receive the most questions about. Interestingly, the questions I receive
on this subject are invariably from non-Jews. Most Jews don't seem to have
much interest in ancient practices no longer observed.
I will begin by answering the questions I am most commonly asked on these
subjects, and then proceed to a more comprehensive discussion of the subject
of qorbanot.
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Do Jews offer sacrifices today?
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No. To my knowledge, no Jews today offer any
kind of animal sacrifice or offerings, nor have Jews offered sacrifices since
the second century C.E. I have occasionally heard
rumors that there are Orthodox
rabbis in Israel
who practice the techniques of ritual sacrifice, so that the knowledge will
not be lost. I do not know if these stories are reliable, but even if they
are, this is not quite the same thing as offering a sacrifice.
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When did Jews stop offering sacrifices, and why?
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For the most part, the practice of sacrifice
stopped in the year 70 C.E., when the Roman army
destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, the place
where sacrifices were offered. The practice was briefly resumed during the
Jewish War of 132-135 C.E., but was ended permanently after that war was
lost. There were also a few communities that continued sacrifices for a while
after that time.
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We stopped offering sacrifices because we do
not have a proper place to offer them. The Torah
specifically commands us not to offer sacrifices wherever we feel like it;
we are only permitted to offer sacrifices in the place that
G-d has chosen for that purpose. Deut. 12:13-14.
It would be a sin to offer sacrifices in any other place, akin to stealing
candles and wine to observe Shabbat.
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The last place appointed by G-d for this purpose
was the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Temple has been destroyed and a mosque
has been erected in the place where it stood. Until G-d provides us with
another place, we cannot offer sacrifices. There was at one time an opinion
that in the absence of an assigned place, we could offer sacrifices anywhere.
Based on that opinion, certain communities made their own sacrificial places.
However, the majority ultimately ruled against this practice, and all sacrifice
ceased.
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Orthodox Jews
believe that when the messiah comes, a place
will be provided for sacrificial purposes.
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Do Jews want to resume sacrifices?
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Orthodox Jews
do. There are several places in our daily prayer
services where we pray for the restoration of the
Temple and the resumption of its rituals, including
the rituals of sacrifice.
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Did the kohanim (priests) or anybody else eat the animals offered?
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Yes! Most types of offerings could be eaten.
Certain types were eaten by the kohanim only,
or by a specific kohein. Other types were eaten by the person offering the
sacrifice and his family. The types of offerings and who was permitted to
eat them will be discussed further below.
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Isn't sacrifice cruelty to animals?
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Animal sacrifice is no more cruel than slaughtering animals for food. In
fact, the procedure for slaughtering livestock for sacrificial purposes is
the same as the procedure used for slaughtering animals for food, a procedure
that is designed to be as quick and painless as possible. See
Shechitah. Judaism is very concerned about
the proper treatment of animals, and would
never advocate a cruel procedure for animal sacrifice.
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How do Jews obtain forgiveness without sacrifices?
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Forgiveness is obtained through repentance,
prayer and good
deeds.
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In Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place
of sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of
bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates
this somewhat differently). While dedicating the Temple, King Solomon also
indicated that prayer can be used to obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50).
Our prayer services are in many ways designed
to parallel the sacrificial practices. For example, we have an extra service
on Shabbat, to parallel the extra Shabbat
offering. For more information about this, see
Jewish Liturgy. As we shall see,
the purposes for bringing sacrifice are very similar to the purposes for
prayer.
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It is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice
was never the exclusive means of obtaining forgiveness, was not in and of
itself sufficient to obtain forgiveness, and in certain circumstances was
not even effective to obtain forgiveness. This will be discussed further
below.
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But isn't a blood sacrifice required in order to obtain forgiveness?
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No. Although animal sacrifice is one means
of obtaining forgiveness, there are non-animal offerings as well, and there
are other means for obtaining forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices
at all. The Biblical book of Jonah tells of an entire community condemned
to destruction that was forgiven when they simply repented and fasted, without
ever offering any sacrifice, blood or otherwise. (Jonah 3)
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The passage that people ordinarily cite for
the notion that blood is required is Leviticus 17:11: "For the soul of the
flesh is in the blood and I have assigned it for you upon the altar to provide
atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that atones for the soul."
But the passage that this verse comes from is not about atonement; it is
about dietary laws, and the passage says only
that blood is used to obtain atonement; not that blood is the only means
for obtaining atonement. Leviticus 17:10-12 could be paraphrased as "Don't
eat blood, because blood is used in atonement rituals; therefore, don't eat
blood."
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Were sacrifices a symbol of the savior to come?
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Not according to Judaism. Jews don't believe
that people need supernatural salvation from sin (sincere repentance and
good deeds are sufficient to obtain forgiveness; see above), and don't believe
that sacrifice has anything to do with a savior or
messiah.
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Quite the contrary, some would say that the
original institution of sacrifice had more to do with the Judaism's past
than with its future. Rambam suggested that
the entire sacrificial cult in Judaism was ordained as an accommodation of
man's primitive desires.
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Sacrifice is an ancient and universal human
expression of religion. Sacrifice existed among the Hebrews long before the
giving of the Torah. Cain and Abel offered
sacrifices; Noah and his sons offered sacrifices, and so forth. When the
laws of sacrifice were given to the Children of Israel in the Torah, the
pre-existence of a system of sacrificial offering was understood, and sacrificial
terminology was used without any explanation. The Torah, rather than creating
the institution of sacrifice, carefully circumscribes and limits the practice,
permitting it only in certain places, at certain times, in certain manners,
by certain people, and for certain purposes. Rambam suggests that these
limitations are designed to wean a primitive people away from the debased
rites of their idolatrous neighbors.
In ancient times, a major component of Jewish ritual was the offering of
qorbanot. An entire order of the Talmud (Kodashim,
that is, Holy Things) is devoted to the subject.
The word "qorbanot" is usually translated as "sacrifices" or "offerings";
however, both of these terms suggest a loss of something or a giving up of
something, and although that is certainly a part of the ritual, that is not
at all the literal meaning of the Hebrew word. The word qorbanot comes from
the root Qof-Reish-Beit, which means "to draw
near," and indicates the primary purpose of offerings: to draw us near to
G-d.
Parts of the rituals involved in the offering of qorbanot were performed
exclusively by the kohanim (priests). These
rituals were only performed in the Temple in
Jerusalem. The procedures could not be performed by anyone else, and could
not be performed in any other place. Because the Temple no longer exists,
we can no longer offer qorbanot.
There are three basic concepts underlying qorbanot: giving, substitution
and coming closer.
The first the aspect of giving. A qorban requires the renunciation of something
that belongs to the person making the offering. Thus, sacrifices are made
from domestic animals, not wild animals (because wild animals do not belong
to anyone). Likewise, offerings of food are ordinarily in the form of flour
or meal, which requires substantial work to prepare.
Another important concept is the element of substitution. The idea is that
the thing being offered is a substitute for the person making the offering,
and the things that are done to the offering are things that should have
been done to the person offering. The offering is in some sense "punished"
in place of the offerer. It is interesting to note that whenever the subject
of qorbanot is addressed in the Torah, the
name of G-d used is the four-letter name indicating
G-d's mercy.
The third important concept is the idea coming closer. The essence of sacrifice
is to bring a person closer to G-d.
Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of qorbanot is not simply to obtain
forgiveness from sin. Although many qorbanot have the effect of expiating
sins, there are many other purposes for bringing qorbanot, and the expiatory
effect is often incidental, and is subject to significant limitations.
The purposes of qorbanot are much the same as the purposes of prayer: we
bring qorbanot to praise G-d, to become closer
to Him, to express thanks to G-d, love or gratitude. We bring qorbanot to
celebrate holidays and festivals. Others are used to cleanse a person of
ritual impurity (which does not necessarily have anything to do with sin).
And yes, many qorbanot, like many prayers, are brought for purposes of atonement.
The atoning aspect of qorbanot is carefully circumscribed. For the most part,
qorbanot only expiate unintentional sins, that is, sins committed because
a person forgot that this thing was a sin. No atonement is needed for violations
committed under duress or through lack of knowledge, and for the most part,
qorbanot cannot atone for a malicious, deliberate sin. In addition, qorbanot
have no expiating effect unless the person making the offering sincerely
repents his or her actions before making the offering, and makes restitution
to any person who was harmed by the violation.
There are many different types of qorbanot, and the laws related to them
are detailed and complicated. This section will merely introduce some of
the major types of qorbanot, their names and their characteristics. There
are many subtypes within these classifications, and some other types that
do not fit neatly into these categories.
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Perhaps the best-known class of offerings is the burnt offering. It was the
oldest and commonest sacrifice, and represented submission to
G-d's will. The Hebrew word for burnt offering
is olah, from the root Ayin-Lamed-Hei, meaning
ascension. It is the same root as the word aliyah, which is used to describe
moving to Israel or ascending to the podium
to say a blessing over the
Torah. An olah is completely burnt on the outer
altar; no part of it is eaten by anyone. Because the offering represents
complete submission to G-d's will, the entire offering is given to G-d (i.e.,
it cannot be used after it is burnt). It expresses a desire to commune with
G-d, and expiates sins incidentally in the process (because how can you commune
with G-d if you are tainted with sins?). An olah could be made from cattle,
sheep, goats, or even birds, depending on the offerer's means.
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A peace offering is an offering expressing thanks or gratitude to
G-d for His bounties and mercies. The Hebrew term
for this type of offering is zebach sh'lamim (or sometimes just sh'lamim),
which is related to the word shalom, meaning "peace" or "whole." A representative
portion of the offering is burnt on the altar, a portion is given to the
kohanim, and the rest is eaten by the offerer
and his family; thus, everyone gets a part of this offering. This category
of offerings includes thanksgiving-offerings (in Hebrew, Todah, which was
obligatory for survivors of life-threatening crises), free will-offerings,
and offerings made after fulfillment of a vow. Note that this class of offerings
has nothing to do with sin; in fact, the Talmud
states that in the age of the messiah (when
there is no more sin), this will be the only class of offering that is brought
to the Temple.
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A sin offering is an offering to atone for and purge a sin. It is an expression
of sorrow for the error and a desire to be reconciled with
G-d. The Hebrew term for this type of offering
is chatat, from the word chayt, meaning "missing the mark." A chatat could
only be offered for unintentional sins committed through carelessness, not
for intentional, malicious sins. The size of the offering varied according
to the nature of the sin and the financial means of the sinner. Some chatatot
are individual and some are communal. Communal offerings represent the
interdependence of the community, and the fact that we are all responsible
for each others' sins. A few special chatatot could not be eaten, but for
the most part, for the average person's personal sin, the chatat was eaten
by the kohanim.
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A guilt offering is an offering to atone for sins of stealing things from
the altar, for when you are not sure whether you have committed a sin or
what sin you have committed, or for breach of trust. The Hebrew word for
a guilt offering is asham. When there was doubt as to whether a person committed
a sin, the person would make an asham, rather than a
chatat, because bringing a chatat would constitute
admission of the sin, and the person would have to be punished for it. If
a person brought an asham and later discovered that he had in fact committed
the sin, he would have to bring a chatat at that time. An asham was eaten
by the kohanim.
A meal offering (minchah) represented the devotion of the fruits of man's
work to G-d, because it was not a natural product,
but something created through man's effort. A representative piece of the
offering was burnt on the fire of the altar, but the rest was eaten by the
kohanim.
There are also offerings of undiluted wine, referred to as nesekh.
Some time in 1997, a red heifer was born in
Israel. This birth received quite a bit of
press coverage, and I received many questions asking about the significance
of it.
The ritual of the red heifer (in Hebrew, parah adumah) is part of one of
the most mysterious rituals described in the
Torah. The purpose of this ritual is to purify
people from the defilement caused by contact with the dead. The ritual is
discussed in Numbers 19. If you find it difficult to understand, don't feel
bad; the sages themselves described it as beyond
human understanding. What is so interesting about this ritual is that it
purifies the impure, but it also renders the pure impure (i.e., everybody
who participates in the ritual becomes impure).
It is believed by many that this ritual will be performed by the
messiah when he comes, because we have all
suffered the defilement of contact with the dead. Thus, the existence of
a red heifer is a possible, but not definite, sign of the messiah. If the
messiah were coming, there would be a red heifer, but there could be a red
heifer without the messiah coming.
I have not heard any definitive word on whether the animal born in Israel
satisfies all the requirements of a parah adumah (e.g., that it be without
spot, without blemish, and that it has never been yoked).
© Copyright 5756-5767 (1995-2007), Tracey
R Rich
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