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THE SHALOM SHOW
ZEV BRENNER
The Laws Of Sacrifice
Aim to Strengthen
DR. RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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S
tudents of comparative
religion know that the
origins of human wor-
ship involved animal
sacrifices.. Virtually all an-
cient religions involve this
immemorial institution.
The book of Leviticus
describes and defines the laws
of sacrifice for the individual,
for the congregation, and for
the priests.
Our sedrah identifies the
role of the priests and forms
something of a manual of
sacrifice addressed to them.
They are to be the officiants
in the sanctuary.
Special care must attend
the sacrificial offerings in
order that no impurity may
enter. The system ordained by
the Torah says that the
priests should partake of
sacred meals within the
precincts of the sanctuary.
Most sacrifices were meant to
be eaten, usually by priests
and on occasion even by the
donors. Most parts of the
sacrificial animals were
prepared as food. Only rela-
tively small parts of the vic-
tims were burnt on the altar.
Priests were not to be corn-
pensated for sacrifices per-
formed on their own behalf
but only for services rendered
to others.
The laws in Leviticus refer to
an overall purpose, namely to
maintain the holiness of the
Israelite people. Many of the
laws refer to a sense of taboo
that would preserve the cult
and its purity. _
To the rabbis, the institu-
tion of sacrifice was a mark of
the divine love of Israel. Its
purpose was to bring peace to
the world. The sacrificial cult
was not to them of preemi-
nent importance but rather
coordinated with the knowl-
edge of study of the Torah
with prayer and with the per-
formance of good deeds.
The five types of sacrifices
are the olah or burnt offer-
ings, the meal offerings, the
peace offering, the sin offering
and the guilt offering.
The existence of animal
sacrifice was a virtually
universal custom of ancient
times and an element of
man's nature. To spiritualize
this form of worship and
reaulate the sacrificial cult so
that it made for a life of
righteousness and holiness —
Richard Hertz is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Beth. El.
this was the task of ancient
Judaism in Leviticus. In
heathen Semitic religions
sacrificial worship was often
cruel, sometimes even requir-
ing human victims. Leviticus
banished everything cruel,
foul, or unholy from its
sacrificial cult.
We today do not always
realize the tremendous hold
that the sacrificial system
had upon the people of an-
cient Israel. Sacrifices were
symbols of man's gratitude to
God and his dependence upon
Him, of the absolute devotion
man owes to God as well as
man's confidence in God.
Maimonides held that the
sacrificial cult weaned the an-
cient Israelites away from the
debased religious rites of
their idolatrous Egyptian
neighbors. An old Midrash
says that in the Messianic era
Shabbat Tzav:
Leviticus 6:1-8:36
Malachi 3:4-24.
to come, all offerings and
sacrifices will cease except
the thanksgiving offerings
which will continue forever.
Maimonides taught a les- <
son from the experiences of
Israel, going not by a shorter
route to the Promised Land
but by .a long and circuitous
route to the land of the
Similarly,
Philistines.
through a long circuitous
road was Israel led gradually
and slowly to a deeper percep-
tion of religion and divine
worship. Sacrifices were a
part of that process, to
strengthen and refine, to
spiritualize and sanctify the
rites of Israel. ❑
B'nai Moshe
Pesach Event
There will be a Pesach Get-
Together for the members of
Congregation B'nai Moshe 8
p.m. April 8 at the home of
Betty and Allan Weiner.
Passover desserts will be
served. Please call the
synagogue, 788-0600, to make
reservations.
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