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Sacrifice is the practice of offering food, or the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. The term is also used metaphorically to describe selfless good deeds for others.1 Theologies of sacrifice
The theology of sacrifice remains an issue, not only for religions that continue to practice rituals of sacrifice, but also for those religions that have animal sacrifice in their scriptures, traditions, or histories, even if sacrifice is no longer made. Religions offer a number of reasons for why sacrifices are offered.
- Gods need sacrifice to sustain themselves and their power, without which they are diminished.
- Sacrificed goods are used to make a bargain with the god, who has promised some favour in return for the sacrifice.
- The lives or blood of sacrificial victims contains mana or some other supernatural power whose offering pleases the god.
- The sacrificial victim is offered as a scapegoat, a target for the wrath of a god, which otherwise would be visited on the followers.
- Sacrifice deprives the followers of food and other useful commodities, and as such constitutes an ascetic discipline.
- Sacrificed goods actually become part of a religious organisation's revenue; it is a part of the economic base of support that compensates priests and supports temples.
- The sacrifice is actually a part of a festival and is ultimately consumed by the followers themselves.
- In the Hebrew Bible, God issues a number of commandments for Israelites to offer animal sacrifices in the portable sanctuary, known as the TabernacleTabernacles redirects here. For the Feast of Tabernacles, see Sukkot. The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew as the Mishkan ("Place of [Divine] dwelling"). It was to be a portable central place of worship for the Children of Israel from the time they left anci. Once the Israelites were settled in the land of Canaan, all sacrifices were ordered to be ended except those offered in the Temple in JerusalemThe Jerusalem Temple ( Hebrew: beit ha-mikdash was the center of Israelite and Jewish worship, primarily for the offering of sacrifices known as the korbanot''. It was located on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. According to the Bible, the First Temple was built. In the Bible God asks for sacrifices as a sign of a covenant between himself and the Israelite people.
2 Sacrifice in Judaism
- See related article on KorbanKorban (plural: Korbanot in Judaism, is commonly called a religious sacrifice or an "offering" in English, but is known as a Korban in Hebrew because its Hebrew root K [a] R [o] V (or K [o] R [a] V means to "[come] Close (or Draw Near) [to God]", which th.
In JudaismJudaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people and the first recorded monotheistic faith. The tenets and history of Judaism constitute the historical foundation of many other religions, including Christianity and Islam. Star of David, a common s, a sacrifice is known as a KorbanKorban (plural: Korbanot in Judaism, is commonly called a religious sacrifice or an "offering" in English, but is known as a Korban in Hebrew because its Hebrew root K [a] R [o] V (or K [o] R [a] V means to "[come] Close (or Draw Near) [to God]", which th from the HebrewThe Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. What makes it unique is that the original Bible, the Torah, by Orthodox Jews held to be recorded in the time of Moses 3,300 years ago, was written in Biblical Classical root karov meaning to "[come] Close [to God]". Medieval Jewish rationalists like MaimonidesRabbi Moshe ben Maimon ( 1135 1204), , known commonly by his Greek name Maimonides was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. Many Jewish works refer to him by the acronym of his title and name, RaMBaM (" in Hebrew). As such, he is occasionally refer reinterpreted the need for sacrifice. In this view, God always held sacrifice inferior to prayer and philosophical meditation. However, God understood that the Israelites were used to the animal sacrifices that the surrounding pagan tribes used as the primary way to commune with their gods. As such, in Maimonides' view, it was only natural that Israelites would believe that sacrifice were be a necessary part of the relationship between God and man. Maimonides concludes that God's decision to allow sacrifices was a concession to human psychological limitations. It would have been too much to have expected the Israelites to leap from pagan worship to prayer and meditation in one step. In the Guide to the Perplexed he writes:
- "But the custom which was in those days general among men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted in sacrificing animals... It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God...that God did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service. For to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present [the 12th Century ] if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to God nor fast, nor seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action." (Book III, Chapter 32. Translated by M. Friedlander, 1904, The Guide for the Perplexed, Dover Publications, 1956 edition.)
The teachings of the TorahTorah [] is a Hebrew word meaning teaching instruction or especially Law''. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh, i. the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. These books are Genesis Bereishit []), Exodus Shemot []), Leviticus Vayikra [] and Tanakh reveal Judaism's abhorrence of human sacrifices.
