The Ritual of Sacrifice in Judaism

The ritual of sacrifice is among the oldest rituals of all religions, including primitive and developed ones. By offering gift and sacrifice to God or gods, man has always tried to please them and prevent their anger. The Holy Quran regards the divine command as the origin of sacrifice in religions: "And for every nation have we appointed a ritual, that they may mention the name of Allah over the beast of cattle that he hath given them for food". These rituals have changed a lot in different periods for different reasons. The rituals of sacrifice have some similarities such as praying to God while offering the sacrifice; they also have differences such as the status of sacrifice in the Divine Law, and the way in which it is performed. Judaism is one of the living religions, which is similar to Islam. The ritual of sacrifice has also changed in Judaism. Since the ritual of sacrifice depended entirely on the Jewish holy temple, destruction of the temple put an end to this ritual. In later periods, the Jews developed alternatives to the ritual of sacrifice. In this article, I set to work to consider different aspects of the ritual of sacrifice in Judaism, such as its origin and background, its status, types of sacrifice, developments of the ritual of sacrifice, etc.