Julius: Qorbanot: Sacrifices and Offerings
Julius: Qorbanot: Sacrifices and Offerings By Julius Do Jews offer sacrifices today? No Jews today do not offer any kind of animal sacrifice or offerings, nor have Jews offered sacrifices since the second century C.E. When did Jews stop offering sacrifices, and why? 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. 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 stealin...