Q&A: Prayer for the Restoration of the Sacrificial Service
Prayer for the Restoration of the Sacrificial Service
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Like quite a few people, I find myself mumbling prayers without taking the time to understand what they mean. Recently I read and thought a bit about the sacrificial service, and I realized that I have no desire or aspiration for it to return. Is it possible, like the well-known midrash that says Jeremiah and Daniel changed the wording of the prayer established by Moses because they knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, is truthful and therefore did not speak falsely about Him, for me to make such a decree for myself? And from a somewhat different angle: according to Maimonides’ explanation in the Guide, the sacrifices are only post factum and not ideal from the outset. Maybe today we have reached a higher level at which we do not need sacrifices anymore, unlike the earlier generations, and therefore I am being false to myself when I pray for the sacrifices. In such a situation, is it possible to skip those sections in the prayer?
Answer
If you do not actually hope for it, then there really is no value in saying those words. But keep in mind that in the current situation you cannot assess what impact the Temple would have on our lives. It is certainly possible that when it is rebuilt and you experience these things yourself, you will discover that it makes a very great contribution to the religious and spiritual world—something you cannot judge from your current state, in which it is foreign and completely different from a reality with a Temple. I feel as you do, as of now. But at the same time, I keep telling myself over and over what I wrote here.
As for Maimonides’ reasons for the commandments in the Guide, that persuades me even less than the necessity of the Temple. I would not rely on that for anything.
Discussion on Answer
Not a verse and nothing of the sort. At most, the verse says that as a result of the sacrifices they will not sacrifice to the goat-demons. It does not say that this is the reason for the sacrifices.
It’s not only Maimonides—Rabbi Kook and a few others as well.
It’s an explicit verse that speaks about the sacrifices,
a full biblical verse:
“And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat-demons after whom they stray.”
That’s all there is to it.