Sacrifice Fly (SF)
Definition
A sacrifice fly occurs when a batter hits a fly-ball out to the outfield or foul territory that allows a runner to score. The batter is given credit for an RBI. (If the ball is dropped for an error but it is determined that the runner would have scored with a catch, then the batter is still credited with a sacrifice fly.)
A sacrifice fly does not count as an at-bat and therefore does not count against a player's batting average. The thinking behind the rule is that with a man on third base and fewer than two outs, a batter will often intentionally try to hit a fly ball, sacrificing his time at bat to help score a run. However, sacrifice flies count against a player's on-base percentage.
Origin
The sacrifice fly was adopted as an official rule in 1954, at which point it was distinguished from the sacrifice bunt. Before 1954, Major League Baseball went back and forth as to whether a sacrifice fly should be counted statistically. In the years that it was counted (1908-31 and '39), it was grouped together with the sacrifice bunt as simply a "sacrifice."
Leaders
- Active Career Leader: Albert Pujols, 104 Sacrifice Flies
- All-Time Career Leader: Eddie Murray, 128 Sacrifice Flies
- Current Regular Season Leader: Adrian Beltre, 6 Sacrifice Flies
- All-Time Regular Season Leader: Gil Hodges, 19 Sacrifice Flies
Definition of sacrifice
1: an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar
2: something offered in sacrifice
3a : destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else
b : something given up or lost
- the sacrifices made by parents
4: loss
- goods sold at a sacrifice
"Sacrifice." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 7 June 2018.
-What images come to mind when we talk about the word 'sacrifice'?
-How might the Judaism of Temple times, with sacrifice (Temple, priests, pilgrimages...) have been different from our Judaism today?
-The ethics of taking the life of an animal for sacrifice is part of the discussion - but let's focus more, at this point, on the idea of sacrifice rather than on its specific expression - after all, not all sacrifices were animal.
-What types of sacrifices do we make?
Sacrifice vs. Korban (K/R/V) - To come closer
Everett Fox The Five Books of Moses (Shocken, 1995)
1. ...Leviticus as the Book of Separations, the book in which are set forth distinctions between a whole range of aspects of ancient Israelite experience and practice: holy and profane, ritual purity and pollution...The near obsession with drawing lines...may in some sense reflect the position of Israel in the ancient Near East as a small, beleaguered newcomer in a region of hoary empires, situated on land that was constantly invaded...
2. theme of...polarity of order/disorder...problem of life and death...As many scholars have noted, regulations regarding sacrifice here connect up with symbolically offering up human life - through the substitution of an animal--to the deity...
3. Leviticus..presents a whole system of rules designed, first, to provide for purification and reconciliation with God through the sacrificial cult; second, to protect sanctuary, priests, land, and people from estrangement from God...and, finally, to establish a code of behavior that will ensure the perpetual enjoyment of god's blessings on the land promised to Irael's ancestors.
(Genesis = threats to fulfill God's promises to Abraham, (Exodus = Responding to the threat of ongoing slavery), Numbers = threats to his descendants' survival in the wilderness -- So Leviticus relates to "threats to Israel's life with God.)
4. Motives for Sacrifice: (1) Walter Burkert - dealing with guilt over the taking of life - Switch from gathering to hunting society, made possibly by technology...brought with it the acute sense of having violated something essential in the cosmic order....life is given back for life taken, so that is may ultimately be renewed...despite the...rise of agriculture...the hunting ritual played out in sacrifice could not be done away with...and the rationale...was...transformed (2) De Vaux - gift to the deity, expectation of 'reciprocity'
(3) communion - 'humans and gods share a great repast, thereby cementing kinship' (19th century scholars, Robertson Smith)
(4) atonement or expiation - purge sin
5. Some would even maintain that in societies where the practice and rationale for sacrifice has broken down, there is inevitably an increase in intrahuman violence (Girard).
(ח) רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר מָשָׁל לְבֶן מֶלֶךְ שֶׁגַּס לִבּוֹ עָלָיו וְהָיָה לָמֵד לֶאֱכֹל בְּשַׂר נְבֵלוֹת וּטְרֵפוֹת, אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ זֶה יִהְיֶה תָּדִיר עַל שֻׁלְחָנִי וּמֵעַצְמוֹ הוּא נָדוּר [גדור], כָּךְ לְפִי שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהוּטִים אַחַר עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים בְּמִצְרַיִם וְהָיוּ מְבִיאִים קָרְבָּנֵיהֶם לַשְּׂעִירִים, דִּכְתִיב (ויקרא יז, ז): וְלֹא יִזְבְּחוּ עוֹד אֶת זִבְחֵיהֶם לַשְּׂעִירִים, וְאֵין שְׂעִירִים אֵלּוּ אֶלָּא שֵׁדִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לב, יז): וַיִּזְבְּחוּ לַשֵּׁדִים, וְאֵין שֵׁדִים אֵלּוּ אֶלָּא שְׂעִירִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה יג, כא): וּשְׂעִירִים יְרַקְּדוּ שָׁם, וְהָיוּ מַקְרִיבִין קָרְבָּנֵיהֶם בְּאִסּוּר בָּמָּה וּפֻרְעָנֻיּוֹת בָּאוֹת עֲלֵיהֶם, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִהְיוּ מַקְרִיבִין לְפָנַי בְּכָל עֵת קָרְבְּנוֹתֵיהֶן בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, וְהֵן נִפְרָשִׁים מֵעֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים וְהֵם נִיצוֹלִים, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: אִישׁ אִישׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וגו'.
(8) Rabbi Pinhas in the name of Rabbi Levi stated: This is comparable to a king’s son who strayed and was accustomed to eat non-kosher meat. The king declared, “let him always eat at my table and on his own he will eventually become disciplined.” Similarly, because Israel was attached to idolatry in Egypt and would bring their sacrifices to the goat-demons, as it is written (Leviticus 17:7) "No longer shall you sacrifice to goat-demons, which refer to the shedim they sacrificed to (Deuternomy 32:17) "and they sacrificed to shedim", and those shedim refer to the goat-demons, as it says, (Isaiah 13:21) "and the goat [demons] shall prance there." And they would offer sacrifices on high places and retribution would befall them, the Holy One blessed be He said “let them offer sacrifices before Me at all times in the Tent of Meeting and they will be separated from idolatry and be saved.” This is the meaning of what is written (Leviticus 17:3-7): “Any man of the House of Israel who slaughters an ox or sheep or goat... and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting as a sacrifice to God.... that man will be cut off from among his people… so that they no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons that they are wont to stray after."
(ג) בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה שֶׁאֵין בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּם וְאֵין לָנוּ מִזְבַּח כַּפָּרָה אֵין שָׁם אֶלָּא תְּשׁוּבָה. הַתְּשׁוּבָה מְכַפֶּרֶת עַל כָּל הָעֲבֵרוֹת. אֲפִלּוּ רָשָׁע כָּל יָמָיו וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה אֵין מַזְכִּירִין לוֹ שׁוּם דָּבָר מֵרִשְׁעוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יחזקאל לג יב) "רִשְׁעַת הָרָשָׁע לֹא יִכָּשֶׁל בָּהּ בְּיוֹם שׁוּבוֹ מֵרִשְׁעוֹ". וְעַצְמוֹ שֶׁל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר לַשָּׁבִים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא טז ל) "כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם":
(ד) אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה מְכַפֶּרֶת עַל הַכּל וְעַצְמוֹ שֶׁל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. יֵשׁ עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁהֵן מִתְכַּפְּרִים לִשְׁעָתָן וְיֵשׁ עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁאֵין מִתְכַּפְּרִים אֶלָּא לְאַחַר זְמַן. כֵּיצַד. עָבַר אָדָם עַל מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ כָּרֵת וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה אֵינוֹ זָז מִשָּׁם עַד שֶׁמּוֹחֲלִין לוֹ, וּבְאֵלּוּ נֶאֱמַר (ירמיה ג כב) "שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים אֶרְפָּה מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶם" וְגוֹ'. עָבַר עַל מִצְוַת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ כָּרֵת וְלֹא מִיתַת בֵּית דִּין וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה, תְּשׁוּבָה תּוֹלָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, וּבְאֵלּוּ נֶאֱמַר (ויקרא טז ל) "כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם". עָבַר עַל כְּרֵתוֹת וּמִיתוֹת בֵּית דִּין וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה, תְּשׁוּבָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים תּוֹלִין וְיִסּוּרִין הַבָּאִין עָלָיו גּוֹמְרִין לוֹ הַכַּפָּרָה. וּלְעוֹלָם אֵין מִתְכַּפֵּר לוֹ כַּפָּרָה גְּמוּרָה עַד שֶׁיָּבוֹאוּ עָלָיו יִסּוּרִין, וּבְאֵלּוּ נֶאֱמַר (תהילים פט לג) "וּפָקַדְתִּי בְשֵׁבֶט פִּשְׁעָם וּבִנְגָעִים עֲוֹנָם". בַּמֶּה דְּבָרִים אֲמוּרִים בְּשֶׁלֹּא חִלֵּל אֶת הַשֵּׁם בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעָבַר אֲבָל הַמְחַלֵּל אֶת הַשֵּׁם אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה וְהִגִּיעַ יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים וְהוּא עוֹמֵד בִּתְשׁוּבָתוֹ וּבָאוּ עָלָיו יִסּוּרִין אֵינוֹ מִתְכַּפֵּר לוֹ כַּפָּרָה גְּמוּרָה עַד שֶׁיָּמוּת. אֶלָּא תְּשׁוּבָה יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים וְיִסּוּרִין שְׁלָשְׁתָּן תּוֹלִין וּמִיתָה מְכַפֶּרֶת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה כב יד) "וְנִגְלָה בְאָזְנָי ה' צְבָאוֹת" וְגוֹ' (ישעיה כב יד) "אִם יְכֻפַּר הֶעָוֹן הַזֶּה לָכֶם עַד תְּמֻתוּן":
(3) At this time, when the Temple is not established and, therefore, no altar to atone for us, there is nothing else left for us but repentance. Repentance atones for all sins. Even one who was an evildoer all his life but repented in the end, not a thing of the wickedness is held out against him, even as it is said: "As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness" (Ez. 33.12). Even the Day of Atonement itself atones only for those who did repent, even as it is said: "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you" (Lev. 16.30).3Kiddushin, 40b; Keritot, 6b; Yoma, 85b. C. G.
(4) Even on the presumption that repentance atones for all sins, and the Day of Atonement as such, too, atones, there are yet certain sins which are wiped off at the time, and certain other sins which are are not wiped off but after a lapse of time. For example? If a man violated a mandatory commandment which does not carry the guilt of excision and did repent, he moves not from the place of prayer before he is forgiven. Of such it is said: "Return, ye backsliding children and I will heal your back-slidings" (Jer. 3.22). If he violated a prohibitive commandment which carries neither excision nor death by a tribunal, and did repent, the repentance suspends punishment, whereafter the Day of Atonement wipes out the sin. Of such it is said: "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you" (Lev. 16. 30). If he sinned in matters which carry excisions and deaths by a tribunal and did repent, repentance and the Day of Atonement suspend punishment, and the pain which he suffers thereafter complete the atonement for him. Forsooth, no complete atonement ever comes to the penitent before he has a visitation of suffering. Of such it is said: "Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes'" (Ps. 89.32). That saying is concerning a sinner who did not blaspheme the Name in connnection with his transgression, but whosoever blasphemes the Name even he did repent, and the Day of Atonement did come and he still be a penitent, and sufferings did visit him, no complete atonement is granted to him till his death, for, repentance, the Day of Atonement and sufferings suspend punishment, and only death atones for him, even as it is said: "And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts. Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die" (Is. 22.14)4Yoma, 87a. C. G.
EJ "Sacrifice"
It has thus been assumed by many scholars that the prophets condemned all sacrificial rituals. De Vaux has shown the absurdity of such a conclusion since Isaiah 1:15 also condemns prayer. No one holds that the prophets rejected prayer; it was prayer offered without the proper moral commitment that was being denounced; the same holds true for the oracles against formal rituals. Similar allusions in the Psalms, which might be taken as a complete rejection of sacrifice (e.g., 40:7–8; 50:8–15), actually express the same concern for inner attitude as the prophets. The wisdom literature sometimes reflects the same concern for moral and ethical values over empty sacerdotal acts (Prov. 15:8; 21:3, 27).
R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, Pentateuch Commentary, The Judaica Press, Inc., 1997 p. 372
"Not killing but revival, rebirth, moral and spiritual resurrection, an entry and eternal re-entry into an ever loftier, purer life, a regaining of strength to live such a life, a strength to be drawn from the never-failing source of love eternal--that is the concept on which the offerings in Judaism are based. That which dies upon the altar is only that which is moribund also in human life. That which is consumed upon the altar is only that which is transitory as long as it is far from God but which, once it is brought near to God, meets with His approval and so comes into its rightful portion of eternal life."