Sacrifice as a Source/Inspiration/Guide for Contemporary Prayer

Rabbi Sam Blustin, Prayer Commentary on Vayikra:

There are five different types of offerings presented in our parasha. Three types of offerings are "gift offerings": the (1) burnt offering (olah), (2) grain offering (minchah), and (3) sacrifice of well-being (zevah hashleimim). And there are two types of "expiatory offerings": the (4) purification offering (chatat) and the (5) reparation offering (asham). The gift offerings are an expression of a worshiper's love and reverence for the Divine, voluntary sacrifices made at will. The expiatory offerings are responses to specific violations and wrongdoings, and they are obligatory for the one who transgressed. These sacrifices atone (kipper) for the wrongdoing, literally wiping away the sin which has metaphysically defiled the Temple and those objects within. If this defilement is allowed to "collect", it could threaten the community's collective physical existence.

1. With a burnt offering, the entire offering is burnt such that none of the offering can be eaten. This makes the ultimate gift offering, since the bringer gets no tangible benefit from the sacrifice. The root of the Hebrew olah means to rise, and this was the distinguishing feature of this sacrifice as the smoke rose heavenwards. Examples of this offering in the Tanach include Noah's sacrifices of thanksgiving after the Flood, Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, and Saul's sacrifices before battle.
   

2. A grain offering consists of nothing more than flour, oil, and frankincense and is most likely brought by a very poor person. Because they extend themselves to bring an offering despite their poverty, it is as if they had given their own soul. In addition, the word mincha means tribute paid to a superior or ruler, and it expresses the basic notion that the Israelites are supposed to offer regular tokens to God symbolizing God's sovereignty over them. Examples of this sacrifice included Cain and Abel's offerings and the offerings at the Shiloh sanctuary.
   

3. Well-being offerings are brought voluntarily by a person or a group of people who are moved to express their love of God and their gratitude of God's goodness, and to enhance their closeness to the Divine. This sacrifice was a communal experience. God, the priest, and the offerer, along with invited guests, would partake in different parts of the animal, with the offerer hosting a festive meal "in the Lord's presence". Ownership of the animal is first transferred to God, after which the portions eaten by the priest and the worshiper are considered to have been given to them by God - "much as a king is sustained by the tribute provided by his subjects, yet the subjects are nevertheless honored to be invited to dine at the royal table" (Jewish Study Bible, p. 200).
   

4. For a deed that has been committed inadvertently, a purification offering (chatat) must be made. The more severe the contamination, the more deeply it penetrates the sacred sphere. The type of animal used varies in accordance with the social status of the individual. Here, inadvertent acts are just as harmful as deliberate ones, and the need to atone for them just as real. As Rambam points out, such deeds blemish the soul; for if the sinner had regarded them with the proper gravity, the violations would not have occurred.
   

5. The reparation offering (asham) is offered when trespass against the sacred sphere, deliberate or unintentional, has taken place. These transgressions include misuse of sacred objects and of the sacred domain, as well as instances of false oath in property offenses, because the name of God is used in vain. This is the only sacrifice which can be substituted for a monetary amount. An animal need not be sacrificed.
   

Any time we come to daven, we might have one or more of these types of sacrifices in mind that we want to dedicate our prayers to. With a burnt offering, we might be offering our time or skills as a gift to say thanks, where we don't expect something in return. Even being there shows a dedication of time which could have been spent elsewhere. With a grain offering, we may feel rushed in our prayers or might not be able to connect to the words in a given moment, but we still show up with whatever we able to bring to that moment and that relationship. Like the half shekel for the Mishkan, there are no excuses; Everyone participates and everyone's gifts are valuable. With the well-being offering, maybe we realize the power of the communal experience, the loss we may incur to feel a part of something larger. With the fourth, the chatat, maybe we reflect on the time since our last prayer service and analyze our actions for times when we may have inadvertently hurt someone or distanced ourselves from the Divine presence. How can we make up for this misstep? In the last, the asham, have we committed to things that we can't deliver, or deliver as fully as we or they might want? Alternatively, how can we infuse our spaces throughout the day with a sense of holiness, that what we're engaged in, no matter how mundane, is sacred ground?

Admiel Kosman, The Meaning of Sacrifices for the Contemporary Believer:

Most contemporaries understand the demand for the return of sacrifice metaphorically. It may mean, as William James offered, "the sacrifice of the heart, the sacrifice of the inner ego." Even traditionalists who believe in the efficacy of sacrifice might say that atonement for sin and the soul's purification, the aim of sacrifice, can be achieved through the overcoming of arrogance and the diminution of the ego. As Martin Buber expressed it, "Truly there is no cosmos for the human being except when the totality is made home, a temple in which one offers one's sacrifice."