Sacrifice

=== Judaism ===
{{Main|Korban}}
{{Further|Shechita}}
Ritual sacrifice was practiced in Ancient Israel, with the opening chapters of the book [[Leviticus]] detailing parts of an overview referring to the exact methods of bringing [[korban|sacrifice]]s. Although sacrifices could include bloodless offerings (grain and wine), the most important were animal sacrifices.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |edition=2|volume=17 |chapter=sacrifice |page=641}}</ref> Blood sacrifices were divided into [[burnt offering]]s (Hebrew: עלה קרבנות) in which the whole unmaimed animal was burnt, [[guilt offering]]s (in which part was burnt and part left for the priest) and [[peace offering]]s (in which similarly only part of the undamaged animal was burnt and the rest eaten in ritually pure conditions).

After the destruction of the [[Second Temple]], ritual sacrifice ceased except among the [[Samaritans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-samaritans.com/festival.htm|title= THE SAMARITAN'S FESTIVALS|publisher=The Samaritans|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304234420/http://www.the-samaritans.com/festival.htm |archive-date=4 March 2006 }}</ref> [[Maimonides]], a medieval Jewish rationalist, argued that God always held sacrifice inferior to prayer and philosophical meditation. However, God understood that the Israelites were used to the animal sacrifices that the surrounding pagan tribes used as the primary way to commune with their gods. As such, in Maimonides' view, it was only natural that Israelites would believe that sacrifice was a necessary part of the relationship between God and man. Maimonides concludes that God's decision to allow sacrifices was a concession to human psychological limitations. It would have been too much to have expected the Israelites to leap from pagan worship to prayer and meditation in one step. In the ''[[Guide for the Perplexed]]'', he writes:

:"But the custom which was in those days general among men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted in sacrificing animals... It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God...that God did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service. For to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present [the 12th Century] if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to God nor fast, nor seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action." (Book III, Chapter 32. Translated by M. Friedlander, 1904, ''The Guide for the Perplexed'', Dover Publications, 1956 edition.)

In contrast, many others such as [[Nachmanides]] (in his Torah commentary on Leviticus 1:9) disagreed, contending that sacrifices are an ideal in Judaism, completely central.

The teachings of the [[Torah]] and [[Tanakh]] reveal the Israelites's familiarity with human sacrifices, as exemplified by the near-sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham (Genesis 22:1–24) and some believe, the actual sacrifice of [[Jephthah's daughter]] (Judges 11:31–40), while many believe that Jephthah's daughter was committed for life in service equivalent to a nunnery of the day, as indicated by her lament over her "weep for my virginity" and never having known a man (v37). The king of Moab gives his firstborn son and heir as a whole burnt offering, albeit to the pagan god Chemosh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/grace-journal/11-3_34.pdf|title=The meaning of II Kings 3:27|last=Harton|first=George M.|publisher=Biblical Studies|access-date=2022-08-24|archive-date=22 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722154147/http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/grace-journal/11-3_34.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In the book of [[Micah (prophet)|Micah]], one asks, 'Shall I give my firstborn for my sin, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' ({{bibleverse||Micah|6:7|HE}}), and receives a response, 'It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the LORD doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.' ({{bibleverse||Micah|6:8|HE}}) Abhorrence of the practice of child sacrifice is emphasized by [[Jeremiah]]. See Jeremiah 7:30–32.
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