My daughter, Karen, asked me this question:
“How should I explain the concept of Corban in Mark 7:11 to [my] girls? How did
the Pharisees use it to keep using their stuff after dedicating it to the
temple?”
RHS: It was ‘ given to God’
AFTER their death, but already dedicated to God during their lives. Maybe like stingy sharing: you can have what
is left after I am done. If there IS anything left. And since I have chosen to
give what is left to you, no one else can have any.
Karen: “And they did it to
get reputation points while they were alive? Or to not have to give as much to
the temple while they were alive? How did it help them?”
RHS: Both of those: big,
public announcement of how generous they are. And it was a way to ‘shelter ‘
income: no one else could claim it or expect to benefit from it. So, the donor didn’t have to spend $ on aged
parents or pay for care of a mentally ill child or pay a brother’s debts. All
of those are actions expected of the righteous. Instead, they can have their
cake (honors of men) and eat it, too (spend their money on themselves any way
they want). They can keep it all and
spend profligately on themselves. No money left for their widow either.
More information on CORBAN
LDS Bible Dictionary : Corban
: Given to God. The word describes anything dedicated to God and therefore not
available for ordinary uses. The utterance of it was held to constitute a
binding vow, and the fulfillment of a vow was regarded by the Pharisees as of
deeper obligation than the duty even to parents. See Matt. 15:5 and Mark 7:11,
where it appears that the Pharisees misused the opportunity of dedicating their
material possessions to God, in order to avoid responsibility to care for their
parents. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/corban?lang=eng
Qorbanot is the Hebrew plural
of corban, offering or sacrifice.
The word qorbanot comes
from the root
Qof-Reish-Beit, which means "to draw near," and indicates the primary
purpose of offerings: to draw us near to G-d.
“To draw near” is the phrase
used in the OT to describe the act of going to the temple for the purpose of
worship, to pay tithes or make offerings, or to obtain a forgiveness of sins by
offering an animal sacrifice.
At the time of Christ’s earthly ministry,
there was a man-made religious tradition in Israel. If a man simply said that
he would dedicate his possessions to God (as in giving an offering at the
Jerusalem Temple), he was thereby freed from any
financial obligation to his parents. Israel’s religious leaders said that he
did not have to honor his parents—namely, support them
financially—because his wealth was reserved as “Corban” (a gift, that is, presented to the
Temple).
[RHS note: please note that the donor is not
actually GIVING anything to the temple, just SAYING that , after he is dead,
the remainder of his money would then go into the temple fund.]
[Important note from Rebecca Stay: the
Hebrew word for sacrifice – qorban (spelled corban in Mark 7:11) – MAY also be
read as a compound of two other Hebrew words: qara = to pray or call
upon and ben=son : thus it COULD mean: “call upon the Son,” or “pray
thru the Son.”
In Jacob 4:
4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we
knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his
coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the
holy prophets which were before us.
5 Behold,
they believed in Christ and worshiped
the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law
of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is
sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in
the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son
Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.
So the very word in the law
of Moses for offerings at the temple, especially those given to obtain a
forgiveness of sins, can be read as worshiping the Father in the name of the
Son.]
More information on the
temple offerings from a Jewish perspective. [with added notes from RHS]
Qorbanot: Sacrifices
and Offerings
Level: Advanced
|
• Qorbanot are not offered today because there is no Temple
• Qorbanot are offered as a way of getting closer to G-d • Qorbanot served the same purposes as prayer today: praise, thanks, etc. • Some qorbanot were not animal sacrifices • Without qorbanot, forgiveness is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds |
For a long time I was
reluctant to write a page on the subject of qorbanot, because it is a subject
with little practical application today. However, I felt I had to address these
issues, because it is one of the two subjects I receive the most questions about.
Interestingly, the questions I receive on this subject are invariably from
non-Jews. Most Jews don't seem to have much interest in ancient practices no
longer observed.
I will begin by
answering the questions I am most commonly asked on these subjects, and then
proceed to a more comprehensive discussion of the subject of qorbanot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Jews offer sacrifices
today?
No.
To my knowledge, no Jews today offer any kind of animal sacrifice or offerings,
nor have Jews offered sacrifices since the second century C.E. I have occasionally heard rumors that there are Orthodox rabbis in Israel who practice the techniques of ritual sacrifice, so that the
knowledge will not be lost. I do not know if these stories are reliable, but
even if they are, this is not the same thing as offering a sacrifice, because,
among other things, the intention is not there.
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 stealing candles
and wine to observe Shabbat.
The
last place appointed by G-d for this purpose was the Temple in Jerusalem, but
the Temple has been destroyed and a mosque has been erected in the place where
it stood. Until G-d provides us with another place, we cannot offer sacrifices.
There was at one time an opinion that in the absence of an assigned place, we
could offer sacrifices anywhere. Based on that opinion, certain communities
made their own sacrificial places. However, the majority ultimately ruled
against this practice, and all sacrifice ceased.
Orthodox Jews believe that when the messiah comes, a place will be provided for sacrificial
purposes.
Do Jews want to resume
sacrifices?
Orthodox Jews do. There are several places in our daily prayer services where we pray for the
restoration of the Temple and the resumption of its rituals, including the
rituals of sacrifice. The Orthodox Yom Kippur service includes a lengthy recollection of the Temple service,
mourns its loss and longs for its restoration. Other movements of Judaism have removed
these portions from the liturgy.
Did the kohanim
(priests) or anybody else eat the animals offered?
Yes!
Most types of offerings could be eaten. Certain types were eaten by the kohanim only, or by a specific kohein. Other types were
eaten by the person offering the sacrifice and his family. The types of
offerings and who was permitted to eat them will be discussed further below.
Isn't sacrifice cruelty
to animals?
Animal
sacrifice is no more cruel than slaughtering animals for food. In fact, the
procedure for slaughtering livestock for sacrificial purposes is the same as
the procedure used for slaughtering animals for food, a procedure that is
designed to be as quick and painless as possible. See Shechitah. Judaism is very
concerned about the proper treatment of animals, and would never advocate a cruel procedure for animal sacrifice.
How do Jews obtain
forgiveness without sacrifices?
In
Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place of sacrifices. In accordance with
the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips
(Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates this somewhat differently). While
dedicating the Temple, King Solomon also indicated that prayer can be used to
obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50). Our prayer services are in many ways designed to parallel the sacrificial practices.
For example, we have an extra service on Shabbat, to parallel the extra Shabbat offering. For
more information about this, see Jewish Liturgy. As we shall see, the purposes for bringing
sacrifice are very similar to the purposes for prayer.
It
is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice was never the exclusive means
of obtaining forgiveness, was not in and of itself sufficient to obtain
forgiveness, and in certain circumstances was not even effective to obtain
forgiveness. This will be discussed further below.
But isn't a blood
sacrifice required in order to obtain forgiveness?
No.
Although animal sacrifice is one means of obtaining forgiveness, there are
non-animal offerings as well, and there are other means for obtaining
forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices at all. The Biblical book of Jonah
tells of an entire community condemned to destruction that was forgiven when
they simply repented and fasted, without ever offering any sacrifice, blood or
otherwise. (Jonah 3)
The
passage that people ordinarily cite for the notion that blood is required is
Leviticus 17:11: "For the soul of the flesh is in the blood and I have
assigned it for you upon the altar to provide atonement for your souls; for it
is the blood that atones for the soul." But the passage that this verse
comes from is not about atonement; it is about dietary laws, and the passage says only that blood is used
to obtain atonement; not that blood is the only means for obtaining atonement.
Leviticus 17:10-12 could be paraphrased as "Don't eat blood, because blood
is used in atonement rituals; therefore, don't eat blood."
Were sacrifices a symbol
of the savior to come?
Not
according to Judaism. Quite the contrary, some would say that the original
institution of sacrifice had more to do with the Judaism's past than with its
future. Rambam suggested that the entire sacrificial cult in
Judaism was ordained as an accommodation of man's primitive desires.
Sacrifice is an ancient and universal human
expression of religion. Greeks and Romans and Canaanites and Egyptians all
offered sacrifices to their gods. Sacrifice existed among the Hebrews long
before the giving of the Torah.
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices; Noah and his sons offered sacrifices, and so
forth. When the laws of sacrifice were given to the Children of Israel in the
Torah, the pre-existence of a system of sacrificial offering was understood,
and sacrificial terminology was used without any explanation. The Torah, rather
than creating the institution of sacrifice, carefully limited the practice,
permitting it only in certain places, at certain times, in certain manners, by
certain people, and for certain purposes. Rambam suggests that these
limitations are designed to wean a primitive people away from the debased rites
of their idolatrous neighbors.
Qorbanot
In ancient times, a
major component of Jewish ritual was the offering of qorbanot. An entire order
of the Talmud (Kodashim, that is, Holy Things) is devoted to
the subject. More than 100 of the 613 Commandments as enumerated by Rambam specifically address issues related to
qorbanot.
The word
"qorbanot" is usually translated as "sacrifices" or
"offerings"; however, both of these terms suggest a loss of something
or a giving up of something, and although that is certainly a part of the
ritual, that is not at all the literal meaning of the Hebrew word. The word qorbanot comes from the root
Qof-Reish-Beit, which means "to draw near," and indicates the primary
purpose of offerings: to draw us near to G-d.
Parts of the rituals
involved in the offering of qorbanot were performed exclusively by the kohanim (priests). These rituals were only performed in
theTemple in Jerusalem. The procedures could not be performed by anyone
else, and could not be performed in any other place. Because the Temple no
longer exists, we can no longer offer qorbanot.
There are three basic
concepts underlying qorbanot: giving, substitution and coming closer.
The first the aspect of giving. A qorban requires
the renunciation of something that belongs to the person making the offering.
Thus, sacrifices are made from domestic animals, not wild animals (because wild
animals do not belong to anyone). Likewise, offerings of food are ordinarily in
the form of flour or meal, which requires substantial work to prepare.
Another important
concept is the element of substitution.
The idea is that the thing being offered is a substitute for the person making
the offering, and the things that are done to the offering are things that
should have been done to the person offering. The offering is in some sense
"punished" in place of the offerer. It is interesting to note that
whenever the subject of qorbanot is addressed in the Torah,
the name of G-d used is the four-letter
name indicating G-d's mercy.
[RHS note: What this is saying is that
whenever qorbanot are offered, the name of God used is Y-H-V-H, or
Jehovah. Christians can see how
appropriate it is that it is through Jehovah’s name that we are saved, through
the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ]
The third important
concept is the idea coming
closer. The essence of sacrifice is to bring a person closer to G-d.
Purposes of Qorbanot
Contrary to popular
belief, the purpose of qorbanot is not simply to obtain forgiveness from sin.
Although many qorbanot have the effect of expiating sins, there are many other
purposes for bringing qorbanot, and the expiatory effect is often incidental,
and is subject to significant limitations.
The purposes of qorbanot
are much the same as the purposes of prayer: we bring qorbanot to praise G-d,
to become closer to Him, to express thanks to G-d, love or gratitude. We bring
qorbanot to celebrate holidays and festivals. Others are used to cleanse a
person of ritual impurity (which does not necessarily have anything to do with
sin: childbirth causes such impurity, but is certainly not a sin). And yes,
many qorbanot, like many prayers, are brought for purposes of atonement.
The atoning aspect of
qorbanot is limited. For the most part, qorbanot only expiate unintentional
sins, that is, sins committed because a person forgot that this thing was a
sin. No atonement is needed for violations committed under duress or through
lack of knowledge, and for the most part, qorbanot cannot atone for a
malicious, deliberate sin. In addition, qorbanot have no expiating effect unless the person
making the offering sincerely repents his or her actions before making the
offering, and makes restitution to any person who was harmed by the violation.
Types of Qorbanot
There are many different
types of qorbanot, and the laws related to them are detailed and complicated.
This section will merely introduce some of the major types of qorbanot, their
names and their characteristics. There are many subtypes within these
classifications, and some other types that do not fit neatly into these
categories.
Olah: Burnt Offering
Perhaps the best-known
class of offerings is the burnt offering. It was the oldest and commonest
sacrifice, and represented submission to G-d's will. The Hebrew word for burnt offering is
olah, from the root Ayin-Lamed-Hei, meaning ascension. It is the
same root as the word aliyah, which is used to describe moving to Israel or ascending to the podium to say a blessing over the Torah. An olah is completely burnt on the outer
altar; no part of it is eaten by anyone. Because the offering represents
complete submission to G-d's will, the entire offering is given to G-d (i.e.,
it cannot be used after it is burnt). It expresses a desire to commune with
G-d, and expiates sins incidentally in the process (because how can you commune
with G-d if you are tainted with sins?). An olah could be made from cattle,
sheep, goats, or even birds, depending on the offerer's means.
[RHS note: ólah was translated by
the Greek word, holocaust. This
is not the best word to use when speaking of the deliberate murder of Jews by
the Nazis. The Jews use the word Shoah to speak of that horrible
time. Note that all offerings or
corbanot must be WILLINGLY and INTENTIONALLY GIVEN.]
Zebach Sh'lamim: Peace Offering
A peace offering is an
offering expressing thanks or gratitude to G-d for His bounties and mercies. The Hebrew term for this type of
offering is zebach sh'lamim (or sometimes just sh'lamim), which is related to
the word shalom, meaning "peace" or "whole." A
representative portion of the offering is burnt on the altar, a portion is
given to the kohanim,
and the rest is eaten by the offerer and his family; thus, everyone gets a part
of this offering. This category of offerings includes thanksgiving-offerings
(in Hebrew, Todah, which was obligatory for survivors of life-threatening
crises), free will-offerings, and offerings made after fulfillment of a vow.
Note that this class of offerings has nothing to do with sin; in fact, the Talmud states that in the age of the messiah (when there is no more sin), this will be the
only class of offering that is brought to the Temple.
Chatat: Sin Offering
A sin offering is an
offering to atone for and purge a sin. It is an expression of sorrow for the
error and a desire to be reconciled with G-d. The Hebrew term for this type of offering is
chatat, from the word chayt, meaning "missing the mark." A chatat
could only be offered for unintentional sins committed through carelessness,
not for intentional, malicious sins. The size of the offering varied according
to the nature of the sin and the financial means of the sinner. Some chatatot
are individual and some are communal. Communal offerings represent the
interdependence of the community, and the fact that we are all responsible for
each others' sins. A few special chatatot could not be eaten, but for the most
part, for the average person's personal sin, the chatat was eaten by the kohanim.
Asham: Guilt Offering
A guilt offering is an
offering to atone for sins of stealing things from the altar, for when you are
not sure whether you have committed a sin or what sin you have committed, or
for breach of trust. The Hebrew word for a guilt offering is asham. When there
was doubt as to whether a person committed a sin, the person would make an
asham, rather than a chatat, because bringing a chatat
would constitute admission of the sin, and the person would have to be punished
for it. If a person brought an asham and later discovered that he had in fact
committed the sin, he would have to bring a chatat at that time. An asham was
eaten by the kohanim.
Food and Drink Offerings
A meal offering
(minchah) represented the devotion of the fruits of man's work to G-d,
because it was not a natural product, but something created through man's
effort. A representative piece of the offering was burnt on the fire of the
altar, but the rest was eaten by the kohanim.
There are also offerings
of undiluted wine, referred to as nesekh.
Parah Adumah: The Red Heifer
Some time in 1997, a red
heifer was born in Israel.
This birth received quite a bit of press coverage, and I received many
questions asking about the significance of it.
The ritual of the red
heifer (in Hebrew, parah adumah) is part of one of the most mysterious rituals
described in the Torah.
The purpose of this ritual is to purify people from the defilement caused by
contact with the dead. The ritual is discussed in Numbers 19. If you find it
difficult to understand, don't feel bad; the sages themselves described it as beyond human understanding. What is so
interesting about this ritual is that it purifies the impure, but it also
renders the pure impure (i.e., everybody who participates in the ritual becomes
impure).
It is believed by many
that this ritual will be performed by the messiah when he comes, because we have all suffered the defilement of
contact with the dead. Thus, the existence of a red heifer is a possible, but
not definite, sign of the messiah. If the messiah were coming, there would be a
red heifer, but there could be a red heifer without the messiah coming.
I have not heard any
definitive word on whether the animal born in Israel satisfied all the
requirements of a parah adumah (e.g., that it be without spot, without blemish,
and that it has never been yoked). In any case, the animal is long since dead,
and the messiah has not yet come. Better luck next time.
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