What do the Sacrifices represent, teach, and mean to YOU?

[LAGoff]

From God clothing Adam and Eve with animal skins, to Cain and Abel, to Noah, to Abraham, to Sinai, to the Temple sacrifices (that include flour and wine), what did the animal and vegetable sacrifices represent, teach, and mean to YOU-- from the individual elements of it to the overall picture? (don't forget the aborted olah at Moriah-- ch.22 Gen.)
And how does the prayer service today, which is said to be a substitute ('in place of bulls, our lips'), throw light on the above, and vice versa?
I'm not looking for canned, collated responses (what so and so commentator said, or even what the Tora says), but a meaning that YOU derived (what works for you) that allows you to 'draw close' to the MANY chapters and verses that deal with this in the Tora and 'beyond' (Nach and Chazal)

 

[Harel13]

@Eyes to See, this is the Judaism DIR.

 

[Harel13]

Ah, I see. Well I am of the offspring of Abraham. But I didn't notice. Just was looking at most recent threads.

Happens to everyone. You're free to post in the Christianity DIR and the Abrahamic DIR or ask respectful questions in the other DIRs, but not answer.

 

[Flankerl]

I am of the offspring of Abraham

I have parents.

 

[RabbiO]

I have parents.

Aha! So the rumors we’ve heard are true.

 

[dybmh]

Questions about offerings: When an individual brought an offering, did they witness the ritual slaughter? Did they make a bracha at the time?

If so, then:

what did the animal and vegetable sacrifices represent, teach, and mean to YOU

I'm not well versed in the technicalities of this topic; but, it seems to me that the sin offerings would, for me, be a rather strong deterrent.

 

[Harel13]

What do they mean to me?
A way to become closer to Hashem, that, in some sense, is greater than tefillah, but was lost with the destruction of the Mikdash. Hopefully, B"H, we'll be able to have sacrifices once more, soon.

 

[dybmh]

Aha! So the rumors we’ve heard are true.

I heard a rumor that you can dance!

... although one never knows if you will... so mysterious...

 

[Flankerl]

Aha! So the rumors we’ve heard are true.

I am so sorry you had to learn about it this way.

 

[RabbiO]

I heard a rumor that you can dance!

That, my wife will attest to, is nothing more than a rumor.

 

[Harel13]

That, my wife will attest to, is nothing more than a rumor.

What, not even the Hora?

 

[LAGoff]

I guess I'll [go first and] tell how I personally approach animal sacrifice in the Tora to illustrate what I was looking for in my OP.
Since there are so many chapters dedicated to the sacrifices, I am uneasy with Maimonides' view that they are [only?] there to wean us from them. That's a lot of chapters dedicated to weaning! It's unsatisfactory to me because this is THE Tora and I can't read it with Maimonides' reason in mind, as it seems to consign these chapters to a footnot, and I have no patience for 'footnotes'.
Instead, I see them as tied to closeness to Hashem. In fact, that's how Leviticus begins. KRV (to draw close) is the word used to introduce Leviticus' world of sacrifices to us.
So what do I mean by 'drawing close'? I mean actual closeness to Hashem: physical proximity.
A little backstory is needed. At Sinai, during Revelation time, we are told to not come near the mountain past a certain point or else we and any animal would be destroyed.
The Tabernacle represents Sinai. We can come near ('close') but only in a certain way. (on God's terms) We are to bring an animal, (the poor can bring flour) and that animal represents us. (we put our hands on its head) It takes the 'hit' for us, as unmediated closeness by humans to Hashem results in what happens to the sacrificial animal: blood and gore all over-- a cherry pie and dynamite.
So when I read these many chapters in the Tora, this is one of the things I have in mind. It helps me to physically enjoy reading them and spiritually get edified by them.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

From God clothing Adam and Eve with animal skins, to Cain and Abel, to Noah, to Abraham, to Sinai, to the Temple sacrifices (that include flour and wine), what did the animal and vegetable sacrifices represent, teach, and mean to YOU-- from the individual elements of it to the overall picture? (don't forget the aborted olah at Moriah-- ch.22 Gen.)
And how does the prayer service today, which is said to be a substitute ('in place of bulls, our lips'), throw light on the above, and vice versa?
I'm not looking for canned, collated responses (what so and so commentator said, or even what the Tora says), but a meaning that YOU derived (what works for you) that allows you to 'draw close' to the MANY chapters and verses that deal with this in the Tora and 'beyond' (Nach and Chazal)

Basically, socialization with God. It is one of the ways of knowing him intimately.

In the days when sacrifices were given, it was the idea of a shared meal. I was raised to see how important hospitality is, how valuable it is to honor a guest. And of course, there is the joy of shared fellowship.

Now that we commune with prayers instead of meals. It is a different sort of intimacy, but one which is of the heart.

I don't really see God clothing Adam and Eve as fitting into this.

 

[LAGoff]

Thanks. That's the kind of answer I was looking for.
I can see 'hospitality' / 'honoring a guest' (I assume that's Hashem) achieved in many ways as we make the world (including our own bodies and minds) an inviting place for Hashem to dwell (Ex 25:8).
Why can't a Dwelling Place (Mishkan) mean a dwelling place? ('mishkenotecha Yisrael'-- Nm 24:5)-- especially since there is now no Dwelling Place.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Thanks. That's the kind of answer I was looking for.
I can see 'hospitality' / 'honoring a guest' (I assume that's Hashem) achieved in many ways as we make the world (including our own bodies and minds) an inviting place for Hashem to dwell (Ex 25:8).
Why can't a Dwelling Place (Mishkan) mean a dwelling place? ('mishkenotecha Yisrael'-- Nm 24:5)-- especially since there is now no Dwelling Place.

God desires for us to make him a dwelling place. However, He also stipulate that when we came into the promised land, he would designate one place of permanency. Since that place has been determined as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, we really can't have any other Temple or Tabernacle anywhere else.

We do have our local synagogues, which in a great many ways fulfill the need for a sacred place, each being a kind of beit midrash (house of study) or beit tefilah (house of prayer).

 

[Jake1001]

From God clothing Adam and Eve with animal skins, to Cain and Abel, to Noah, to Abraham, to Sinai, to the Temple sacrifices (that include flour and wine), what did the animal and vegetable sacrifices represent, teach, and mean to YOU-- from the individual elements of it to the overall picture? (don't forget the aborted olah at Moriah-- ch.22 Gen.)
And how does the prayer service today, which is said to be a substitute ('in place of bulls, our lips'), throw light on the above, and vice versa?
I'm not looking for canned, collated responses (what so and so commentator said, or even what the Tora says), but a meaning that YOU derived (what works for you) that allows you to 'draw close' to the MANY chapters and verses that deal with this in the Tora and 'beyond' (Nach and Chazal)

In my view the whole schtick is metaphoric. Everyone on board ?