Balancing Din and Rachamim

The Significance of Both Korbanos and Tefilla

Sefer Vayikra introduces the systematic offering of Korbanos to Hashem for various purposes. The instructions are complex and precise because even a small mistake can invalidate the sacrifice. This makes it difficult to draw inspiration from the Korbanos, which poses a challenge for anyone considering writing about the Parasha, myself included.

Interestingly, while the Torah dedicates a whole book to the system of Korbanos, an examination of Chazal¹ suggests that prayer, or Tefilla, may be more important. In fact, Tefilla has replaced Korbanos.

But let's take a step back. Offering sacrifices to deities has been a practice since the time of Kayin and Hevel, and continued until the rise of the Roman Empire, which banned the use of sacrifices in the 4th century as part of their efforts to spread Christian doctrine. This contributed to the decline of sacrifices in religions around the world, and they were replaced by what we now call prayer. If Tefilla has replaced Korbanos and may be mor…