When did Jews stop offering animals sacrifices and replace it with prayer?

Answer 1

The Jews stopped offering animal sacrifices in 70 CE, after the Temple was destroyed and therefore they no longer had a sacred place in which to offer sacrifices. The Rabbis argued that the purpose of the sacrifice was to draw someone closer to God and that prayer could effectively do this in the absence of the Temple.

Answer 2

The practice of animal sacrifices in the manner described in the Torah has been suspended

for roughly the past 2,000 years. It can only be conducted in that fashion under the

leadership of the Priests in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which hasn't existed since

the year 70. Each present-day synagogue prayer service parallels one of the routine

sacrifices for each Sabbath, holiday, and ordinary day.

However, a number of elements of the ancient process of animal sacrifice are standard

Jewish practice today. Here are some examples:

1). Animals are not hunted or trapped. Only healthy, uninjured specimens are selected

for slaughter, and then only in quantity sufficient to meet dietary needs.

2). Slaughter is accomplished in a ritually prescribed, detailed fashion, the physiology

of which guarantees minimum pain and suffering on the animal's part. The moment

of slaughter is preceded by the recitation of a blessing that acknowledges the Creator

of life, and the fulfillment of human needs by the same Creator.

3). Blood is always completely drained.

4). The slaughter of an animal is followed by the consumption of its kosher parts.

This element of ancient animal sacrifice is often overlooked by its critics --- the fact

that the animal brought to the altar as so-called "sacrifice" ended up ... after the

rituals had been performed ... being eaten by the family who brought it to the temple,

after a portion was donated to the priest and his family. The critic ... and any reader ...

should compare this ancient practice with the manner in which he acquired and consumed

his most recent meal of meat.