ABSTRACT
In the controversy that has been raging of late in various quarters on the subject of the prayers for the restoration of sacrifices, which form part of the synagogue service, some of the principal facts of the problem have been ignored or overlooked. There is, however, another aspect of which modern Jews ought to consider when estimating the value of sacrifices in the religious fife of Israel. This is their social and national value. The voluntary offering of the individual was just as acceptable as the compulsory sacrifice of the community. And the man with the peace-offering could claim no moral superiority over the man with the sin-offering. The prayer of in the Amidah offered up thrice a day refers to the restoration of "the fire offerings of Israel and their prayer". The experience of the Reform synagogues in Western lands during the last hundred years has proved it.
