Thoughts & Questions on Jewish Sacrifice

Hi everyone, this is the user formerly(?) known as Hax Templar.  My plugins and I forgot my password, possibly after this site changed to Mikraite from Biblic Judaism.

Recently I had some thoughts that I think people on this forum might be well qualified to answer or discuss.  It has to do with the Jewish concept of sacrifice.

According to the Old Testament et al., Jews used to sacrifice animals to God, like bulls and lambs.  In my mind the sacrifices symbolize (and manifests) a rejection of the material world (or specifically, its riches and temptations) in favor of God / heaven / the spiritual world.  This commitment is manifested physically by sacrificing something of value.  In the time the OT was written, animals were the most valuable thing commonly possessed and so animals were sacrificed.

In my mind, to continue this tradition of sacrifice would mean burning the modern equivalent of valuable livestock -- paper money.  I think one of the problems with modern Jews (I'll be honest; they are often not my favorite people, even though my family is mostly Jewish) is that the thought of sacrificing something of real value, like money, makes their blood curdle.  Without any form of real sacrifice, Judaism to me feels like a religion which says "we are descended from a badass, we are better than you" and not much else.

I've done a bit of research and read that Jews don't sacrifice anymore because they are supposed to do it "not just anywhere" but on the temple mount, and they can't build an adequate temple on the temple mount because of Muslims, so they don't sacrifice at all.  Yet if our understanding of God is to be a bit more flexible and organic, that is to say that we believe God speaks to us, does it really make sense to not sacrifice things just because the temple mount is occupied? Or if we live on a completely different continent from the temple mount, do we really need some kind of universally agreed upon authority to establish a location before we can designate a place for sacrifices? Even though I too wince a bit at the thought of burning cash, I can't shake the feeling that something is missing when we refuse to make any real sacrifice for our religion.  Even donating money to the church (which means it is recycled to other Jews, Christians etc.) is not a real sacrifice in my mind.

So, I hope I have not unduly offended anyone in writing this but am genuinely interested in hearing what people on this forum might have to say about the concept of sacrifice.

My understanding of animal sacrifices is that they were eaten by the priests or sometimes by the people who made the sacrifice.  I see the Old Testament as a very practical book that focuses on the real world.  Sacrifice by individuals to support religion is practical in the long run.  The closest modern equivalent is the tithe.  This replaces farm produce with money, as you suggest, with the money going to support religion.  I support this practical version of sacrifice.

Talmudic "logic" is an insult to logic.  I don't pay any attention to it.

Sacrifice is interesting. It makes you put skin in the game.

I personally withhold 10% of my income (tithe) and donate it to worthy jewish charities (vetted and trustworthy etc.) that help the poor, the orphan, the needy, & the stranger.

The torah indicates that there's a 3 year & 6 year tithe from a 7 year sabbath decade. if the tithe cannot be performed (reedemed for cash in lieu of the animal sacrifice) you must add an extra 20% on what would be your 10% or tithe (12.5% instead of 10%).

it is painful to part with large amounts of money that accumulate but i have faith in Yhwh & all the years i've been donating (since 2012), i get a 3- to 10-fold return on the amount i've donated (promotion + salary, windfall, etc).