Temple Sacrifices and Rituals

The Torah includes instructions for rites to be performed in the Tabernacle, which served as a blueprint for the service in the Temple. Most of our sources on the rites performed in the Second Temple are not eyewitness accounts but rather draw on the biblical text, perhaps combining it, in some cases, with first- or secondhand knowledge. Because the biblical legislation often lacks detail and rarely explains the reasons for the various sacrifices and rituals, much room was left for interpreters to elaborate on the text.

Philo wrote extensively on the Temple and its rituals, mainly in the form of symbolic interpretation of the biblical laws. The Mishnah, in contrast, focuses primarily on practical aspects of the Temple service. Its discussions likely include a combination of memory, biblical exegesis, and imagination.

Several sources refer to the Temple tax, by means of which Jews around the world supported the Temple and its functions. After the Romans destroyed the Temple, Jews were forced to pay an equivalent sum to Rome.