Question

Answer

The earliest Israelites worshipped as did the entire world - believing that the "gods" were somehow "up there" - consider the Greeks and Romans who had the gods living high up on Mt. Olympus. To influence them, one sacrificed vegetables, oil, wine and meat - gifts to the gods. But, how to deliver them? That was the question.

Early on they determined that if one "burned" them then the smoke would ascend up into the heavens where the gods would "inhale" the smoke and be strengthened. In different systems, those gods who got more smoke were stronger and would favor those who empowered them.

Judaism early on accepted the concept of sacrifice, sending gifts up to God, first conceived of as a God of Israel and then as God over all the earth and finally as an ethical monotheistic force.

When the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, sacrifices were finally eliminated from Jewish life to be replaced with prayer, study and the doing of good deeds.