Why Are These Goats Different From All Other Goats?

Passover season is upon us and with it comes the traditional goat slaughtering.

No, I am not making this up:

Today’s Seders, with their many commemorations of the sacrifice, such as the shank bone on the Seder plate, are largely a tribute to the offering. The rabbis inserted the famous line “Next year in Jerusalem” at the end of the Haggadah to express the hope that subsequent Seders would take place in the Messianic era.

But [Rabbi Yehudah] Glick, who lives in Otniel, a Modern Orthodox settlement in the West Bank, claims that this declaration of hope is half-hearted without practical preparations. So with the backing of some influential rabbis, he has contracted farmers to provide him with 300 sheep and goats for the sacrifice, should the Messiah arrive. He also put 20 slaughterers on standby; and, for those who wish to take part, but who live outside Jerusalem, he made Seder-night accommodations within walking distance of the Old City.

Those who want a “share” of an animal so that they can take part in the sacrifice can purchase one over the phone, by credit card for 12 shekels, or about $3. At press time, 3,000 people had signed up.

According to the article on Forward.com, Glick is not waiting for the messiah.  He’s got some halakhic (Jewish legal) backing for restoring this tradition on the Temple Mount even without the Third Temple.  He’s tried to get permission to go up there with his goats and was even arrested last year for trying.  He’s also got some impressive backers:

Until now, support for sacrificing regardless of the Messiah’s arrival was marginal. But in early April Glick received a call from the office of Chaim Kanievsky, son-in-law of the de-facto chief rabbi of Haredi Jewry, Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, and an acclaimed halachic authority in his own right. Kanievsky wanted Glick to visit his Bnei Brak home with one of the lambs he planned to sacrifice, and enter via the back door so as not to attract the attention of neighbors. He inspected the animal, asked questions about the program and gave his support.

The program also has the backing of Gershon Eidelstein, one of two senior heads of Ponevezh, a well-respected Haredi yeshiva in Bnei Brak, as well as several religious-Zionist leaders, including Haim Druckman, head of the Bnei Akiva network of yeshivas.

That’s a pretty impressive variety of rabbis.  Seriously, these guys don’t always agree on a whole lot.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that the vast majority of Orthodox rabbis are more than willing to wait for the messiah and the re-building of the Temple.  So those cute little goats are probably going to be spared a goat-y bloodbath for at least another year.