Am ha-Aretz / עם הארץ

Disproofs 17: Elijah's sacrifice [ Critique ]

17. Similarly, R. Duran points out that Elijah offered a sacrifice on Mt. Carmel [1 Kings 18:3-38]. However, the Torah forbids bringing sacrifices outside of the Temple [Deut. 12:13-14]. From where did Elijah receive permission to violate this prohibition unless he knew from an oral law that in his case it was permitted [Rashbatz, ibid.]?

1. This proof is similar to the previous one. Did Elijah violate the Law? If yes, then he violated the Law, regardless of whether the Oral Torah is from God. If no, then there is no issue.

2. Elijah was a prophet. If he received permission to violate a prohibition, the permission could have come directly from God, without any Oral Torah. In fact, Elijah does say "I have done all these things at Your word / kal-hadvarim". This can mean that he actually heard God's command.

3. Here is the quote from Deuteronomy:

Take care not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like, but only in the place that YHWH will choose in one of your tribal territories. There you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and there you shall observe all that I enjoin upon you. But whenever you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat in any of your settlements, according to the blessing that YHWH your God has granted you.

Elijah did not actually bring a burnt offering. All he did was slaughter the bull: "He laid out the wood, and he cut up the bull and laid it on the wood". Slaughtering an animal is allowed in any place. What turned this slaughtering into a sacrifice was that the bull was burnt. But Elijah did not burn the bull. "Then fire from YHWH descended and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth; and it licked up the water that was in the trench". That is, God Himself performed the sacrifice, not Elijah. Thus, Elijah did not break any law.