It is more about the latter. I don't support animal sacrifice as a religious ritual.
Yes, if You associate sacrifice with killing, a destructive act,
though sacrifice means giving of Yourself for a greater purpose,
meaning that the subject of sacrifice, or let's call it killing –
is Your desire.
More so, look at how the reaction of the Jewish collective intuition here is constructive,
in the way that animal sacrifice is associated with purposeful eating, community life, future.
If we examine the moral question of the conduct from a vegan perspective, which is more consistent exactly by associating the conduct of consumption with mere destruction. Their argument makes more sense, in that their idealism is following a true intuition about the interaction value in their conduct of eating, to a whole moral ecology. In a way they're correct, because butchering is immoral killing when its purpose is mere consumption.
A similar medium of 'eating the world' is money, and it's the same question, do You become a cow, or the cows become human when Your actions are moral? Is the purpose of money to consume a person with greed, or does it serve humanity for a constructive purpose?
The underlying question is of moral consumption.
The Monotheist thought directs humanity to serve the Creator with both the good and evil inclinations, to direct them instead of suppressing. Otherwise, we get global wars led by vegans in the highest ranks, and celibacy from mutilation by uncircumcised, but mostly concerned pediatricians. The response to that isn't more suppression or compromise between the good and evil inclinations, rather that they serve the same purpose.
Judaism teaches unity of traits, life and death serve one source, and sacrifice is the return to that source. However if only animals were sacrificed, that would mean that the animal world, and especially the animal traits of humanity are wrong at the root, rather than the intended universal participation of all the worlds, the innate soil and water,
flora, animal flesh, and the human mind.
Temple service can be explained on various levels, but the main part is to remember that it was ordered by G-d, and Judaism is not spiritualism, in that the main movement is not from below to above, with the purpose of a mystical spiritual experience 'not of this earth', rather there's mutual movement towards each-other, with the Temple being the meeting point.
I'd suggest looking into Monotheism in a more organic way, as one body made of various organs functioning differently united by purpose. With the Temple as the world's -
central nervous system.
Ask Yourself a simple thing – given the choice, do You prefer the animals we eat all be killed for hunger, and wealth that only serves greed, Your crop, Your wine and water, hearing and scent…or desires, animals and wealth of which participate in the service of G-d?
