Sacrifices Great and Small: Exploring the Sacrificial Rituals of Vayikra and their Modern Counterparts

The sacrifices of the Torah represent many things: covenant, embodied worship, communal ritual, and more. This class focusing on Parashat Vayikra will explore the Israelite sacrificial system through two related perspectives. First, we will discuss sacrifices as an agrarian practice rooted in relationship with animals and the earth, exploring how they tapped into a sense of both immediacy and transcendence. Second, we will consider sacrifices through the lens of the Samaritan Passover ritual, an annual tradition continuing to this day where the Samaritan community in Israel gathers to offer a collective Passover sacrifice in accordance with their interpretation of the Torah. Together we will consider how these ancient and modern perspectives might inform our own understanding of an often-underappreciated ritual practice.

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Rabbi Michael Fraade is a home hospice chaplain at Beth Israel Lahey Health at Home. Born in Connecticut, he was raised in a family that fostered his love of Judaism from an early age. In the past he has worked as a farmer and Jewish outdoor educator in the south; learned Torah at a variety of progressive yeshivas including Hadar, Yashrut, and Pardes; and volunteered with nonprofits focused on food justice, reproductive rights, and Jewish communal life. He was ordained by Hebrew College in 2024, and previously worked as a chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital. Michael’s interests include being outside, Talmud, cooking, sports, dogs, and ancient Israelite agriculture. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, Rabbi Jenn Queen, their son Ezra, and their dog Priya.