Rabbi Jerry Seidler is a staff chaplain with Sinai and Northwest Hospitals, and the spiritual leader of Adat Chaim Congregation, all in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002, where he was an Eisenstein Scholar, and was the rabbi for synagogues in Rutland, Vermont and Amherst, New York before coming to Baltimore in 2008. Rabbi Seidler has his BA in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and JD from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. Prior to joining the rabbinate, he served on active duty as a US Army MP and JAG officer, and was a litigation attorney with law firms in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Board Certified as a chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains, he is co-author most recently of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Perspectives about Xenotransplantation which is set for publication in a forthcoming edition of the Journal of the International Xenotransplantation Association.
This week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26) – is the first portion of the book of Leviticus. The portion introduces the sacrificial service and describes five different kinds of sacrifice. Our discussion focuses on the relevance of the sacrifices described in the parasha (and of the book of Leviticus in general) to our lives today.
Previous Torah Talks on Vayikra:
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