The logistics of all Jews making Aliyah la-regel — the pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot– are hard to fathom, and the historicity of the event is therefore a bit dubious. In these two classes, we will look at biblical, Second Temple, and rabbinic texts to think about the vision for this practice, its actual observance, and the rabbinic “memory” created about this practice. Class one will focus on biblical and second temple sources, while class two will look at the rabbinic discussions about who should go.
Rachel Slutsky, Ph.D., is the Monsignor John Oesterreicher Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations in Antiquity at Seton Hall University. She completed her doctorate in ancient Judaism at Harvard University in May 2022. She is currently working on her first monograph, tentatively titled The Gentile Enigma: Divine Law and Identity in Early Judaism, based on her dissertation.
