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Wikipedia is remarkably terse about the ritual, but suggests that:


That seems at odds with Leviticus 7.

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Regarding which animals are appropriate for this sacrifice, the text is not immediately clear but http://www.ou.org/torah/taryag/mitzvah141 record the Jewish tradition that the sacrifice “could be brought from cattle, sheep or goats of either gender and most any age, but not from birds.”



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Partial answer:

The animal can be any kosher animal -- lamb, kid, ram, bird are the ones usually mentioned in the Tanakh. It was slaughtered by a priest (kohein) according to precise rules; the priest then got a portion of the meat but most went back to the person who brought it, who (with his family and anybody else he invited) had to eat it that day. The role of the thanksgiving offering was generally to celebrate some occasion, so think of this as the main dish for a celebratory dinner.

I don't (yet) know the details on the cakes/wafers.

I don't know where the Wikipedia article got that comment about Psalm 107.

This page from JewFAQ has a little information about the various offerings.


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Actually that doesn't sound too different from our Thanksgiving celebration. I didn't slaughter the turkey, but I did cook it and ate the gizzards myself. ;-) The JewFAQ information is very informative: the sacrifice is obligatory for survivors of near-death experiences and the other sacrifices (related to sin) will not be offered after the coming of the messiah. Thank you. –  Jon Ericson Dec 1 '11 at 21:19
@JonEricson, my rabbi calls Thanksgiving "American seder". :-) Not all sacrifices would necessarily go away in the time of the messiah; for example, the Passover and other holiday offerings would presumably continue. Thanksgiving and sin offerings are two types but there are others. –  Gone Quiet Dec 1 '11 at 22:16
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