Feasting and Fasting The History and Ethics of Jewish Food

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Myers, Jody.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Dietary laws.

Food--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Food.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (299 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2019]

Summary:

How Judaism and food are intertwined Judaism is a religion that is enthusiastic about food. Jewish holidays are inevitably celebrated through eating particular foods, or around fasting and then eating particular foods. Through fasting, feasting, dining, and noshing, food infuses the rich traditions of Judaism into daily life. What do the complicated laws of kosher food mean to Jews? How does food in Jewish bellies shape the hearts and minds of Jews? What does the Jewish relationship with food teach us about Christianity, Islam, and religion itself? Can food shape the future of Judaism? Feasting and Fasting explores questions like these to offer an expansive look at how Judaism and food have been intertwined, both historically and today. It also grapples with the charged ethical debates about how food choices reflect competing Jewish values about community, animals, the natural world and the very meaning of being human. Encompassing historical, ethnographic, and theoretical viewpoints, and including contributions dedicated to the religious dimensions of foods including garlic, Crisco, peanut oil, and wine, the volume advances the state of both Jewish studies and religious studies scholarship on food. Bookended with a foreword by the Jewish historian Hasia Diner and an epilogue by the novelist and food activist Jonathan Safran Foer, Feasting and Fasting provides a resource for anyone who hungers to understand how food and religion intersect.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Part 1. History

Introduction to Part 1

1. Food in the Biblical Era

2. Food in the Rabbinic Era

3. Food in the Medieval Era

4. Food in the Modern Era

Part 2. Food and Culture

Introduction to Part 2

5. A Brief History of Jews and Garlic

6. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Food and Jewishness

7. How Ancient Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians Drank Their Wine

8. Jews, Schmaltz, and Crisco in the Age of Industrial Food

9. The Search for Religious Authenticity and the Case of Passover Peanut Oil

10. How Shabbat Cholent Became a Secular Hungarian Favorite

Part 3. Ethics

Introduction to Part 3

11. Jewish Ethics and Morality in the Garden

12. Ecological Ethics in the Jewish Community Farming Movement

13. Bloodshed and the Ethics and Theopolitics of the Jewish Dietary Laws

14. The Virtues of Keeping Kosher

15. Jewish Ethics, the Kosher Industry, and the Fall of Agriprocessors

16. A Satisfying Eating Ethic

17. The Ethics of Eating Animals

Afterword

Acknowledgments

About the Editors

About the Contributors

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4798-9313-7

OCLC:

1154311865