Food and Identity in Early Rabbinic Judaism

by Jordan D. Rosenblum

• ISBN13: 9780521195980
• ISBN10: 0521195985
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Food often defines societies and even civilizations. Through particular commensality restrictions, groups form distinct identities: Those with whom "we" eat ("Us") and those with whom "we" cannot eat ("Them"). This identity is enacted daily, turning the biological need to eat into a culturally significant activity. In this book, Jordan D. Rosenblum explores how food regulations and practices helped to construct the identity of early rabbinic Judaism. Bringing together the scholarship of rabbinics with that of food studies, this volume first examines the historical reality of food production and consumption in Roman-era Palestine. It then explores how early rabbinic food regulations created a distinct Jewish, male, and rabbinic identity. Rosenblum's work demonstrates how rabbinic food practices constructed an edible identity.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
"The Set Table": Organization and Structure	p. 10
A Brief Introduction to the Tannaitic Corpus	p. 13
Realia	p. 15
What Did They Eat?	p. 17
How Did They Obtain Their Food?	p. 22
How Did They Prepare Their Food?	p. 24
In What Manner Did They Eat Their Food?	p. 30
Realia: Conclusions	p. 33
Jewish Identity	p. 35
Pre-Tannaitic Evidence for Commensality Restrictions	p. 36
Food as Metonym/Food as Embodiment	p. 45
The "Abominable Pig"	p. 48
Manna	p. 58
The Passover	p. 63
The Laws of Kashrut	p. 68
Food as Metonym/Food as Embodiment: Conclusions	p. 73
The Status of Food Correlates with the Status of Its Cook	p. 75
Meat	p. 76
Non-Meat Items	p. 81
Conclusions	p. 89
Commensality as Idolatry	p. 91
Jewish Identity: Conclusions	p. 101
Jewish Male Identity	p. 103
Preparing Food as (Re)Producing Male Identity	p. 104
Sharing the Kitchen with the Haber and the 'Am ha'Ares	p. 117
Preparing Food as (Re)Producing Male Identity: Conclusions	p. 120
Women at the Tannaitic Table?	p. 123
"It Leads to Transgression": Commensality Among Zabîm	p. 132
Jewish Male Identity: Conclusions	p. 135
Jewish Male Rabbinic Identity	p. 138
The Cuisine of the Rabbinic Jew	p. 140
Purity and Commensality	p. 143
Commensality between the Haber and the 'Am ha'Ares	p. 146
Purity and Commensality: Conclusions	p. 153
The Status of Food Correlates with the Status of Its Cook	p. 154
Reinterpreting Festival Observance	p. 161
Passover	p. 162
Sukkot	p. 170
The Sabbath	p. 174
Commensality and Synagogue	p. 178
Jewish Male Rabbinic Identity: Conclusions	p. 182
Conclusion	p. 185
Bibliography	p. 193
Selected General Index	p. 209
Index of Pre-Modern Sources	p. 212
Selected Index of Modern Scholars	p. 220
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