- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 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 - 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 - 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
Food in the Biblical Era
Food in the Biblical Era
- Chapter:
- (p.32) 1 Food in the Biblical Era
- Source:
- Feasting and Fasting
- Author(s):
Elaine Adler Goodfriend
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
The principal foods of the ancient Israelites during the thousand years from 1200 BCE to the second century BCE were like those of other Mediterranean peoples. Grains, wine, and olive oil were the three primary staples (the Mediterranean triad), and these were augmented by dairy products, fruits and nuts, and meat. It was difficult to produce food in the rocky soil and dry climate of ancient Israel, and a central belief in the Hebrew Bible is that the supply of food is contingent upon Israel’s obedience to God’s laws. In the Hebrew Bible, food is a subject of divine law. Religious and cultural factors marked some foods and food mixtures as taboo and inappropriate for a “holy nation.” Specific permitted foods were imbued with symbolic importance. These symbolic foods and ancient practices provide the template for later Jewish ways of consuming food, using food in worship, and addressing ethical ideals.
Keywords: Israelites, Mediterranean triad, grains, wine, olive oil, Bible, holy nation, ethical ideals, worship, taboo
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 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 - 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 - 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
