Food in the Medieval Era
Food in the Medieval Era
During the medieval period, influenced by the cultures of the Muslim and Christian empires where they lived, rabbinic authorities interpreted and adapted earlier biblical and Talmudic food traditions for the Jews living under their authority. Religious law was codified and theological principles were concretized into liturgy. Differences between Sephardic and Ashkenazic foodways became more pronounced. Innovations in food practices and concepts, such as illuminated Haggadot, stringencies regarding Gentile wine and separating milk and meat, and mystical food theology helped preserve Jewish distinctiveness under the pressures upon Jews to accept the religious views and practices of their non-Jewish neighbors and business associates. Jewish foodways enhanced the status of Jews as a whole in relation to the majority cultures, and in the process the rabbis found an outlet for their own pious expression and their sense of self-importance relative to ordinary Jews.
Keywords: Muslim, Christian, rabbinic, biblical, Talmudic, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Haggadot, mystical, theology
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