Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge Advances in Sociology) [Paperback]

David C Kraemer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0415476402 | ISBN-13: 978-0415476409 | Edition: 1

This book explores the history of Jewish eating and Jewish identity, from the Bible to the present. The lessons of this book rest squarely on the much-quoted insight: 'you are what you eat.' But this book goes beyond that simple truism to recognise that you are not only what you eat, but also how, when, where and with whom you eat. This book begins at the beginning – with the Torah – and then follows the history of Jewish eating until the modern age and even into our own day. Along the way, it travels from Jewish homes in the Holy Land and Babylonia (Iraq) to France and Spain and Italy, then to Germany and Poland and finally to the United States of America. It looks at significant developments in Jewish eating in all ages: in the ancient Near East and Persia, in the Classical age, throughout the Middle Ages and into Modernity. It pays careful attention to Jewish eating laws (halakha) in each time and place, but it does not stop there: it also looks for Jews who bend and break the law, who eat like Romans or Christians regardless of the law and who develop their own hybrid customs according to their own 'laws', whatever Jewish tradition might tell them. In this colourful history of Jewish eating, we get more than a taste of how expressive and crucial eating choices have always been.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Kraemer is Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1979. Over the course of these 25 years, he has contributed to the training of thousands of rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators and others, many of whom are now active as leaders in Jewish communities across the country and abroad. He has published six books on topics as varied as Rabbinic understandings of human suffering, beliefs concerning death and the afterlife in Rabbinic Judaism, and the Jewish family. His intellectual history of the Babylonian Talmud, The Mind of the Talmud, was named an "Outstanding Academic Book of 1991" by Choice (May 1992). Kraemer has also published hundreds of articles, columns and opinion pieces, both scholarly and popular.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415476402
• ISBN-13: 978-0415476409
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,150,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time and money (except for last chapter.), September 24, 2010

By 

Florance Berman - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge Advances in Sociology) (Paperback)

I read an excellent piece in the Forward written by David Kraemer. The biography mentioned this book and I was excited to order it. I got it used (I can't possible afford it new) and it smelled of smoke. I worked to get much of the smoke out so that I could finally read this much waited for volume. It is really a waste of time and energy.

I teach Jewish Law in Israel to American post-high-school students. I cover more sources in one hour than Kraemer does in the entire book. The analysis is weak at best and the references to historical data lacking. I bought this book to give me insight from an academic perspective into Jewish eating customs. Instead, it was an aggravating pocket full of mumbles. Very little history in what is really just a survey of a few basic issues which really show he is no expert in the area of Jewish law and especially medieval commentaries.

In the kashruth section, for instance, he quotes Maimonides about the period of waiting between milk and meat, but omits Rashi -- a critical position to balance Rambam and R. Yaakov b. Meir. He claims that Rambam has no source -- really, I (and all super-commentaries) thought it was a clear interpretation of the Talmud in Hulin. He speaks with authority of the history of eating utensils as if no one in the ancient world had any -- a simply stroll in the British Museum will dispel much of that (or at least demand a more nuanced and supported view.) There are a few FULL SETS of pots and the like from the Byzantine period.

He mentions the new revisionist school's minimalist position about the extent of rabbinic power in the first and second century claiming that Philo is more representative of the Jew on the street. Perhaps that is so; however, in the footnote explaining his position he simply writes that the literature is vast and then only sites Seth Shwartz (another JTS professor) -- as if he is the only authority on the topic. This is a rather controversial view to site saying that everyone knows this already -- well Alon, Bickerman, and Tcherkover (the old classics on the topic of Judaism in the period) don't agree. Interesting that Kraemer basis this house of cards on Shwartz -- Shwartz in turn in his book thanks Kraemer for his help and around and around and around the academic blubber goes. This is JTS scholarship at its absolute worst. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours while we ignore what everyone else writes on the topic. Well maybe the Israelis are biased by Zionism or maybe the Israelis actually quote sources and that would be too much work for Kraemer.

Kraemer dismisses Milgrom and others with the wave of a hand regarding the extent and availability of meat by again quoting one source.

For me the only saving grace was the last chapter where it is revealed Kraemer's true agenda. Really Kraemer is afraid that his father not being Jewish may present a problem for those considering him a real Jew. This entire anti-rabbinic text is to rationalize his feelings of inferiority. Time to get over it.

I enjoyed the discussion of Jewish Deli's and his mentioning one I grew up with. The issue of Chinese food was also enlightening. But what a waste of money, time, and excitement for that.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding History, November 16, 2009

By 

Donald I. Siegel "Professor at Syracuse" (Syracuse) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge Advances in Sociology) (Paperback)

"Jewish Eating.." tells why there are kosher "certified" products with no non-kosher food items in them (e.g. soft drinks and waters)--and far more. It traces the history of kashrus from biblical observance (following only what the text of the Torah says)to later Rabbical one-upsmanship ("Rabbinical kashrus) designed to see who could be more restrictive than the other, largely to prevent social intercourse (and other intercourse) between Jew and Gentile.

The author includes detailed Talmudic and historical scholarship to buttress his points, coupled to a wry sense of humor. Together, these make for a very good read for those Jews who want to know why we do (or are urged to do) with respect to traditional observance.

Simply learning why the pig became so reviled by Jews is worth the price of the book or the time spent reading it. But I won't tell you. This review constitutes a book trailer.

5.0 out of 5 stars What you never knew to ask about about the evolution of the laws of Kashrut, February 20, 2010

By 

Michael Brochstein (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge Advances in Sociology) (Paperback)

Jewish law about kashrut has changed much much more than I ever knew or would have guessed over the years. David's book illuminated this in a very readable fashion. I was quite surprised about how much stricter the laws of kashrut have become over the last few thousand years (and especially over the last few hundred years). David also explains why this evolution has taken place and that is in itself very interesting.