"What are the advantages of attempting to understand a religion through the apparent detour of food?" So asks Aaron S. Gross in the introduction to this fascinating collection of essays exploring millennia of historical relationships, along with ethnographic, philosophic, and ethical viewpoints.
Following a section in which different chapters look at Jewish ideas about food in the biblical, rabbinical, medieval, and modern eras, contributors address subjects as varied as Jews and garlic, the perspective of Jews, Christians, and Muslims on food and Jewishness, ecological ethics in the Jewish community farming movement, and the contemporary quest for a Jewish ethic of food consumption.
The contributors hail from a breadth of academic backgrounds and include professors of history, religion, and Jewish studies as well as many cross-disciplinary endeavors.
Marion Nestle says of the book, "A fascinating account of the history of Jewish food, within and outside of dietary laws...This book is a great read."
Paperback.
