Jews and their foodways

336 Pages·2015·2.06 MB·English

by  Anat Helman (ed.)

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t THE AVRAHAM HARMAN INSTITUTE OF
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or AN ANNUAL
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XXVIII
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© 2015. Oxford Universiplicable copyright law. Publ1ished for the Institute by
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p Oxford University Press is a department of the

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
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Ma Jews and their foodways / edited by Anat Helman.

d. pages cm. — (Studies in Contemporary Jewry, an annual,
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rv ISSN 0740-8625 ; 28) ISBN 978-0-19-026542-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
e
es 1. Food—Religious aspects—Judaism. 2. Jews—Food—History. 3. Jewish cooking—History.
r I. Helman, Anat, editor.
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ht BM729.F66J49 2015
g
ri 641.30089'924—dc23 2015022384

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© 2015. Oxford Universipplicable copyright law. Ty1p e3s e5t i7n T9i m8e s6 L4T s2td
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ghr Printed in the United States of America
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t STUdIES IN CONTEMPORARY JEWRY
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u Founding Editors
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Jonathan Frankel (1935–2008)
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ce Peter Y. Medding
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, Ezra Mendelsohn (1940–2015)
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bl Editors
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th Richard I. Cohen

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o Anat Helman
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n Eli Lederhendler
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ss Uzi Rebhun
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t Institute Editorial Board
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wi Michel Abitbol, Mordechai Altshuler, Haim Avni, Yehuda Bauer, daniel Blatman,

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r Jonathan dekel-Chen, Sergio dellaPergola, Sidra deKoven Ezrahi, Amos Goldberg,
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y Hagit Lavsky, Pnina Morag-Talmon, dalia Ofer, Gideon Shimoni, dimitry Shumsky,
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n Yfaat Weiss
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du Managing Editors
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Hannah Levinsky-Koevary
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© 2015. Oxford Universiplicable copyright law.
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© 2015. Oxford Universiplicable copyright law.
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it Preface
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x
e Volume XXVIII of Studies in Contemporary Jewry is dedicated to the topic of food.
,
er As a repetitive daily practice, eating might seem banal, but as Sidney Mintz notes,
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li “no other fundamental aspect of our behavior as a species except sexuality is so
b
u
p encumbered by ideas as eating.”1 Furthermore, “few ethnic groups have issues of
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th identity, of membership, and of food practices cast in so clear and formalized terms

m
ro as the Jews.”2 It should be noted that this interdisciplinary volume is about Jews and
f

on their foodways rather than about Judaism and food. The following essays cover a
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s
s wide range of historical, sociological, and anthropological issues related to food and
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er eating among Jews, not solely those that are tied to Judaic religion, tradition, and
p

ut thought. For both modern Jews who maintain kashrut (either in its Orthodox form or
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t in other guises) and for those who do not, food choices play a considerable role in
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m their self-definition. Food also outlines the limits of their groups and sub-groups,
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o
f whether these are defined in religious, ethnic, cultural, or national terms. As the
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a essays in this volume reveal, “Jewish food” is a dynamic and porous hybrid, con-
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i stantly evolving not just according to what Jews eat in different places during dif-
d
e
uc ferent times, but also in relation to the shifting meanings of the very term “Jewish” in
d
o
pr contemporary societies.
e
r It is a pleasant duty to thank the Nachum Ben-Eli Honig Fund, the Samuel and
e
b
t Althea Stroum Fund, and the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, whose continuous gen-
o
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y erosity to Studies makes the publication of this volume possible. Special thanks are
a
M
due to Laurie Fialkoff and Hannah Levinsky-Koevary, whose talent, professionalism,
.
d
ve and dedication are tireless engines that turn the wheels of this prestigious annual har-
r
e
es moniously as well as efficiently. For their valuable help and sound advice, I am also
r

s grateful to my colleagues Richard I. Cohen, Eli Lederhendler, and Uzi Rebhun.
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h
ig This volume is dedicated to the memory of Ezra Mendelsohn, our illustrious col-
r

ll league and dear friend, who was a founding editor of Studies in Contemporary Jewry.
A

s. Ezra died just as this volume was going to press, and a few lines cannot begin to do
s
re justice to his life and work. In our next volume, we plan to include a proper tribute.
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ht a denmark,” Ethnology 38, no. 3 (1999), 206.
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© 2015. Oxford Universiplicable copyright law.
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i Contents
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e Symposium
,
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li Jews and Their Foodways
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th Sidney Mintz, Introduction 3

m
o
r
f Anna Shternshis, Salo on Challah: Soviet Jews’ Experience of Food in the
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si 1920s–1950s 10
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er Hagit Lavsky, In the Wake of Starvation: Jewish Displaced Persons
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ut and Food in Post-Holocaust Germany 28
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wi Ofra Tene, “The New Immigrant Must Not Only Learn, He Must Also

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or Forget”: The Making of Eretz Israeli Ashkenazi Cuisine 46
f

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a Orit Rozin, Craving Meat during Israel’s Austerity Period, 1947–1953 65
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ed Esther Meir-Glitzenstein, Longing for the Aromas of Baghdad: Food,
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od Emigration, and Transformation in the Lives of Iraqi Jews in
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e Israel in the 1950s 89
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e
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t Hagar Salamon, Cutting into the Flesh of the Community: Ritual Slaughter,
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y Meat Consumption, and the Transition from Ethiopia to Israel 110
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d. Liora Gvion, Two Narratives of Israeli Food: “Jewish” versus “Ethnic” 126
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v
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es Nir Avieli, Size Matters: Israeli Chefs Cooking Up a Nation 142
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ht Paulette Kershenovich Schuster, A Tapestry of Tastes: Jewish Women
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r of Syrian Descent and Their Cooking in Mexico and Israel 160
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s. Shaul Stampfer, Bagel and Falafel: Two Iconic Jewish Foods and
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re One Modern Jewish Identity 177
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