Let's Eat: Jewish Food and Faith

by Lori Stein, Ronald H Isaacs

Overview

The food that Jewish people eat is part of our connection to our faith, culture, and history. Not only is Jewish food comforting and delicious, it’s also a link to every facet of Judaism. By learning about and cooking traditional Jewish dishes, we can understand fundamentals such as kashrut, community, and diversity. And Jewish history is so connected to food that one comedian said that the story of Judaism can be condensed into nine words: They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat.

Let’s Eat follows the calendar of Jewish holidays to include food from the many different Jewish communities around the world; in doing so, it brings the values that are the foundation of Judaism into focus. It also covers the way these foods have ended up on the Jewish menu and how Jews, as they wandered through the world, have influenced and been influenced by other nations and cuisines. Including over 40 recipes, this delicious review of the role of food in Jewish life offers a lively history alongside the traditions of one of the world’s oldest faiths.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442271043
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/14/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	271
File size:	603 KB

About the Author

Lori Stein is president and director of Layla Productions, an award-winning book packaging/ production consulting firm. She has contributed to the publication of over 200 books. Stein is co-author of Recipes from America’s Small Farms, which has garnered outstanding reviews. As a volunteer, Stein has run an arts and crafts program at a pediatric hospital ward, tutored reading and other subjects, and taught gardening classes. For almost two decades, she has served as the site coordinator for the Carnegie Hill Yorkville Community Supported Agriculture food co-op in New York City.

Rabbi Ronald H. Isaacs recently became the rabbi emeritus of Temple Sholom in Bridgewater NJ, where he was spiritual leader for 40 years. He is currently rabbi of Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood NJ. A prolific author, he has published more than 100 books covering virtually all aspects of Judaism for diverse audiences. Among his titles are the Every Person’s Guide series, the How-to Handbook trilogy and the children’s books Farmer Kobi’s Hanukkah Match and The Family (and Frog) Haggadah. He blogs at Thoughts from Rabbi Ron and writes a monthly column for The Cape May Herald. “Rabbi Ron” is a popular lecturer and teacher. For additional information see his website www.rabbiron.com.

Table of Contents

Contents

Authors’ Notes and Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1: SHABBAT: FOOD FOR THE BODY, FOOD FOR THE SOUL

CHAPTER 2: ROSH HASHANA AND YOM KIPPUR: DAYS OF AWE AND HONEYCAKE

CHAPTER 3: SUKKOT ET AL: HOLIDAYS OF HARVEST AND HAPPINESS

CHAPTER 4: HANUKKAH: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS—AND FRIED FOODS

CHAPTER 5: TU B’SHEVAT: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TREES

CHAPTER 6: PURIM: UNTIL YOU DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

CHAPTER 7: PASSOVER: THE SLAVES RISE UP, THE DOUGH STAYS FLAT

CHAPTER 8:YOM HA-ATZMAUT: MASTERS OF OUR FATE AND OUR FALAFEL

CHAPTER 9:SHAVUOT: FROM BARLEY TO BLINTZES

CHAPTER 10: LIFE CYCLE EVENTS: MITZVAH MEALS

Editorial Reviews

11/06/2017
Given the abundance of books on the history of Jewish food and recipes for preparing Jewish cuisine, Stein and Isaacs’s uninspired volume, which surveys traditions from different Jewish cultures for holidays and other celebrations in the Jewish calendar, fails to find a place in the field. The tone is uneven, with serious reflections by Isaacs, a rabbi, on a holiday’s meaning undercut by Stein’s more irreverent approach—she proclaims that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur partially validate the stereotype that Jews are “neurotic worrywarts,” and trivializes the theme of repentance that is at the heart of both holidays (“We’re called upon to literally beat our breasts as we confess to a pre-written list of sins that we barely understand and have probably not committed”). There are inconsistencies (Sukkot is described as a “rather vague festival” on one page and “one of the most experiential of all the Jewish holidays” on the next), distracting errors (Orthodox Jews are not the only denomination to keep kosher and observe Sabbath prohibitions), and dated references (New York’s Lower East Side is no longer a focal point for Jewish food). Readers interested in the subject will be better-served by Carol Ungar’s Jewish Soul Food or Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

I have long known that it is worth reading anything Ron Isaacs writes on Judaism. Now I know that it is worth reading anything Ron Isaacs and Lori Stein write on Judaism and food. A well-done job.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

I have long known that it is worth reading anything Ron Isaacs writes on Judaism. Now I know that it is worth reading anything Ron Isaacs and Lori Stein write on Judaism and food. A well-done job.

Joseph Telushkin