The Last Supper is history’s most famous meal. According to Ronald Hendel, such culinary distinctions soon became codified markers of cultural identity, whereby “the Philistine treat became an Israelite taboo.” * Perhaps similar efforts to affirm Israel’s uniqueness lay at the heart of other animal prohibitions. Archaeological excavations of Iron Age I sites in Israel have shown that while pigs were a popular part of the Philistine diet, they were entirely absent from the herd-based economy of the Israelites. One possible reason may be that the Israelites wanted some way to distinguish themselves from their non-Hebrew neighbors. Why were such seemingly innocuous physiological traits so objectionable to the early Israelites?īecome a Member of Biblical Archaeology Society Now and Get More Than Half Off the Regular Price of the All-Access Pass! Explore the world’s most intriguing Biblical scholarshipĭig into more than 9,000 articles in the Biblical Archaeology Society’s vast library plus much more with an All-Access pass. Likewise, while the Hebrew Bible permits the eating of fish with fins and scales, shellfish like lobsters and crabs are an abomination. The free eBook Life in the Ancient World guides you through craft centers in ancient Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and articles on ancient practices-from dining to makeup-across the Mediterranean world.īut what are some of the other laws of kashrut, and how are they to be explained? Many of the dietary restrictions outlined in Deuteronomy and Leviticus prohibit the consumption of certain “unclean” animals that either don’t chew their cud or don’t have cloven hooves, such as pigs, camels and rabbits. Outside the house, some Jews keep kosher by eating only at kosher restaurants while others have no problem eating non-kosher foods, so long as they maintain a kosher home. Some families even use two different dishwashers in order to maintain the separation. A fully kosher household, for example, might have two or more different sets of flatware, tableware and cooking ware for making and serving meat dishes separate from dairy-based dishes. Not only do most Jews who observe kashrut avoid eating any meat and milk products together, many also wait a certain amount of time-30 minutes to a few hours-between eating meat and dairy.Įverything the foods touch must be kept completely separate. One of the more well-known restrictions is the injunction against mixing meat with dairy products. Regardless of their origins, however, these age-old laws continue to have a significant impact on the way many observant Jews go about their daily lives. The origins of Jewish dietary or kosher laws ( kashrut) have long been the subject of scholarly research and debate.

Kashrut betzela hahar mahseya israel