Food

The opening chapter of the Torah recounts how humanity, from the outset of its creation, is charged with mastering the natural world. When Adam and Eve sin in the Garden of Eden, God tells Adam that he will now have toil by the sweat of his brow to cultivate the land and produce bread. Later in biblical literature, agriculture becomes the basis of national and religious life as the Israelites settle in the land of Israel. Many commandments and rituals are centered upon agriculture and the agricultural calendar.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages and drunkenness are discussed from the first book of the Torah, as Noah plants a vineyard upon leaving his ark and deals with the consequences of his subsequent drunkenness. Other biblical texts convey mixed messages about alcohol: while the book of Psalms extols wine as "gladdening the human heart," the book of Proverbs warns that "in the end, [wine] bites like a snake." Later stories, legal discussions, and philosophical discourses throughout the Jewish textual tradition take up the topic of alcohol consumption, its role and contributions to Jewish ritual, and its limits and hazards.

Bread is considered a staple of life in the Jewish textual tradition. Biblical figures offer bread to their guests as a marker of hospitality, and the sacred showbread plays a role in the rituals of the Tabernacle and Temple. Many laws govern the preparation, baking, and consumption of bread. Bread is unique in that its consumption necessitates reciting the full Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals).

Although challah today is simply known as the braided loaf of bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, its origins are in the biblical commandment to separate a portion of dough — known as challah — that would then be given to the priest (kohen).

Chametz refers to leavened bread, understood by the rabbis to be any food containing one of five species of grain — wheat, barley, oat, spelt and rye — that has been allowed to rise. Several biblical verses command that one abstain from consuming chametz on the Passover holiday and to avoid encountering it in other ways.

Food is an essential element of human life and a significant subject in Jewish texts. In addition to narratives of eating and cooking in biblical stories, there are many commandments related to food and cooking. These include the laws of what Jews may and may not eat, known as kashrut, the offering of sacrifices, the prohibition against eating chametz, the obligation to eat matzah during Passover, and the separation of terumot and ma'aserot, among others.

Flour (kemach) appears in Rabbinic discussions because of its importance in the production of bread and in Temple offerings. Flour is also used as a metaphor for earning a wage: “If there is no flour, there is no Torah. if there is no Torah, there is no flour” (Pirkei Avot 3:17).

Fruit (p’ri) plays a central role in Judaism, from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden to the seven species — which includes grapes, figs, and pomegranates — brought as first fruit (bikkurim) offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Kashrut means “fitness” and refers to the dietary laws governing what is permitted and forbidden for consumption. These laws further prescribe how kosher food should be prepared and by whom. While the Torah dictates which animals may be consumed and under what conditions, the rabbis further derived principles to ensure that one does not violate the Torah and discuss the value of these practices.

There is much debate in the Talmud about eating kitniyot on Passover. Generally translated as “legumes,” kitniyot includes rice, corn, sesame, and more. Jews are forbidden from eating leavened foods on Passover, but most Ashkenazi communities also forbid kitniyot.

Maror refers to the bitter herbs — usually horseradish or romaine lettuce — eaten by Jews on Passover as commanded in the Bible: “with bitter herbs they shall eat it” (Exodus 12:8). Maror symbolizes and serves as a reminder of the bitterness of slavery and oppression in Egypt.

Matzah is the unleavened bread made from any of the five grains mentioned in Torah: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. In the Torah, God commanded the Israelites to eat matzah before leaving Egypt, a practice still observed and commemorated yearly as Jews eat matzah at the Passover Seder and throughout the holiday of Passover.

There is a lot of discussion in the Jewish sources about eating meat (basar), focusing largely on the laws for ensuring that meat is made kosher, or fit. In regards to mixing meat and milk, there is discussion about whether or not chicken and fish should be categorized as meat.

In the Jewish sources, milk (chalav) is discussed generally but also in relation to the laws prohibiting the mixing meat and milk and in the description of Israel as a "land flowing with milk and honey."

In the Bible, there are many uses for olives (zeitim) and their oil, from eating to anointing. The importance of olive oil’s role in the Temple in Jerusalem gave olives even more distinction, making the olive tree one of the most vital plants in ancient Israel.

Pepper (pilpel) was well-known during Talmudic times and the word referred to both black peppercorns and the long pepper found in India today. In the Talmud (Berakhot 36), there is a lengthy discussion about the blessing to make on the Indian long pepper.

Planting (shtila) was — and remains — a central feature of the yearly cycle upon which Judaism and Israel are built. In ancient Israel, crops had to be planted at a specific time in order to be tithed at the Temple at the right time in the calendar.

Pomegranates appear in assorted contexts in the Jewish textual tradition. They are perhaps most prominently associated with the holiday of Rosh HaShanah, but also feature in various biblical, rabbinic, and philosophical contexts.

The seven species are seven special products of the land of Israel, listed in Deuteronomy 8:8. They are: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranates, olive (oil), and date (date honey). The fruits have significance in different areas of Jewish law; for example, a unique blessing is recited after eating them.

Although the Bible has no specific word for “spices,” the Talmud uses the term tavlin for these appetite-stimulating and food-improving additions, which were also used in the Temple service for the incense offering.

According to the Talmud, from Adam to Noah humans practiced vegetarianism (tzimchonut). In the Jewish sources, God's eventual permission to eat meat is often seen as nothing more than an ethical compromise and Jewish law restricts the type and way that meat is eaten.

Wine (yayin) is widely discussed in Biblical and Rabbinic sources, with the focus being on its enjoyment as well as its potential for abuse. On Shabbat — and Jewish holidays — special prayers are said over wine in order to fulfill the Biblical commandment of sanctifying the day.

In traditional Jewish texts, the Hebrew word “devash” sometimes refers to honey from bees and sometimes to the syrup of fruit, especially dates. Honey features in poetic and wisdom texts as an exemplar of sweetness, including as an allegory for the sweetness of wisdom or Torah study, and the land of Israel is often described as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Bee honey is very unusual for being a substance that is kosher despite coming from a non-kosher animal.