Meals in Early Judaism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Susan Marks

      Pages 1-12

3. Ten Theses Concerning Meals and Early Judaism

   1. Ten Theses Concerning Meals and Early Judaism

      • Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, Susan Marks, Jordan D. Rosenblum

      Pages 13-39

4. Section I

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 41-41

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   2. Thinking about the Ten Theses in Relation to the Passover Seder and Women’s Participation

      • Judith Hauptman

      Pages 43-57

   3. Food and Identity in Early Rabbinic Judaism

      • Jordan D. Rosenblum

      Pages 59-70

   4. In the Place of Libation: Birkat Hamazon Navigates New Ground

      • Susan Marks

      Pages 71-97

   5. Performing Myth, Performing Midrash at Rabbinic Meals

      • Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus

      Pages 99-114

5. Section II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115

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   2. The Pivotal Place of the Therapeutae in Understanding the Meals of Early Judaism

      • Hal Taussig

      Pages 117-128

   3. The Food of the Therapeutae: A Thick Description

      • Andrew McGowan

      Pages 129-137

   4. The Ritual Dynamics of Inspiration: The Therapeutae’s Dance

      • Matthias Klinghardt

      Pages 139-161

   5. Contrasting Banquets: A Literary Commonplace in Philo’s On the Contemplative Life and Other Greek and Roman Symposia

      • Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus

      Pages 163-173

   6. Next Steps: Placing This Study of Jewish Meals in the Larger Picture of Meals in the Ancient World, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity

      • Dennis E. Smith

      Pages 175-181

6. Back Matter

   Pages 183-204

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This is the first book about the meals of Early Judaism. As such it breaks important new ground in establishing the basis for understanding the centrality of meals in this pivotal period of Judaism and providing a framework of historical patterns and influences.

• Judaism
• meals
• Rabbinic
• Rabbinic Literature
• ritual
• Philo
• Food
• Jews
• Christianity
• identity
• novel

"Meals in Early Judaism offers a much needed evaluation of the early Jewish meal, a social and religious institution whose importance in late antique Judaism it successfully demonstrates. The book's contribution lies not only in its thorough investigation of the meal's ritual structures and literary traditions, but also in the unique theoretical framework it develops and the broad methodological approach it applies." - Gil P. Klein, Assistant Professor, Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

"This collection of studies is an important set of investigations into the ways in which Jewish ritual meals resembled and were built on Hellenistic and Roman models, and how they developed their own distinctive characteristics. No claim is made to giving a complete history, which would not be possible, but rather the contributors examine the many aspects of ritual dining: food, speech, dance, and other practices. This is an impressive contribution to a topic of continuing interest." - Carolyn Osiek, Professor Emerita, Brite Divinity School, USA

Ellen Bradshaw Aitken, McGill University, Canada Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, Wheaton College, USA Judith Hauptman, Jewish Theological Seminary and Rabbinic Culture, USA Matthias Klinghardt, Technische Universitaet, Germany Andrew McGowan, University of Melbourne, USA Jordan Rosenblum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Dennis Smith, Phillips Theological Seminary, USA

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