{"id":892,"date":"2011-07-13T15:47:28","date_gmt":"2011-07-13T19:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/windowsanddoors\/?p=892"},"modified":"2011-07-13T15:47:28","modified_gmt":"2011-07-13T19:47:28","slug":"medieval-jewish-traditions-both-culinary-and-spiritual-continue-in-today%e2%80%99s-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/07\/medieval-jewish-traditions-both-culinary-and-spiritual-continue-in-today%e2%80%99s-new-york-times.html","title":{"rendered":"Medieval Jewish Traditions, both Culinary and Spiritual, Continue in Today\u2019s New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love the New York Times\u2019 Dining<\/em> section<\/a>.\u00a0 Each Wednesday, I look forward to reading the articles and reviews, most of which food and drink that I can\u2019t eat because it\u2019s not kosher.\u00a0 But not consuming and nor appreciating are two entirely different things.\u00a0 In fact, there is a long-standing debate in rabbinic tradition about the appropriate relationship one ought to have with forbidden foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some teachers suggest that by virtue of being forbidden, the foods and drinks which fall into that category are somehow less good and certainly ought to be disregarded by Jews.\u00a0 Others though, and with better grounding in the Mishna and Talmud, relate to forbidden foods as wonderful products of creation which are, for reasons beyond the scope of this post, forbidden to Jews, but sources of wonder and beauty in their own right.\u00a0\u00a0 Needless to say, I side with those in the second camp.<\/p>\n

Today however, I got a double scoop of culinary pleasure from the lead article in the Times\u2019 Dining section, in an article about wine being produced in the Champagne region of France.\u00a0 The article was filed from Troyes, France <\/a>\u2013 the city where Rashi, perhaps the most widely read biblical commentator lived, and where he also produced wine along with wisdom.\u00a0 For me, this was captivating stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 Interestingly, it turns out, that a version of the same issues which captured Rashi\u2019s mind and heart are still capturing the hearts and minds of contemporary wine-makers in the region.<\/p>\n

Many wine-makers in the region are wrestling with a new way of making wine \u2013 wine, which unlike champagne, is not blended to reflect the house which produces it, but more closely reflects the specific ground and grapes which went into the bottle.\u00a0 That was very much an issue for Rashi as well \u2013 in his commentary, if not his casks.<\/p>\n

Rashi\u2019s commentary on the bible is composed almost exclusively of selections from ancient rabbinic midrashim which Rashi strung together to create a response to the questions which emerged from the text before him.\u00a0 Like the traditional bottlers of champagne, he created a \u201chouse brand\u201d \u2013 a kind of commentary which mixed and blended from various strands of the received tradition to create something which is recognizably and coherently his own.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, other medieval commentators struggled to either present past traditions in a form as close to the original as possible, or to offer their own original contributions in as direct and pure form as possible.\u00a0 As the Times\u2019 article points out, there is room and reason for each of these approaches in the making of wine.\u00a0 And as we know from earlier days in the exact same region, there is room and reason for both of these approaches in reading the bible as well.\u00a0 To be reminded of that by the Times, is especially tasty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love the New York Times\u2019 Dining section.\u00a0 Each Wednesday, I look forward to reading the articles and reviews, most of which food and drink that I can\u2019t eat because it\u2019s not kosher.\u00a0 But not consuming and nor appreciating are two entirely different things.\u00a0 In fact, there is a long-standing debate in rabbinic tradition about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,3],"tags":[67,131,128,68,17,127,130,129],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-judaism","category-news","category-pop-culture","tag-bible","tag-bible-commentary","tag-food-and-wine","tag-hebrew-bible","tag-judaism-2","tag-new-york-times-dining","tag-rashi","tag-wine"],"yoast_head":"\nMedieval Jewish Traditions, both Culinary and Spiritual, Continue in Today\u2019s New York Times - Windows and Doors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/07\/medieval-jewish-traditions-both-culinary-and-spiritual-continue-in-today\u2019s-new-york-times.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Medieval Jewish Traditions, both Culinary and Spiritual, Continue in Today\u2019s New York Times - Windows and Doors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I love the New York Times\u2019 Dining section.\u00a0 Each Wednesday, I look forward to reading the articles and reviews, most of which food and drink that I can\u2019t eat because it\u2019s not kosher.\u00a0 But not consuming and nor appreciating are two entirely different things.\u00a0 In fact, there is a long-standing debate in rabbinic tradition about…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/07\/medieval-jewish-traditions-both-culinary-and-spiritual-continue-in-today\u2019s-new-york-times.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Windows and Doors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-13T19:47:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Hirschfield\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Medieval Jewish Traditions, both Culinary and Spiritual, Continue in Today\u2019s New York Times - 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