Tsevi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874) was one of the first impeccably Orthodox rabbis to argue that the Jewish people must engage in diplomatic and economic initiatives to return to Palestine. Educated by great Polish rabbis, he utilized his command of rabbinic literature to interpret the unusual events unfolding around him. What was the divine plan behind the rise of individual Jews to great power? Kalischer grew convinced that God was preparing the way for messianic redemption. He anticipated that, in his own lifetime, he would see the ingathering of the Jews, the renewed fertility of the Land...

How do contemporary American Orthodox Jews use food to create boundaries, distinguishing and dividing groups from each other and from non-Orthodox communities? How does food symbolize beliefs, sustain and grow communities, and represent commitment to God? Eating at God's Table explores answers and examples from ten years of ethnographic research in the Orthodox enclave in the west Los Angeles Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Author Jody Myers explores the food-centeredness of Orthodox Jewish religious practice and the evolutionary development of today's demanding kosher laws. Opening with four...

How do contemporary American Orthodox Jews use food to create boundaries, distinguishing and dividing groups from each other and from non-Orthodox communities? How does food symbolize beliefs, sustain and grow communities, and represent commitment to God? Eating at God's Table explores answers and examples from ten years of ethnographic research in the Orthodox enclave in the west Los Angeles Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Author Jody Myers explores the food-centeredness of Orthodox Jewish religious practice and the evolutionary development of today's demanding kosher laws. Opening with four...