[Sca-cooks] "Glatt Kosher" and "Ashkanzic Kosher"?
Lilinah
lilinah at earthlink.net
Sat Aug 2 14:37:17 PDT 2008
Stefan li Rous
>and others, Sepharic? Jews across Africa and up through Spain
You got it backwards :-)
Many Jews moved to the Iberian Peninsula while it was under Roman control.
When it became al-Andalus, Spain, and Portugal, Iberian Jews
eventually began calling themselves Sephardim. In 1492 the Sephardim
were thrown out of Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. Not all were
found at that time, so the expulsions continued into the next century
or two. And even Jews who had converted to Christianity were treated
badly for centuries (as discussed in "A Drizzle of Honey"). They are
known as Marranos and the family names are recognized even today, so
that, although it has been over 500 years, some are still treated
with prejudice in some place (or at least were even into the 1980s
and 90s...).
Anyway, a lot of Spanish Jews fled to North Africa, while a smaller
number fled to the Netherlands. The first Jews in the colonies that
became the USA were Sephardim, the oldest is Touro Synagogue, which
was founded in 1658, in Newport, Rhode Island, by Portuguese (i.e.
Sephardic) Jews.
Many Sephardim also ended up in the Ottoman Empire. However not long
OOP-for-the-SCA the Ottomans began persecuting the Jews.
>but I hadn't realized that the food
>restrictions were different
The Ashkenazim, and the Sephardim, and the Mizrachim (Jews who never
left the Middle East) have different rules. Certain things are true
for all of them, but when it comes to what is allowed for
Passover/Pesach, the Ashkenazim tend to be "xenophobic" about foods,
as someone on this list put it. The Sephardim and the Mizrachim allow
foods that the Ashkenazim forbid.
For example, during Passover, Jewish law prohibits the consumption of
foods containing leavening (esp. yeast), or any food made of the
"five species" of grain - generally considered to be wheat, rye,
barley, spelt, or oats - which might ferment. The exception is
matzoh, which is ritually supervised to make sure no leavening occurs.
The Ashkenazim also will not eat rice, legumes (chickpeas, lentils,
beans, etc.), or corn/maize during Passover, while the Sephardim
(and, i think, the Mizrachim) will eat them. Some major US soda
producing corporations make special "kosher for Passover" sodas
without corn syrup. Soy is another problematic item, and the
Ashkenazim won't allow it for Passover, but IIRC, the Sephardim, at
least, can consume soy. Basically, if it's unfamiliar, the Ashkenazim
ban it during Passover.
Some small evangelical Christian denominations also keep Kosher,
since that is how Christianity was originally - follow all Jewish
laws, plus recognize Jeheshua (aka Jesus) as the Meshiach (aka
Messiah). It was Paul who decided he'd get more converts by not
making the gentiles have to keep Kosher, and by not making the
gentile males get circumcised. I've got a Christian Passover Haggadah
in my collection...
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita
My LibraryThing
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lilinah
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