[Sca-cooks] siting table in Middle-eastern style.

[Judith Epstein]

On Sep 11, 2009, at 9:35 AM, Susan Lin wrote:

> I don't have much and no sources but you've already noted one  
> arrangement
> here - Islamic and Jewish men and women would not have been seated
> together.  Quite likely they would have been in different tents.   
> You would
> need to follow Halech (sp?) or Kosher laws regarding what foods may be
> served together and what foods are prohibited.
>
> -S

Jewish: Jewish law is called halachah, stemming from the word  
'holeich' meaning 'walk'. In other words, the law is the pathway on  
which you walk, the way in which you go. If there are different tents,  
it's often preferable to separate men into one and women into the  
other. If there's only one tent, men sit on one side and women on the  
other. In most cases, there's a curtain hung in between for the sake  
of modesty. In some cases, the curtain is lowered -- for instance, at  
a wedding, the curtain runs down the center of the tent or room. The  
bride and groom sit very near to the curtain, she on the women's side  
and he on the men's side, so they can be near one another, even while  
separated by the modesty curtain. Permitted foods or practices are  
called kosher (KOH-shur) or kasher (kah-SHARE). Non-permitted foods or  
practices are called tamei (ritually impure), treifah or  
'treif' (torn), or simply lo-kasher (not kosher). The word kosher or  
kasher means fit or proper according to halachah.

Muslim: Much the same, I'm pretty sure, though I am no expert and you  
should check with someone who is both a believer and practitioner of  
Islam. Permitted foods or practices are called halal; non-permitted  
foods or practices are called haram.

While there is a good bit of overlap in the laws of kosher slaughter  
and halal slaughter (zabiha), not all the dietary restrictions are the  
same with Islam and Judaism. Thus, just because something is halal  
doesn't make it kosher, and just because something is kosher doesn't  
make it halal.

For both, the separation of the sexes is meant to preserve the ritual  
purity, dignity, respect, and reputation of both men and women. Laws  
of modesty are meant to do the same, and apply to both sexes, though  
in slightly different form because each gender has different parts of  
the body that are considered too holy for common/vulgar viewing.