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Book: Judaism in Five Minutes

Chapter: Why don’t Jews eat pork?

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.46842

Blurb:

While the Hebrew Bible prohibits eating pig, it also prohibits several other animals, such as the camel. In the Second Temple period, the pig begins to step out into center stage. Moving through history from antiquity to the present day, both Jews and non-Jews invest the pig with more meaning, especially in regard to Jewish and non-Jewish identity. Throughout history we discover that the pig has a complicated history and some Jews choose to eat—or not eat—the pig for various reasons, all of which inform, and are informed by, their notions of Jewish identity.

Chapter Contributors

  • Jordan D. Rosenblum ([email protected] - jdrosenblum) 'University of Wisconsin-Madison'