6th century Amphorae with Menorah Representation from Phanagoria

During excavations in 2019 in Phanagoria at the Lower City site, two amphorae with red paint dipinto representing a seven-lamp menorah were found in a fire layer dating from around the middle of the 6th century. Representations of seven-armed candelabrum on amphorae and generally on containers were a sign that they contained a kosher food, i.e. suitable for consumption according to Halakha – a corpus of laws guiding activities of a Jew. Thus, the published amphorae attest to the presence of a Jewish community in the city in early Byzantine time and fill a chronological gap in a short list of archaeological and written evidence about the Jewish community of Phanagoria, moreover, the fact that the vessels were found at a fairly close distance from each other in a narrowly dated gated complex may indicate the presence of a Jewish quarter there. The finds are of particular importance due to the fact that the number of amphorae and other vessels with dipinti representing a menorah known to date is rather insignificant. Their findings are known only from excavations in several centres of the Northern Pontic and Palestine.

We’re On A Mission From G-D: Thornhill As A Walkable Jewish Suburb

Jewish Thornhill, located in Vaughan, York Region, was intentionally designed and planned as a walkable Jewish suburb. Though it is an auto-oriented suburb, Thornhill is also a walkable neighbourhood that caters to the distinct needs of its large Jewish community. Orthodox Jews require ready access to kosher food; they also require synagogues within walking distance as they do not drive cars or take transit on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. The master planning of Thornhill was made possible by developers who recognized the Jewish community’s predictable migration pattern along Bathurst Street and purchased land in Thornhill two decades before the Jewish community had reached Thornhill. Topics that were researched for this paper included walkability, Toronto’s Jewish history, the intersection of religion and urban planning, and smart growth.

We’re On A Mission From G-D: Thornhill As A Walkable Jewish Suburb

Jewish Thornhill, located in Vaughan, York Region, was intentionally designed and planned as a walkable Jewish suburb. Though it is an auto-oriented suburb, Thornhill is also a walkable neighbourhood that caters to the distinct needs of its large Jewish community. Orthodox Jews require ready access to kosher food; they also require synagogues within walking distance as they do not drive cars or take transit on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. The master planning of Thornhill was made possible by developers who recognized the Jewish community’s predictable migration pattern along Bathurst Street and purchased land in Thornhill two decades before the Jewish community had reached Thornhill. Topics that were researched for this paper included walkability, Toronto’s Jewish history, the intersection of religion and urban planning, and smart growth.

Becoming Jewish, Believing in Jesus

This book investigates a growing religious movement fusing beliefs and rituals deriving from Charismatic Evangelicalism and Judaism. Unlike analogous phenomena found in the West, such as Messianic Judaism (where Jewish-born people identify as believers in Jesus) or Christian Zionism (Evangelicals who emphasize the role of the Jews living in Israel by embracing Zionist activism), it addresses a different dimension of this trend emerging from the Global South. Based on an ethnography conducted during 2013–2015 within a religious community in Brazil, this book explains why former Charismatic Evangelicals (with no Jewish background) are adopting Jewish tenets and lifestyles. Focusing particularly on women’s conversion narratives, it investigates the reasons why Brazilian Charismatic Evangelicals are embracing rules derived from Orthodox Judaism, such as strict dress codes, eating kosher food, and observing menstrual taboos, while believing in Jesus as the Messiah. The analysis indicates that Judaizing Evangelical communities should be understood as a revival seeking to restore Christianity. The incorporation of Jewish elements aims to rebuild the authenticity of Christianity while distinguishing them from Charismatic Evangelicalism and its perceived scriptural inaccuracy, moral permissiveness, and materialism. This revival also involves recovering a collective past. References to a hidden Jewish heritage and a “return” to Judaism are mobilized for justifying strict adherence to Jewish practices. Drawing upon a sociocultural analysis, this study examines the historical, theological, religious, and subjective reasons behind this emerging Judaizing trend in Charismatic Evangelicalism. This book also engages with the literature of religious conversion, cultural change, and debates examining religious hybridization processes.

Attitudes toward food fraud in Israel and Germany

PurposeThe current research focused on attitudes toward food fraud (AFF) and examined the impact of types of food fraud, gender differences, and country of residence.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sample of German (n = 151) and Israeli (n = 496) participants was recruited through an online survey. They filled out a sociodemographic questionnaire and AFF scale, which includes three subscales: organic fraud, kosher fraud, and spraying fraud.FindingsThe results indicate that there is a significant effect of type of fraud, country of residence, and gender. German participants expressed more negative attitudes toward organic food fraud and less negative attitudes toward kosher fraud than Israeli participants. Women expressed more negative attitudes toward organic and kosher food frauds than men.Originality/valueThis study offers insight into cross-cultural and gender differences in attitudes toward food fraud. The findings suggest that public attitudes toward food fraud represent not just severity of possible consequences, but also environmental and religious aspects of consumption, norms and culture.

Jewish Ethics, the Kosher Industry, and the Fall of Agriprocessors

Where kosher goods and services were once a local business, kosher food is now a multibillion-dollar industry with a massive international infrastructure. The process of kashrut’s industrialization over the course of the twentieth century has created new ethical challenges that invite us to ask again about the meaning of long-held Jewish values. This chapter considers how the mitzvah (commandment) of loving the neighbor might be expressed and how it failed to be enacted in the high-profile scandals at Agriprocessors kosher slaughter plant in Postville, Iowa, the largest glatt kosher slaughter facility in North America. Going beyond describing the problem, this chapter argues for an extension of traditional Jewish understandings of loving the neighbor and asks what the kosher industry might be like if it followed the lead of ethical business leaders like Aaron Feuerstein instead of taking the destructive path that Agriprocessors followed ultimately to its bankruptcy.