Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  132—135

  Bar Kokhba revolt. Again large numbers of Jews are killed or enslaved.

  c. 140

  The office of exilarch (Reish Galuta), leader of the Babylonian Jewish community, is established. It is a hereditary position among a lineage from King David.

  c. 200

  The Mishnah ("review/repetition" in Hebrew) is redacted by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, incorporating primary opinions as well as many dissenting opinions on the oral law of sages from the time of the destruction of the Temple; these sages are known as Tannaim (repeaters). The Mishnah is divided by topics into six sederim (sections), and each seder is subdivided into a total of sixty-three masechtot (literally "webs," called tractates).

  219

  Abba Areka, known as Rav, founds a Talmudic academy in the Babylonian city of Sura, located near a fork in the Euphrates River about forty miles south of modern Baghdad. For nearly eight centuries, the yeshiva will be a predominant spiritual and intellectual center of world Jewry.

  259

  Judah ben Ezekiel founds an academy in Pumbeditha (present-day Fallujah), along the Euphrates about forty-three miles west of modern Baghdad. It will rival and sometimes surpass Sura. The heads of Sura and Pumbeditha, initially elected by scholars of the academy, serve as the spiritual leaders of Babylonian-Persian Jewry and later, with the decimation of the Israeli Jewish community, of world Jewry.

  326

  Constantine, who converted to Christianity, moves the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium. Anti-Jewish policies accompany the ascendancy of Christianity, producing a dramatic decline in the Jewish community of Israel.

  358

  Hillel II institutes a set Jewish calendar, the final major act of the Sanhedrin.

  c. 368

  The discussions on the Mishnah and commentaries of Israeli rabbis after the Mishnah, known as Amoraim (speakers), are compiled in Tiberias. This collection, called the Gemara (Aramaic meaning "study"), together with the Mishnah, forms the Jerusalem Talmud (Hebrew meaning "learning").

  425

  The nasi Gamaliel VI is executed by the Byzantine emperor, who abolishes the position of nasi and disbands the Sanhedrin. The center of Jewish spiritual life shifts to Babylon.

  450—470

  The Sassanid persecution of Jews in Babylon includes shutting down Talmudic academies and the forced conversions of children to Zoroastrianism.

  c. 475

  The Babylonian Talmud is compiled, consisting of discussions and commentaries of Babylonian and some Israeli scholars after the Mishnah; the text is modified during the following century by rabbis called Savoraim (explainers).

  476

  The last Roman emperor is deposed. The ensuing five centuries in Europe are known as the Dark Ages. During much of this period, Jewish merchants control most of the international trade between the Christian and Muslim worlds, as well as the Silk Road to eastern Asia.

  580

  Sassanid repression resumes in Babylon and the academies are shut.

  589

  Sura and Pumbeditha reopen. The heads of the academies are subsequently appointed by the exilarch and known as gaon (from Psalms 47:4, gaon Ya'akov , "the pride of Jacob"). The geonim hold centralized spiritual authority over world Jewry for about 450 years.

  638

  Arabs under Omar I capture Jerusalem. The Arab conquest of the Middle East between 624 and 661 eliminates the anti-Jewish leaders of the Levant and Persia. By 650, the vast majority of world Jewry lives under Muslim rule. The Covenant of Omar establishes the Jews' status among Muslims as dhimmi (a protected subordinate community). In some areas and times, Jews are treated well, while in others they face severe repression and humiliations.

  711

  The Moors conquer Spain.

  755

  Umayyad rule in Spain produces the golden age of Spanish Jewry, a period of tolerance, economic prosperity, and intellectual and cultural achievement. This period comes to an end in 1146 when the fanatical Almohades, a Berber confederation from Morocco, conquer the country.

  761

  Anan ben David, disgruntled at being passed over for the exilarch, rejects rabbinic Judaism and founds what would become the Karaite sect, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.

  *800

  Charlemagne is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, encompassing western Europe eastward to the Elbe River and southeastward to the Danube River. The initial growth of Ashkenazim begins.

  857

  Amram Gaon issues the first siddur (prayer book), including the first recorded Passover Haggadah.

  934

  The emergence of the fanatical Persian Buyid dynasty, which soon controls most of Persia and Babylon, oppresses the area's Jews. A series of events in the Islamic world produces a major shift in demographics and influence, as European Jewry begins to take precedence. Also at this time, taxation and denial of land in Muslim and Christian areas leads Jews to a shift from agriculture to urban locations and commerce and crafts.

  1038

  Hai Gaon of Pumbeditha dies, ending the Geonic period and centralized religious authority in Judaism and beginning the period of the Rishonim (early sages), in which local scholars serve as spiritual leaders.

  1040

  Rabbi Sholomo ben Yitzhak (Rashi), the essential Talmudic commentator, is born in Troyes, France.

  c. 1080

  Fanatical Almoravides outlaw Judaism in Spain. Jewish life in Iberia subsequently shifts to the Christian areas in the north, where Jews are tolerated and secure until 1390. During this time, Sephardim continue to develop a sophisticated cuisine.

  1096—1099

  During the First Crusades, Jews are massacred in the Rhine Valley and Germany and Israel. The Crusades end the dominant role of Jews in international trade.

  1105

  Following the death of Rashi, his sons-in-law, grandsons, and students, encompassing about two hundred rabbis in France and Germany, known as the Tosafists (additions), explain the Talmud and Rashi's commentary, forming the bedrock of future Ashkenazic scholarship.

  1135

  Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides/Rambam) is born. His family flees Spain in 1148 due to the fanatical Almohade sect. His seminal work, Mishneh Torah , finished c. 1178 in Egypt, is the first compendium of the full range of Jewish law. Maimonides, in his role as physician, is the first Jewish source to mention chicken soup.

  1144

  The first known blood libel against Jews occurs in Norwich, England. Many more will follow in many parts of Europe.

  1147—1149

  The Second Crusade repeats violence against Jews and damages Ashkenazic life in France and Germany.

  1187

  Saladin captures Jerusalem from the Crusaders.

  1189—1192

  The Third Crusade fails to retake Jerusalem from Saladin, while the Jews of England suffer.

  1215

  The Fourth Council of the Lateran requires Jews to wear special clothing, most notably the Judenhut (a pointed hat or cloth hood) and yellow badge.

  1240

  Mongols and Tatars (Turkic peoples incorporated into the Mongols) invade Ukraine and, in the following year, southern Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

  1254

  Jews are expelled from France by Louis IX, ending the Tosafist era. Ashkenazic life shifts to central Europe and increasingly to eastern Europe. For the ensuing two centuries, Germany will be the predominant influence on Ashkenazic cookery, including gefilte fish, gedempte fleisch (pot roast), klops (meat loaf/meatballs), kugels, knaidlach (dumplings), tzimmes, kichlach (cookies), and lekach (honey cake).

  c. 1286

  Moses de Leon of Guadalajara, Spain, publishes the Zohar, which he attributes to the Tannanic rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The Zohar, an immense commentary on the Bible in the Midrashic tradition, is the central work of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism).

  1290

  The Jews are expelled from England.

  1298

  The
Rindfleisch massacres begin in Germany, decimating its Jewish communities.

  c. 1300

  The first mention of pasta in a European Jewish source outside of Spain and Sicily appears in Italy in the writings of Kalonymous ben Kalonymous, who mentions "macaroni and tortelli" (filled pasta).

  1333

  Casimir the Great becomes king of Poland. During his reign, he invites Jews to settle in Poland and issues a series of charters protecting them.

  1347

  The Black Death begins in Europe as do attacks on Jews for poisoning wells. Subsequently, the center of Ashkenazic culture will be in eastern Europe and Ashkenazic foods will become increasingly Slavic, including borscht, blintzes, chrain (horseradish), pirogen, knishes, kishke (stuffed derma), and kasha varnishkes (buckwheat groats with noodles).

  1453

  Constantinople is conquered by the Ottoman Turks, ending the Byzantine Empire and bringing relief to the Jews from Byzantine oppression.

  1475

  The first printed Hebrew book to bear a date, the Bible with Rashi's commentary, is published in Reggio, Italy. This follows the world's first printed book, Johannes Gutenberg's Bible, published in 1452.

  1480

  The Spanish Inquisition is established.

  1492

  More than 200,000 Jews are expelled from Spain on the ninth day of Av (another 200,000 remain behind as Conversos and another 200,000 had been murdered in the preceding century). In the following year, 137,000 Jews are expelled from Sicily, which is under Spanish rule. Most Sephardim settle in the Ottoman Empire. Oppression of Sephardim and Mizrachim produces a major shift in demographics—before 1492, there were around 700,000 Mizrachim, 400,000 Sephardim, and 150,000 Ashkenazim. Within two centuries, there were about 1 million Jews in Muslim lands and 1 million Ashkenazim, and the Ashkenazic numbers would continue to grow.

  1497

  Portugal forces Jews to convert.

  1506

  Tatars from the Ural Mountains and Crimea begin a series of incursions into eastern Europe lasting for more than a century, killing and enslaving many people. Among the foods and techniques introduced by the Tatars during this time are stuffed cabbage, filled pasta (kreplach, pelmeni , and pirogen), buckwheat ( tatarki in Yiddish), and lacto-fermentation (pickles, sauerkraut, and rosl beets), transforming eastern Ashkenazic cookery.

  1516

  Venice, Italy, establishes the first ghetto.

  1516

  The Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and take control of the land of Israel. Suleiman rebuilds the crumbling walls of Jerusalem, but the city inside declines under Ottoman neglect and misrule.

  1520

  The first printing of the Talmud is published by Daniel Bomberg of Venice, with a layout still generally used today featuring the commentaries of Rashi and the Tosafists.

  1526

  In the Battle of Mohács, the Ottoman Empire captures most of Hungary; the Ottomans retreat only in 1687. During this time, they introduce many cooking techniques, foods, and dishes to central Europe, including paprika, pogácsa (cookies/biscuits), palacsinta (crepes), and yufka (strudel dough).

  1529

  The siege of Vienna ends, halting the Ottoman advance into Europe at its farthest point.

  1564

  Rabbi Joseph Caro's Shulchan Arukh , a compendium of Jewish law from the Sephardic perspective, is published in Venice. In 1571, the glosses of Rabbi Moses Isserles of Kraków are appended to the Shulchan Arukh , making it the preeminent guide to Jewish law among both Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The Shulchan Arukh marks the end of the period of the Rishonim and beginning of the period of scholars of lesser authority, the Acharonim (later Sages).

  1610

  The first mention of bagels is found in the records of the Kraków Jewish community. In another four centuries, the bagel will become the most famous of Polish Jewish foods.

  1648

  The Chmelnitski pogroms devastate Polish and Ukrainian Jewry, killing about 100,000 Jews and uprooting hundreds of communities. Before the massacres, the Jewish population of Poland and the Baltic States was about 450,000.

  1648

  Shabbatai Tzvi declares himself the messiah and his followers spread through many Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities; in 1666, when threatened by the Ottoman sultan, he converts to Islam. In the wake of Chmelnitski and Shabbatai Tzvi, Ashkenazim experience a profound religious and spiritual collapse.

  1654

  Twenty-three Sephardic refugees from Recife, Brazil, arrive in New Amsterdam. In the following year, the Dutch West India Company permits them to settle in New Amsterdam and they become the first Jewish community in North America. For the following century and a half, Sephardim constitute the predominant force in the American Jewish community.

  1655

  Oliver Cromwell readmits Jews to England.

  1683

  The Battle of Vienna is the turning point in the Ottomans' 250-year advance into Europe. Crescent-shaped breads and pastries, connoting the symbol on the Ottoman flag, become widespread in Austria.

  c. 1740

  Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, founds Chasidism. Within a few decades, his mystical movement is adopted by two-thirds of eastern European Jews. Many other European Jews at this time, however, turn to the Haskalah (Enlightenment), which stresses rationality and a scientific approach to religion and engenders a wider engagement of Jews with the non-Jewish world. In the following decades, a number of Chasidim as well as their religious opponents (Mitnagdim) move to Israel to observe a more holy life.

  1772

  In the First Partition of Poland by Austria, Russia, and Prussia, more than 1,200,000 Jews are incorporated under Russian rule.

  1790

  Scottish explorer James Bruce reports the existence in Ethiopia of a group of black Jews known as Falashas and calling themselves Beta Israel (House of Israel).

  1791

  Russia establishes the Pale of Settlement, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, the only area of Russia open to Jews. At this time, there are about 1 million Jews in Muslim lands and 1.5 million Ashkenazim, most residing in the Pale.

  1802

  The first sugar beet—refining factory opens in Silesia, Germany (now southwestern, Poland). Soon sugar becomes, for the first time, an important component of Ashkenazic food, especially in Galicia (now southern Poland).

  c. 1830

  Political oppression and lack of economic opportunities lead to the large-scale immigration of German Jews to the United States. Germans remain the predominant force in the American Jewish community until overwhelmed by the arrival of millions of eastern Europeans in the early twentieth century.

  1834

  The Spanish Inquisition finally ends.

  1838

  Isaac Singer of Alsace introduces the first machine for rolling out matza dough.

  1839

  A two-year famine in Ukraine and Poland followed by a short cooling period in Europe lead to potatoes being widely planted and consumed in the area for the first time. Potatoes become the mainstay of the eastern Ashkenazic diet and contribute to the subsequent tremendous population growth. The potato kugel and latke soon become iconic Ashkenazic foods.

  1840

  The Ottomans retake Jerusalem. A census four years later shows 7,120 Jews in the city along with 5,760 Muslims and 3,390 Christians.

  c. 1844

  The Shamouti, a mutation of a native Israeli orange, appears. In three decades, this sweet, juicy fruit with extraordinary shipping abilities will become known as the Jaffa orange.

  1860

  Mishkenot Sha'ananim, funded by Moses Montefiore and Judah Touro, becomes the first Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood built outside of the city's walls.

  1870

  Israel Rokeach opens a kosher soap factory in Kovno, Lithuania, using the color blue for dairy and red for meat. He is the first person to use chemistry in the pursuit of kosher observance, and his soap becomes the first product under rabbinical
certification.

  1878

  Petach Tikva, the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement in Israel, is founded northeast of Jaffa.

  1881

  The assassination of Czar Alexander II sparks government pogroms, killing tens of thousands and leading to a major wave of Jewish immigration to America and Israel, the First Aliyah. Between 1881 and 1920, more than 2 million Jews flee the Russian Pale and Romania.

  1883

  Jacob Horowitz rents a bakery in New York City to make hand matzas. In 1888, he is able to purchase his own bakery.

  1888

  Dov Behr Manischewitz begins baking matzas in Cincinnati, Ohio. By 1900, he introduces a mechanized plant producing 50,000 tons of matza a day. The company becomes America's largest producer of kosher foods.

  1888

  Brothers Isaac and Joseph Breakstone open a shop in Manhattan to sell milk, butter, and traditional eastern European dairy products, helping to popularize sour cream and later cream cheese.

  1889

  Baron Edmond de Rothschild sends high-grade European grape vines to Israel. To process their yield he builds a large wine cellar in Rishon-le-Zion and, in 1892, a second one in Zichron Ya'akov.