Hebrew food vs. Jewish food

Viewing 15 posts - 46 through 60 (of 85 total)
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  • #27115

    Sarah28394
    Participant
    There actually isn't such a thing as 'Hebrew' food. Hebrew is the language while Jewish is the religion (also used sometimes to refer to the culture.) I've found a lot of people aren't aware that there is in fact a difference, but just think of it this way: it's like saying that you're eating American food vs. English food (English as in the language.) So to answer your question-it was Jewish style food that you ate. As a side note, Hebrew is also the official language of Israel, and if you are eating food from that country, (Mediterranean style) than you would say you are eating 'Israeli food.'

    User Detail :  

    Name : Sarah28394, City : Madison, State : WI Country : United States, 
    #47095

    Dave
    Participant
    I think it would be most correct to say that what you ate is food that some Jews eat sometimes. Nothing is especially 'Jewish' or 'Hebrew' about what you ate. As to the difference between terms, 'Hebrew' refers to an ancient enthnic group that no longer exists as such. However, types of food they consumed people today still know how to make. 'Jewish' can mean a million things. It can mean something that is 'Kashrut,' or 'kosher' or it can mean something that Jews in a specific culture happen to be eating. The rules of deciding what is Kosher also vary among different groups of Jews since obviously not all Jews haev the same standards or are religious.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Dave, Gender : M, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : Researcher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 
    #24083

    C-Jacobs
    Participant
    I've never heard of something described as Hebrew food. I would think that Jewish food means food traditionally made by Jews (i.e. cholent/hamim, kugels, gefitle fish, matzo balls, hamentashen, etc.). However, there is another thing called Kosher food, and that is food made according to the guidelines provided by the Torah (both written and oral). This includes not mixing meat and milk, not eating pork or shellfish, and many, many other rules. Also, I've heard of 'Kosher-style' food, meaning traditional Jewish dishes made with little or no regard to the laws of the Torah.

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    Name : C-Jacobs, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 29, City : Beit Shemesh, State : NA Country : Israel, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    #45367

    Deborah D.
    Participant
    The culture, including the food, is Jewish. The language used by those who are instructed in the ways of the religion is Hebrew. Jews don't usually refer to ourselves as Hebrew, but rather as Jewish. Therefore, food sold at a Hadassah event would be considered Jewish food, not Hebrew.

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    Name : Deborah D., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 54, City : Harrisburg, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : disability rights advocate, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 
    #41815

    Nancy
    Participant
    I'm an American-born immigrant to Israel. The short answer is there's no such thing as 'Hebrew' food. From your description, it sounds like you ate food typical of Jews whose background is Eastern European (the dominant Jewish ethnic group in the US). In Israel, which is home to Jews who came from all over the world, the menu is much more widely varied - from gefilte fish (typical of Eastern European Jews) to spicy stuffed spleen (typical of Moroccan Jews). One important note - while the term 'Jewish' food refers to cultural distinctions, the term 'kosher' food refers to a body of laws governing the preparation of food. These laws are observed by all practicing Jews, regardless of national origin.

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    Name : Nancy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Raanana, State : NA Country : Israel, Occupation : Hi-tech, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    #44419

    Leah26110
    Participant
    Its jewish food. THats what my family calls ir, or i guess like jewish deli. But Jewish people speak hebrew, not jewish.

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    Name : Leah26110, City : San diego, State : CA Country : United States, 
    #16564

    Shalom Staub
    Participant
    'Hebrew' refers to a language, whether the ritual language of Jewish prayer and the Bible or the contemporary language of Israel. It does not commonly refer to food. You will hear 'Israeli' food as a reference to common dishes you will encounter in Israel: Israeli salad, humous, felafel, etc. 'Jewish' food is a term commonly heard in the United States to refer to the culinary traditions of Jews, principally from Eastern European ancestry, to refer to common Jewish foods or dishes: bagels and lox, chicken soup, gefilte fish, etc. 'Kosher' food refers to any food or dish that is prepared according to the Jewish religious dietary regulations derived from the Bible and refined in rabbinic tradition: separation of meat and dairy dishes, exclusion of pork and seafood, consumption of meat only from kosher slaughtered animals, etc. Having said all this, it's hard to know exactly what food the Hadassah organization was selling, perhaps kosher food, probably Jewish dishes, possibly Israeli foods.

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    Name : Shalom Staub, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 48, City : Harrisburg, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : professor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 
    #30761

    Steve27856
    Participant
    It is not 'Jewish food' or 'Hebrew foood'. It is Kosher food. It follows the dietary laws described in the Hebrew Bible.

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    Name : Steve27856, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 70, City : Hendersonville, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : Professional Loafer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 
    #16692

    Tom24107
    Participant
    There's no such thing as ' Jewish ' food or ' Hebrew ' food...but there is Kosher food. It just means that the food meets Jewish dietary laws. For example, if it was a steak, the cow was killed in a Jewish fashion...the slaughterhouse was inspected and/or blessed by a rabbi and the animal had it's throat cut very quickly so as to lessen the pain of the animal, meet Jewish customs etc.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Tom24107, City : Calumet City, State : CA Country : United States, 
    #15264

    Paula
    Participant
    Hi Ann, Hope this will answer your great question. I'm Jewish and live in Canada. Jewish food would be things that you would find in a Jewish type deli or restaurant such as bagels and lox, knishes, kamishbroit cookies or many other things. I've never heard the term 'Hebrew food' so can't answer to that. However, some Jewish people keep kosher. This means they don't mix milk and meat/chicken dishes. So for instance you wouldn't put butter on your baked potato if your were eating turkey, chicken or meat. Also you would wait 6 hours after eating meat/poultry before eating say ice cream or having cream in coffee. There are non-dairy cream or type of milk that you could use that would be ok after eating meat or poultry. Fish is not in this category so you could have butter with fish. hope this clears up the confusion.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Paula, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 44, City : Surrey, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : teacher, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    #26031
    What difference does it make if you're an atheist? Anyway, you will discover the answer when you pay for what you bought.

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    Name : Harry Highstreet, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Aliens, Disability : Mental, Race : First Place, Religion : Messlopian, Age : 68, City : St. Clair, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : Author, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 
    #44480

    Pat
    Participant
    More than likely it is Jewish, but very likely Kosher. Kosher means that the food is prepared or manufactured under the auspices of a local or regional Jewish authority, usually a Rabbi. The Rabbi makes sure that the Halakahlic ( rules of the Road to living Jewishly) laws are followed in the preparation of the food. No matter what you call it, a nosh is always a good thing! :)

    User Detail :  

    Name : Pat, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Jewish, Age : 48, City : Poughkeepsie, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Supervisor TV, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 
    #24060

    dana27198
    Participant
    Hebrew is a language while jewish is a religion. I think most jews today consider themselves Jews and Hebrews the people in the bible. If you convert you become a jew. Enjoy the food.

    User Detail :  

    Name : dana27198, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 34, City : minneapolis, State : MN Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    #28980

    Jason31243
    Participant
    Ann, I'm not sure which answer is correct, but I think it depends upon how you define 'Jewish' and 'Hebrew'. Does one denote the religion and the other an ethnicity or a cultural background? I'd say there isn't much difference, since culturally the two could be considered synonimous. When identifying an ethnic group, the terms are also synonimous. Probably a better question would be which sub-group (Judaism, like all other religions has it's own differing schools of progressives and orthodoxy, identified largely by regions they lived in during the past 1500 years) developed the foods you enjoyed (i.e.- eastern Europe vs. Iberia, etc.) In short, I don't think there's much difference between the two. Anyone else may correct me if I'm wrong.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Jason31243, Religion : Jewish, City : Pensacola, State : FL Country : United States, 
    #22610

    Eli-T
    Participant
    I believe that the best way to describe the food you purchased would be cultural jewish food. This is because it is only related to judaism through the evolution of north american jewish culture. To the best of my knowledge Hebrew is a language and not a description so i don't think you could call any food hebrew.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Eli-T, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 20, City : Guelph, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : student, Social class : Middle class, 
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