Meals in Early Judaism

"Meals in Early Judaism offers a much needed evaluation of the early Jewish meal, a social and religious institution whose importance in late antique Judaism it successfully demonstrates. The book's contribution lies not only in its thorough investigation of the meal's ritual structures and literary traditions, but also in the unique theoretical framework it develops and the broad methodological approach it applies." - Gil P. Klein, Assistant Professor, Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

"This collection of studies is an important set of investigations into the ways in which Jewish ritual meals resembled and were built on Hellenistic and Roman models, and how they developed their own distinctive characteristics. No claim is made to giving a complete history, which would not be possible, but rather the contributors examine the many aspects of ritual dining: food, speech, dance, and other practices. This is an impressive contribution to a topic of continuing interest." - Carolyn Osiek, Professor Emerita, Brite Divinity School, USA