Some foods are stereotypically “Jewish,” and some are emphatically “not Jewish,” but why? By considering everything from pork to pickles and cholent to Chinese food, we’ll explore ways in which Jews past and present have drawn on the cultures in which they participated while preserving their own distinctive identity as members of a minority community.

Rabbi Dr. David Freidenreich studies how premodern Christians, Jews, and Muslims understood one another — because many of these ideas continue to shape contemporary attitudes and interactions. He's the Pulver Family Professor of Jewish Studies at Colby College, where he serves as chair of the Jewish studies department and associate director of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary.