Dr. Jordan Rosenblum, Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will deliver this year’s Margolis Family Lecture on Thursday, September 18, at 7 pm, in Casadesus Hall, located in the Fine Arts Building of Binghamton University. His talk, based on his award-winning book, is titled “Forbidden: A 3000-Year History of Jews and the Pig.” The lecture is open to the general public and free of charge. The talk is sponsored by the Moses Margolis Lecture Fund, the Judaic Studies Department and the College of Jewish Studies. It will serve as the first in the fall 2025 College of Jewish Studies Lecture Series, with further lectures to be announced shortly. For questions, contact kschull1@binghamton.edu or call 607-777-3070.
“Forbidden: A 3000-Year History of Jews and the Pig,” published in 2024 by New York University Press, won a National Jewish Book Award in the category of Jewish Food Writing and Cookbooks. According to the author: “Jews do not eat pig. This (not always true) observation has been made by both Jews and non-Jews for three thousand years. Over time, the pig becomes a popular metaphor for Jewish/non-Jewish identity. This talk explores this historical development. Starting in the Hebrew Bible, where the pig is tabooed, but not necessarily singled out more than other food prohibitions, we see the emergence of the pig as a symbol of Jewish identity in the Second Temple period and beyond. From the Talmud to modern television shows, we follow the pig as it forages through Jewish history.”
Rosenblum’s research focuses on the law, literature and social history of the rabbinic movement in general and, in particular, on Jewish food regulations. His previous books include “Rabbinic Drinking: What Beverages Teach Us About Rabbinic Literature” (University of California Press 2020), “The Jewish Dietary Laws in the Ancient World” (Cambridge University Press 2016) and “Food and Identity in Early Rabbinic Judaism” (Cambridge University Press 2010). He is also the co-editor of four volumes, including “Feasting and Fasting: The History and Ethics of Jewish Food” (New York University Press 2019) and “Animals and the Law in Antiquity” (Brown Judaic Studies 2021).