How to Be a Jew … Who Contemplates the Pig

For more than 3,000 years, prohibitions against eating pig have been central to Jewish dietary laws, but it’s also been a potent symbol of Jewish identity. Other nonkosher animals, like horses, rabbits, squirrels, and even vultures don’t carry the same weight that the pig does in the Jewish imagination.

Jordan Rosenblum, Jewish studies professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, joins us to talk about why. His new book, Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig, traces the history of the pig as a symbol of Jewish identity, and recently won the National Jewish Book Award for food writing and cookbooks.

Hosted by Courtney Hazlett, Rabbi Diana Fersko, and Josh Kross, each episode of How to Be a Jew takes a look at a current, cultural topic and what it means for us as Jews, and how we react to it because we are Jews.

Want to send us an email? Send it off to [email protected]

For more podcasts, visit tabletmag.com/podcasts