Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Meat or Milk?

According to Jewish Law, a meal can either me meat (including poultry) or milk (which can include fish).

When I first became religious, I was taught the the Shavuot holiday was a dairy holiday, the only holiday when dairy meals are eaten. Shabbat and all of the other holidays were for meat meals, very simple.

Then, probably here in Shiloh, I discovered that there are actually people who sometimes eat dairy for Shabbat meals, and there are some who eat meat on Shavuot.

My daughter is married to a Tunisian Jew; (OK, he's descended from Jews from Tunisia.) His family's custom is to eat meat meals for all holidays and Shabbat, so she kept warning us if they were coming to Shiloh for Shavuot, I'd have to change my menu. No problem, but then when she announced that they were coming this year, she mentioned that she was expecting dairy and would bring the fish he liked.

I guess that's part of the cultural integration here of Jews from different ethnic backgrounds.

The big question is when will we start barbequing on the Holidays....

2 comments:

ifyouwillit... said...

I have heard of a number of Shavuot BBQ's, both here and in Chu"l. Personally, I am not a fan of the Shavuot dairy-fest as I don't eat chalavi at all. Luckily only one of my meals was dairy this chag and the fish was very good.

Batya said...

More and more people are discovering lactose intolerance, which makes dairy, or at least some dairy products problematic.

About the BBQ on holidays, or any cooking on holidays, even though it's permitted, I personally prefer not to. I like the "peace" of having it all ready in the fridge or freezer, like Shabbat. I don't need the added mess, smells, garbage, etc.