Last Monday, I got to listen to Professor David Freidenreich talk about religious differences within the context of food practices in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Within each of the three religions, I was surprised to find that each of the religions have developed rules and regulations for not only how food is prepared, but who serves it, and who is allowed to share food with one another.

He opened the talk with a joke about a priest, a minister, and a rabbi walking into a bar together, but realistically, he pointed out, that these three people would never have walked in anywhere together at all. Rather, they each would most likely reserve their own tables apart from each other, ordering a meal according to their belief system. Now, having a separate belief system of how one should eat food is fine with me, but when it comes down to a belief that one is better than the other, the system becomes a matter of who is better than whom and a matter of keeping the other person out.

One of Freidenreich’s more interesting parts of the talk was where he defined the Jewish practice of eating kosher food. Normally, this is meant to mean food that is deemed worthy of eating because it has been blessed by a rabbi, but it has originally meant food that was created in order to separate the Jews from gentiles in the surrounding areas. So the practice of Jews not eating pork began to withdraw them from sharing meals with gentiles. And it was these practices among many other dietary laws that led Jews to believe that they were closer to God for following these laws.

Foods across cultures are meant to unite people, not separate them. As for the title of this entry, I say, so what if a priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar? That shouldn’t stop them from believing in what they do and being able to share with one another.