I attended to a talk by Professor David Freidenreich about religion and left with a lot to chew on. As a Christian, I often forget about other religions. I’m from the West Coast, Seattle to be specific and I’ve only ever encountered people who are Christian. Since coming to the East coast, I’ve become more aware of Jewish people and their faith. My upbringing didn’t discuss Judaism. The only Jewish person, I knew of was Jesus. As a result, my understanding of the Jewish faith was left to media and we all know that is never the best way to learn about a group. Subsequently, I have carried invalid ideas and beliefs about the Jewish. However, on this day, that all came to an end.

While I know that many factors are used to divide Jewish, Christians and Muslims, Freidenreich’s perspective of food was an interesting lens.

Freidenreich said that if a rabbi, minister and a priest all walked in a restaurant, they would have be discord of eating. The dietary restrictions of each religion would “prove tragic.” However, this image is reminiscent of middle school lunch table politics or the racial segregation in dinners. Food has always been a uniting force but history will show that we use this setting as a way divide and belittle.

Which brings me to the point of the entire discussion.  These dietary restrictions created an “us vs. we” mentality for religious groups. Dietary restrictions were how each group held their claim to holiness. And in a sense, their dietary laws were a reflection of their religious doctrine as well. For Jewish, their strict laws helped to keep them distinct and sanctioned as God’s chosen people, while Christians loose food laws represented the inclusiveness of the their religion.

After walking away from a space that was primarily Jewish, I felt a bit of bitterness from the speaker’s depiction of Christians. For so long, I have been operating under the context that Jewish people are just a powerful as Christians. But, I was deceived. That day I learned that Jewish people are in fact a religious minority. For me, this means that I have to due away with my own deeply ingrained stereotypes, inaccurate accounts and privilege as a Christian, in order to provide a space to hear and learn about Jewish culture. While I’m thankful for the opportunity to have been allowed to sit at a different table for the day and understand a small part of their culture, I welcome the chance for more inter-faith experiences and conversations.