Jews Welcome Coffee: Tradition and Innovation in Early Modern Germany

by Robert Liberles

Tracing the introduction of coffee into Europe, Robert Liberles challenges long-held assumptions about early modern Jewish history and shows how the Jews harnessed an innovation that enriched their personal, religious, social, and economic lives. Focusing on Jewish society in Germany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and using coffee as a key to understanding social change, Liberles analyzes German rabbinic rulings on coffee, Jewish consumption patterns, the commercial importance of coffee for various social strata, differences based on gender, and the efforts of German authorities to restrict Jewish trade in coffee, as well as the integration of Jews into society.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

190 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2012

Reviews

[Liad Magen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my first historical books, and I have enjoyed it fully! I was fascinated by the approach of examining the atmosphere during the 17-19 centuries through the relation of the orthodox jews to coffee in Europe.

If you are interested in a light read with interesting insights, and especially, if you are - like me - in love with coffee, drinking, making and its culture, I would recommend you to read the book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed this for the paper: http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...