Eating the Bible

Rena Rossner has written extensively for the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Report. Her Jerusalem Post cooking column, “The Weekly Portion,” combined recipes with biblical verse. As a mom to five kids, she is always looking for ways to bring more meaning to her family’s meals, and she blogs about this process at eatingthebibleblog.wordpress.com. She holds an MA in history from McGill University and a BA in nonfiction writing from Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars program. Her poetry and short stories have been published in various print and online magazines. Raised in Miami, she also lived in Canada and Ireland before making her home with her family in Jerusalem, but she still travels extensively to North America and the United Kingdom.

Eating the Bible is a new cookbook with recipes inspired by parts of the Bible. Author Rena Rossner was inspired to write it when one night, many years ago, someone served her a bowl of lentil soup. That week, she had heard the Bible story of Esau selling his birthright to his brother, Jacob, for a bowl of red lentil soup. Rossner wondered if she could bring others the connection to the Bible that she had felt through cooking. Every meal in Eating the Bible works towards that goal. Whether you are a beginner cook or an expert, Eating the Bible is for you. Jewish Bible stories are shared throughout the guide, especially in moments where any cook has to wait. Rossner uses the time spent waiting for water to boil to share Bible stories or commentary to make cooking a contemplative experience. These recipes create a tactile connection between the Bible and food. There are many biblically-based recipes in this cookbook, including: