Jews Welcome Coffee: Tradition and Innovation in Early Modern Germany (Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry)
“Liberles teases out unique insights into the financial, religious, and social structure of the Jewish community of early modern Germany through their ties to coffee. But, the greatest benefit of reading his book is realizing how a single edible can be treated as a lens for historical research, proving: ‘Ideas alone do not change history,’ sometimes food does.”—Forward“Jews Welcome Coffee tells a surprisingly high-stakes story about the way a single beverage transformed the existing Jewish culture in Europe, and how its status went from a prohibition to an addiction.” —MyJewish Learning.com“Liberles does articulate intriguing ideas about an interesting pocket of intersection between history, culture, and religious law. Liberles’ research is thorough and diverse throughout, and each chapter of Jews Welcome Coffee presents an entirely new lens through which to examine the history of coffee consumption as we know it today.”—Jewish Book World“Jews Welcome Coffee does an excellent job not only giving background information about its subject, but in portraying the daily life of those who drink it . . . it is filled with thought-provoking insights about how small changes in culture can affect all members of a society.”—The Reporter, Vestal, NY