More about the Book: Jews on the Chocolate Trail
Jews on the Chocolate Trail
Stories of Jews and Cacao
by Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz
The next time you pick up a piece of chocolate, consider that you are partaking in an aspect of Jewish history.
Explore the surprising Jewish connections to chocolate in this gastronomic adventure through cultures, countries, centuries and religions. Rabbi Deborah Prinz draws from her worldly travels to enchant chocolate lovers of all backgrounds as she unwraps tales of Jews in the early chocolate trade and digs into how Jewish values infuse chocolate today. Jews, Pre-Columbians, Catholics, and Protestants also connect in Jews on the Chocolate Trail through an exploration of chocolate’s religious narratives and rituals. Tasty tidbits include:
• Chocolate making in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, home to the largest and wealthiest Jewish community of its time, was known as a special Jewish industry.
• Bayonne chocolate makers today advertise that Jews brought chocolate making to France.
• Jews pioneered chocolate in North America; successful and well-known American colonial Jewish merchants such as Aaron Lopez and David Gomez traded cacao and manufactured chocolate.
• Chocolate Hanukkah gelt developed from St. Nicholas customs.
• Jewish values of caring for the needy, pursuing economic justice, protecting the environment, and promoting sustainability feed into the chocolate businesses of today.
To book a scholar-in-residence weekend or lecture with Rabbi Prinz
contact her at debbierprinz@gmail.com.
Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz, a leader in the national and regional Jewish community, currently serves the Central Conference of American Rabbis as Director or Program and Member Services. Rabbi Prinz also worked in the congregational rabbinate for many years. She is widely published and speaks on the topic of Jews and chocolate around the country.
