Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 9, 2017

Posted: Mar. 9, 2017 12:01 am

PATERSON -- As it does about every seven years, the custom of eating corned beef on St. Patrick's Day comes up against the Roman Catholic law of fasting (no meat) on Fridays during Lent.

Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of the Diocese of Paterson, which includes Sussex, Passaic and Morris counties, has issued a letter of dispensation "from the laws and abstinence" to all Roman Catholics living in, or visiting, the diocese on St. Patrick's Day.

In his letter, issued last month, the bishop added the dispensation "is given with the strong recommendation that the faithful honor both Saint Patrick and this holy season of Lent by some special work of charity or exercise of piety in place of abstinence."

Not all bishops will issue the dispensation, and some who have are advising their parishioners to exercise moderation and temperance in the celebrations of the Irish patron saint's birthday. And, in one case, the bishop of Omaha substituted Saturday, March 18, to abstain from meat, rather than Friday, March 17.

The meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes is not traditional Irish, but an American tradition for those of Irish ancestry. In Ireland, the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal would likely include pork or lamb, according to Smithsonian.com.

In Irish tradition, cows were sacred and only the very rich or Irish royalty would eat beef, and that was usually because the cow had become old or sick and had to be killed.

When the English conquered Ireland, there was plenty of land to raise cattle and ship them to England, where beef was the main meat in the diet. When importing live cattle was banned in England, the Smithsonian reports, the cattle were slaughtered in Ireland, the meat packed in salt, then shipped to England.

Much of the cattle raised in Colonial America was also salted with crystals the size of a kernel of corn and shipped to England.

When the potato famine struck Ireland in 1845, about 1 million Irish died and another million immigrated to America.

Being poor, many Irish settled into neighborhoods adjacent to Jewish neighborhoods, and it was the Jewish tradition of salting beef that the Irish adopted, buying their meat from kosher butcher shops.

That kosher beef has a milder, less salty taste than the English version, and the Jews often cooked the beef with potatoes and cabbage.

The Irish in America celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a part of their heritage and included parades, feasting and celebrating, while the Irish, until the latter part of the 20th century, still considered the day to be a religious holiday.

In fact, it wasn't until American tourists began visiting Ireland in the past half-century that Irish pubs were allowed to be open on such a religious holiday.

Bruce A. Scruton can also be contacted on Twitter: @brucescrutonNJH or by phone: 973-383-1224.

Go here to see the original:
Bishop: Meat's OK on St. Patrick's Day - New Jersey Herald

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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