{"id":658944,"date":"2026-05-22T18:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658944\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:26:19","slug":"national-library-acquires-worlds-earliest-known-kosher-cookbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658944\/","title":{"rendered":"National Library acquires world\u2019s earliest known kosher cookbook"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Library of Israel has obtained a rare original copy of what is widely considered the first-ever kosher cookbook \u2014 an English-language volume published in 1846 featuring recipes, as well as household advice and beauty treatments.<\/p>\n

It is believed to have been compiled by Lady Judith Montefiore, a British linguist and philanthropist, and the wife of famous financier Sir Moses Montefiore.<\/p>\n

The book, titled \u201cThe Jewish Manual of Modern Cookery, With a Collection of Valuable Recipes & Hints Relating to the Toilette,\u201d was originally published anonymously under the byline \u201cA Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scholars later linked the work to Montefiore, one of the few Jewish women in Victorian England to hold the title \u201cLady,\u201d after researchers identified similarities between the recipes and dishes known to have been served in the Montefiore household.<\/p>\n

The acquisition came ahead of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and includes some of the earliest recorded cheesecake recipes in Jewish culinary literature, alongside a variety of dairy-based dishes heavy on butter and cream.<\/p>\n

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The cookbook also contains recipes such as \u201cPalestine soup,\u201d made with veal, chicken and Jerusalem artichokes, as well as advice on cosmetics and milk-based beauty baths that were popular among Europe\u2019s upper classes at the time.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAn undated drawing of Lady Judith Montefiore. (Courtesy Montefiore Endowment)<\/p>\n

Dr. Chaim Neria, curator of the Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at the National Library, said obtaining a physical copy of the book was significant because it marks the earliest known Jewish cookbook published in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts acquisition fits the library\u2019s mission to collect, preserve and make accessible collections of knowledge, heritage and culture of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Land of Israel, and the legacy of the Montefiore family is woven into all of these,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Montefiore died in 1862 at the age of 78 and was buried in Ramsgate, England, near a synagogue established by her husband.<\/p>\n


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\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Library of Israel has obtained a rare original copy of what is widely considered the first-ever…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[17267,97,283837,269,283835,283836],"class_list":["post-658944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-cookbook","tag-health","tag-moses-montefiore","tag-nutrition","tag-shavuot","tag-the-national-library-of-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}