Job at the table

In the home of a great livestock owner of biblical antiquity like Job, the meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert. Everything revolves around bread (lèhem), which is broken by hand and dipped. The bread calls for its companions: curds (hem'a), milk (halav), honey (devash), sometimes a few lentils or figs. Meat is rare and signals a feast or the arrival of a guest. People eat seated on mats or low benches, sharing from the same dish, and generosity toward the stranger, the widow, and the orphan is part of the table ritual.

Curdled and churned milk from goats and sheep is THE signature of Job: the Book of Job (29:6) mentions the blessed time when "he washed his steps in curds." It is the prosperous shepherd's white gold, tangy and nourishing, accompanying bread at every meal.