The basic rules of Jewish behavior at the table are stated in the Talmud’s tractate, “The Earthly Path”. A Jew should not forget about his faith at home after leaving the synagogue, each of his routine activities includes a tribute to the Lord. The eating tradition has evolved throughout the history of civilization and has made a feast an institution for strengthening family and religion.

Before eating, the Jews, in addition to washing their hands as usual, performed ritual ablutions. To do this, they poured water from a special cup twice, first on the right hand and then on the left hand, and pronounced the blessing — buraha. For each kind of food: bread, fruits of the earth, fruits of trees, pastries, dairy and meat products, there was a different text of blessing.

The set of rules about permitted and forbidden foods for Jews is called kashrut. It teaches not to be cruel, to save one’s soul and to strive for spirituality,

The food suitable for a Jew is called kosher or clean food.

Kashrut permits eating meat only of even-toed ungulates that chew the cud: cows, sheep, goats, deer, and elk. Fish is to be eaten only with scales and fins, and crayfish and mollusks are strictly forbidden. Blood, as a symbol of life, is not to be consumed, so the Jews have their own requirements for slaughtering cattle, soaking and cooking meat.

The Torah says,

It was customary in Jewish homes to have two sets of utensils and cutlery — for milk and meat. Fish, vegetables, and fruit could be eaten with both milk and meat. Fish was considered a festive food, and was cooked and served in a special way.

Jewish recipes were always interspersed with the local culinary traditions in the Pale of Settlement, especially in making bread and cookies. Shabbat challahs in the shape of birds are also a traditional form of Russian “zhavoronki” (larks) and German bread. Ladder cookies were baked on the eve of the fasting for the main holiday of Yom Kippur or Judgment Day, and the Eastern Slavs make them on the Ascension Day. The Jews also baked poppy seed rolls, honey cakes and traditional Russian pies with filling on the holidays.