Essen teg or esn teg (, literally "Eating Days") was a practice of community boarding of

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

students who came from remote places to study at a ''

beit midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), although ...

''. Families invited students to their homes to share the main meal with them on a certain day of a week on a regular basis. A student would try to arrange his ''essen teg'' for all days of the week with different families. Shaul Stampfer, ''Families, Rabbis and Education: Essays on Traditional Jewish Society in Eastern Europe''
p. 158
/ref> This tradition was extended to ''

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

'' students, since many yeshivas in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

didn't have enough funds to feed their students. The Jewish community has a long practice of hospitality, which included ''pletten'' ("meal tickets") issued to the travelling visitors of a community known since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. ''

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' (1902-1908) says: "This custom of feeding the '' bahurim'' by billeting them daily upon the members of the community originated in Poland and spread to Germany. Through the influence of Elijah Wilna the system was abolished in most Lithuanian yeshibot, and today it is to be found only in certain towns where a few ''bahurim'' dwell". The system had its advantages: it was easy to administer: students or a ''

gabbai A ''gabbai'' (), sometimes spelled ''gabay'', also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes transcribed ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden), is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some w ...

'' made arrangements; there was no need to collect and disburse funds, no need to maintain facilities. It also created opportunities for hosts: to earn a divine reward, to gain prestige by demonstrating charity, to have a good company, and in some cases to arrange a marriage for a daughter. At the same time it was criticized for being demeaning to the students and in poor communities there was a resentment for being forced to share their meager meals. In some cases an exchange was arranged: it was customary to send boys for study in some other place, and a family who boarded a student would send their own son to the native place of the visitor to board with the parent of the visitor. The story ''Eating Days'' by Lamed Shapiro tells an experience of a poor yeshiva student; in particular it details his weekly schedule of ''essen teg''.Joshua Cohen
An Offering To the Priests Of Yiddish
a review of ''The Cross and Other Jewish Stories'' by Lamed Shapiro, ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'', May 4, 2007

References

{{reflist Jewish culture Jewish education Charity Yiddish words and phrases

See also

References