Yemen: Muslim and Jewish Interactions in the Tribal Sphere · 131social order would not be disrupted and that the people would not be
punished by Heaven. The basic Yemeni attitude toward the Jewish reli-
gion stems from Islam, which views Judaism as a legitimate monotheistic
religion and therefore tolerable. The Jews were expected to observe their
own religious laws and thus contribute to the general well-being. Public
deviation from Jewish religious law was not acceptable, and a good Mus-
lim would not hesitate to rebuke such behavior.^21
Two Jewish religious principles were best known to the Muslims of
Yemen: the dietary laws and observance of the Sabbath. Jews knew that
the Muslims of Yemen were familiar with the requirements of Jewish di-
etary law; therefore, they did not refrain from eating at their tables. Many
Jewish craftsmen and peddlers traveled around the tribe’s territory for
weeks, even for months, working in the villages and coming home only
for the Sabbath or on holidays. As there were often no Jewish settlements
en route, they stayed with Muslim acquaintances and, in return, gave
their hosts something from their merchandise. These travelers ate milk
products and bread in their hosts’ vessels and in the homes of Muslims
in which they worked.^22 A Jewish peddler in the Rada ̔ district relates: “I
remember an Arab woman at whose house I stayed and I ate there. She
used to say, ‘ya yahudi, eat! You are on my conscience. I am responsible.
If there is a sin it would be on me.’ That means that the milk vessel is not
used for meat dishes, and the Arabs know it. The Arabs have faith. They
are religious.”^23
Jews also ate food prepared by Muslims in other circumstances. In the
village al-Jum ̔ah of the Khawlan district, in the first half of the twentieth
century, the Jews were required to pay the Jizya by working one day a
year in the fields of the village shaykh. On this day, the shaykh used to
provide them with breakfast and lunch: ̔asid (meal porridge) and samna
(clarified butter) and sheep’s milk, “and we even ate in their vessels!”^24
Jews participated in their Muslim neighbors’ important life cycle events,
like weddings and mourning ceremonies.^25 In such cases, the Muslims
respected the dietary laws of their Jewish guests:
When Sayyid Salaḥ passed away [circa 1920], we went to his fu-
neral, about twelve people from Rada ̔. After the shaykh was bur-
ied, his sons did not let us return to Rada ̔, by any means. They
said that the Jews would stay [as their guests] for a whole week.
They gave us a special house, laborers to help us, and even took