Holy Mack'rel

For a guy who pretends to know it all, I have some remarkably wide holes in my knowledge base. There is a smart rabbi from San Jose named Reuven Goldstein on Linkedin who offers very interesting historical posts and I saw this one the other day that got me to thinking.

My first thought was wondering if I had it all wrong and if the fish on Friday deal for the Catholics could have been a later invention than I had surmised. On second reading it made more sense.

These people were fleeing the inquisition in Iberia and merely bringing one of the customs of the old Catholic culture with them.

So when did the fish on Friday thing start? Supposedly in the first century b.c.e.

This article says that Jesus died on a Friday and he was a warm blooded animal so we don't eat warm blooded animals. Fish live in cold water so they are cold blooded so they are okay to eat.

Here is the original article at NPR.

Fish are coldblooded, so they're considered fair game. "If you were inclined to eat a reptile on Friday," Foley tells The Salt, "you could do that, too."

Alas, Christendom never really developed a hankering for snake. But fish — well, they'd been associated with sacred holidays even in pre-Christian times. And as the number of meatless days piled up on the medieval Christian calendar — not just Fridays but Wednesdays and Saturdays, Advent and Lent, and other holy days — the hunger for fish grew. Indeed, fish fasting days became central to the growth of the global fishing industry. But not because of a pope and his secret pact.

And what else did they eat? Herring. I got news for you, my ancestors ate it too, once it was pickled. 

At first, says Fagan, Christians' religious appetite was largely met with herring, a fish that was plentiful but dry and tasteless when smoked or salted. And preservation was a must in medieval times: There was no good way for fresh fish to reach the devout masses. Eventually, cod became all the rage — it tasted better when cured and it lasted longer, too.

U.S. Catholic has a slightly different take on the subject , more religious in tone, which reaches back to Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.

Christians have fasted (gone without food) and abstained (gone without certain foods, especially meat) since the beginning. The Book of Genesis teaches that all the plants and animals that God created and entrusted to human beings are good, especially those given to us as food (Genesis 1:29). Jesus taught that nothing that a person eats makes him or her evil (Mark 7:18). So why then do Christians fast and abstain?When the devil tempts Jesus in the desert with a comfortable life and a full stomach, Jesus recalls the wisdom of Deuteronomy: “One does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (8:3). Fasting and abstaining makes this real. It also hones our appetite, training us for the basic stance of a baptized person in this world:  gratitude. Doesn’t something taste better once you’ve truly hungered for it? Aren’t we more grateful for what we’ve hungered and thirsted for?Jesus recommended fasting, but not as a mere formality—and certainly not as a burden to be imposed on the poor who have to eat when they can, even if in violation of religious tradition. Instead Jesus recommended fasting when one fails to sense that God is near.The practice of eating fish is related to the day we typically abstain from meat: Friday. This is the day that Christ died, so abstaining from the shedding (and consuming) of blood seems appropriate. Friday, the sixth day, was also the day that God created animals, so abstaining from meat is a symbolic “stay of execution” for cows, pigs, and sheep—just as the cross saves us from eternal death.

So the Jews and the Catholics were down with the fish thing. What about the Protestants? Glad you asked. You probably know that Henry VIII started the Anglican Church when the Pope would not let him become Catholic because of all the divorces. 

Henry jumped gills first into the fish on Friday thing. Made it the law in fact.

Henry ascended the throne in 1509, fish dominated the menu for a good part of the year. As one 15th century English schoolboy lamented in his notebook: "Though wyll not beleve how werey I am off fysshe, and how moch I desir to that flesch were cum in ageyn."

So now back to the kids. Their tradition predates so many Christian ones, were they eating Fish on Friday too, before the previously mentioned Portuguese started the fish and chips craze in England?

Well, that's a good question. I found this on a Jewish site.

It is the custom of Jewish communities to eat fish on Friday night. Fish are seen as animals that are protected from the evil eye, since they live in the water and cannot be seen from outside the water.
Another explanation attributes the custom of eating fish to the fact that the eyes of the fish- as opposed to other animals- are always open, which is an indication to Devine Providence.
An interesting midrash states that in the desert the people of Israel tasted in the heavenly manna every flavor in the world but fish. Therefore, some link the custom to eat fish with the wish to complete the missing manna favor, thus creating a perfect "oneg (joy of) Shabbat".

Gefilte Fish

The stuffed fish, known by its Yiddish name "Gefilte Fish", is considered in some Jewish communities as a "must" dish for Friday night meals. The filling hints to the manna, the bread of the sky which did not fall on Shabbat, and was places between two layers of dew.

Meat and Fish

According to the Kabbala literature, the Shabbat is called 'a taste of the world to come'. Various midrashim describe miraculous animals such as the leviathan and the wild bull, which will be used to make a banquet in the world to come. Eating fish and meat on Shabbat reminds us of that meal.

P'tcha

Hasidic literature explains that p'tcha- jelly made out of calves' hooves- is eaten on Shabbat because it is a day of truth. Since 'lies will not stand', the p'tcha is eaten to emphasize that Shabbat symbolizes the truth, which unlike the lie, stands on firm feet.

And more from Chabad.

In Talmudic2 times, fish was considered a “delight” and was often savored on Shabbat. In fact, the Talmud relates the story of how Yosef Moker Shabbat, “Yosef Who Cherishes Shabbat,” would always buy fish in honor of Shabbat. He thus merited to discover a precious gem in the belly of a fish, which resulted in him becoming very wealthy.

So on a basic level, it seems as though fish is really just a preference, and if one prefers another food over fish, there is no reason to specifically seek it out and serve it on Shabbat.

However, the mystics explain that one should try to have fish at the Shabbat meals.3 In the words of the Shulchan Aruch Harav (quoting the kabbalists):4

It is desirable to be meticulous and partake of fish during every meal unless [a person’s physical constitution is such that eating] fish is harmful to him or he dislikes it, i.e., it brings him discomfort, not pleasure—for Shabbat was given for the sake of pleasure.

Jews throughout the generations have been meticulous to eat fish on Shabbat. In fact, halachah discusses the not uncommon scenario where non-Jewish fishermen would specifically raise the price of fish before Shabbat due to the demand.

There are many reasons given for the custom to eat fish on Shabbat. Here are 11 of them.

1. Triple Blessing

Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, known as the B’nei Yissaschar, explains that during the six days of creation, G‑d blessed three things as they were created:

1. On Thursday, He blessed the fish: “G‑d blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas . . .’”5
2. On Friday, He blessed mankind: “G‑d blessed them (Adam and Eve). G‑d said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth!’”6
3. On Shabbat, “G‑d blessed the seventh day and He declared it holy . . .”7

“A three-stranded cord will not quickly be broken,”8 says Scripture. Thus, we combine all three: man eats fish on Shabbat, and is thus blessed with the threefold Priestly Blessing:9

1. May the L‑rd bless you and watch over you.
2. May the L‑rd shine His countenance upon you and grant you grace.
3. May the L‑rd raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace.10

2. The Number Seven

On Shabbat, the seventh and final day of the week, we eat foods that are associated with the number seven. The Hebrew word for fish is דג (dag), which has the numerical value of seven.11

3. Souls of the Righteous

The mystics explain that if the souls of the righteous must return to earth, they are often reincarnated as fish, which are one with their surroundings. Unlike other animals, fish don’t need to be slaughtered, and thus they cannot become unkosher due to the preparations or any damages to their innards.

On the holy day of Shabbat, we have the extra merit and energy to elevate these souls through using them for the mitzvah of delighting in Shabbat.12

Another take.

Religions always have their fair share of strange and arcane traditions that begin to lose their meaning over the centuries, even for the most devoted of followers. 

One such tradition that is well known among Catholics around the world is the practice of only eating fish on Fridays during the Lenten season.

While this tradition has many proposed origins floating through the rumor mill, the true basis for the practice of abstaining from meat is actually much simpler and interesting than most of the standard urban legends that many people believe. 

Historically, the Jewish people would fast on Tuesdays and the Sabbath, or Friday evening to Saturday evening, and many early Christians were Jewish converts.

However, some time in the late 3rd century, the practice changed and fasting during Lent occurred on Wednesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays were significant because it was the day Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas, and Fridays because he was crucified on a Friday just before the Sabbath began at sunset. 

And there you have it.