Latke–Hamantash Debate

Logo from the annual debate at the University of Chicago in 2013

The Latke–Hamantash Debate is a deliberately humorous academic debate about the relative merits and meanings of these two items of Jewish cuisine. The debate originated at the University of Chicago in 1946[1] and has since been held annually. Subsequent debates have taken place at several other universities. Participants in the debate, held within the format of a symposium, have included past University of Chicago president Hanna Holborn Gray, philosopher Martha Nussbaum, former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Leon M. Lederman, and essayist Allan Bloom. A compendium of the debate, which has never been won, was published in 2005.

Background and history

Latkes with sour cream
Hamantashen with milk

A latke is a kind of potato pancake traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Fried in oil, latkes commemorate the holiday miracle in which one day’s worth of oil illuminated the temple for eight days. Hamantashen are triangular wheat-flour pastries with a sweet filling which are traditionally eaten on the holiday of Purim.

A debate on their relative merits was first held in the winter of 1946 at the University of Chicago chapter house of the Hillel Foundation, sponsored by Rabbi Maurice Pekarsky.[2] Participants in the debates have included Nobel Prize winners and MacArthur Grant Fellows.[3] After the debate, both foodstuffs are usually served at a reception afterwards, offering debaters and listeners an opportunity to evaluate primary sources.[4]

The flagship debate at the University of Chicago is now organized by the Lambda chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi.[5] The debate had been moderated by University of Chicago philosophy professor Ted Cohen for over 25 years until his death in March 2014.[6][7] Several long-standing customs are observed at the University of Chicago: the debaters must have gained a Ph.D. or an equivalent advanced degree, arguments are encouraged to be made using the specific technical language of their discipline, participants must present themselves in academic regalia, and the debaters must include at least one non-Jewish individual.[8]

Commentary

The events have attracted commentary from a number of individuals. Aaron David Miller, who served as a peace negotiator between Israeli and Palestinian authorities, noted that the critical feature of the debate is that it is intractable, but that the event is "simply too important to abandon."[9] Discussing the event's original purpose at the University of Chicago, Ruth Fredman Cernea observed that scholarly life discouraged exploration of Jewish traditions and did not facilitate ethnic relationships between students and faculty: "the event provided a rare opportunity for faculty to reveal their hidden Jewish souls and poke fun at the high seriousness of everyday academic life."[4][10] On a practical note, Cernea commented that examinations and term papers would cause stress in the student body and that the event served to help alleviate such tension toward the end of the fall.[11] She also argued that the debates reflected broad ethnic changes in the United States when they were founded, and represented gradual integration.[11]

Notable debates and arguments

The debaters represent a range of academic disciplines. Some of the entries are described below:

Debates at other institutions

Latke–Hamantash Debates have been held at several other universities including:

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Shticking to Their Puns". University of Chicago Magazine 98 (2). December 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  2. Cernea, Ruth Fredman, ed. (2006). The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. xix-xi. ISBN 0226100235.
  3. 1 2 Okrent, Arika (8 December 2012). "8 Great Arguments from the Latke-Hamentash Debate". Mental Floss. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Shticking to Their Puns". University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  5. http://chicagomaroon.com/2012/12/04/aepi-lands-great-latke-debate/
  6. Cholke, Sam. "Latke or Hamantash? University of Chicago Profs Debate Superior Jewish Food". DNAInfo. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  7. O'Donnell, Maureen (24 March 2014). "Ted Cohen, University of Chicago philosophy professor who took humor seriously". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  8. Cernea, p. xxi.
  9. Rosenberg, Yair (21 February 2013). "Judaism’s Epic Food Fight". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  10. Gluck, Robert. "Latke or Hamantash? The Debate Rages On". JNS.org. Jewish and Israel News. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 Lerner, Saul (Winter 2007). "The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate (review)". Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 25 (2): 221–224. doi:10.1353/sho.2007.0036.
  12. Cohen, Ted. "Excerpts from The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  13. Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958), p. 35
  14. Cernea, p. 189.
  15. Cernea, p. 71.
  16. 1 2 "Latkes vs. Hamantashen: The Promised Food". Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  17. Steven Pinker's lecture website
  18. {{cite web|last1=Robbins|first1=Hollis|title=Latke Hamantaschen Debate|url=
  19. January 2015}}
  20. "Latke vs Hamentaschen: The Great Debate 2011 | MIT Hillel". hillel.mit.edu. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  21. Blackmun, Harry. "County of Allegheny v. ACLU 492 U.S. 573 (1989): Case". Justia US Supreme Court. Justia. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  22. Wilgoren, Jodi (25 November 2005). "Such Sound and Fury! Tradition! Einsteins in Food Fight of Words". New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  23. Dekhtyar, Sonya; Solomon, Lee; Libenson, Dajniel. "Age-Old Debate Confounds Experts Again at U of C Hillel’s Latke-Hamantash Debate". Jewish United Fund. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  24. Abowd, Mary (14 November 2014). "68th Latke-Hamantash Debate set for Nov. 25". UChicago News (University of Chicago). Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  25. http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/homent.html
  26. "Adler and Rabinowitz Fight Viciously over Latke, Hamantaschen". Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  27. "atkes vs. hamantaschen settled".
  28. Akhtar, Allana (19 November 2013). "Professors engage in spirited debate on Jewish foods". Michigan Daily. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  29. "Profs Face Off on Latkes Versus Hamantaschen". Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  30. "Proof of the Superiority of Hamentashen over Latkes".
  31. "Prattle of the ages: Hamantasch vs. latke". Archived from the original on 15 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  32. "Latke-Hamantasch Debate Becomes Verbal Food Fight". Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  33. "Professors debate merits of latkes, hamantash". Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  34. "The First Annual UConn Latkes vs Hamentashen Debate". Retrieved 2015-12-07.

External links

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