BREAD. We learn from the Epic of Gilgamesh that bread was offered to the gods over five thousand years ago. Since that time, wherever grain has been cultivated, bread has held a place of honor in rituals. Bread is the staff of life and often, as in the Lord's Prayer, stands for food in general.

Raised bread was invented by the Egyptians, who made it the basis of their administrative system. Although the Israelites used bread in many of their religious rites and the Greeks honored a bread goddess, it was Jesus who exalted bread to the highest religious value when he said, "This is my body."

In early agricultural societies, the first fruits of the harvest were offered to the gods (cf. Lv. 23:15–22). For the harvest feast, Shavuʿot, the Feast of Weeks, the Israelites were instructed to bring two loaves of bread made of wheaten flour...