An Intertextual Reading of Torah and Māori Spirituality—from the Perspective of a New Zealander

In Māori contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand (henceforth New Zealand) you often hear, “Don’t sit on the table.” 1 Underlying the prohibition of sitting on tables used for food purposes is a complex binary cultural system. The comment “You are what you eat” and the practice of not permitting people to sit on dining tables concern food traditions, what goes in and what comes out of the human body, and how what enters and exits the body is regarded. Both the Māori and Jewish sayings originate in customs that lie deep within their cultures, and are based in social systems that are God-centred.