Written by Matthew Woolf, Education & Outreach Executive
Whilst we count down the days of the Omer to Shavuot, this countdown is also building excitement for what is probably (in my humble opinion) the best culinary minhag in the Jewish calendar: cheesecake. However, many among us need to be careful about which cheesecake we go for. Shavuot is the wheat harvest festival, as well as the celebration of the giving of the Torah. The dairy signifies that we did not yet know the laws of Kashrut, while the buttery biscuit base can also nod to the wheat harvest.
However, this base has hidden dangers, namely in the form of gluten, a substance found in biscuits, and in wheat-based foods such as bread and pasta. Jewish people are genetically more likely than most to be affected by this condition, an issue that comes to the fore at Shavuot, where grain-based foods are often on the menu.
The medical name for this involuntary response to gluten is Coeliac disease. It’s an autoimmune condition, which means its symptoms are caused by the body unleashing the arsenal of weapons meant for invading bacteria and viruses onto itself. This barrage of friendly fire is triggered when the body mistakenly views gluten, a protein found in the cereals wheat, barley and rye, as a threat. This prevents sufferers from eating most pasta, cakes, biscuits and, of course, bread, complicating their relationship with Shavuot, as well as Shabbat and many other festivals.
The body’s defensive armoury is powerful, and when turned on itself can cause significant damage. In the case of Coeliac disease, initial inflammation recruits an army of white blood cells to attack the lining of the small intestine, damaging it and preventing the intestine from doing its job properly. This means nutrients cannot be absorbed as they should, and sufferers may experience bloating, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fatigue and weight loss if symptoms persist.
The underlying causes of this condition are extremely complicated, but genetics make up around 70–80% of the picture. Hundreds of genes play a small part, but the ones that do the heavy lifting, accounting for roughly half of the genetic risk, are called HLA genes. They encode the machinery required for cells to present proteins from invading bacteria and viruses on their surface, acting as red flags that mark them out for destruction by the immune system. Errors in these genes can cause cells to present gluten in this way, leading to the cascade of destruction that causes the disease.
The most common errors, or mutations, in these genes are found more frequently in the Ashkenazi Jewish community than in the general population. The reason for this goes to the heart of why we, as a charity, exist in the first place.
Throughout Jewish history, our population size has shrunk dramatically at various points. If, by random chance, people in the smaller population carried a faulty gene, they would represent a bigger proportion of the whole population than they would in a larger group. When the population expands again, that proportion can remain higher, which is why the larger population today may still be affected at a greater rate than the general population. This is the same reason Jewish communities are affected at a higher rate by many of the more serious conditions that we screen for at Jnetics.
This context suggests that the prevalence of coeliac disease is likely not new within the Jewish community, but something that may have been quietly managed by our friends and family through generations of Shavuot celebrations. Therefore, providing safe-to-eat cheesecake is a continuation, not a deviation, from these cherished traditions.
There aren’t currently any cures for Coeliac disease, but the damage caused by gluten exposure heals over time if gluten is avoided. Therefore, consider some less traditional British versions of cheesecake. You can leave out the gluten-filled buttery biscuit base and opt for a Basque cheesecake instead, enjoying all the custom of dairy at Shavuot without the pain, making the all-night learning more comfortable!
In the meantime, at Jnetics, we are wishing the best to all coeliac members of our community and hoping they can celebrate Shavuot with gluten-free cheesecake!
