RASHI, RAMBAM and RAMALAMADINGDONG
A Quizbook of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun
A Quizbook of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun
Passover 2022 is over, with a number of seders making the news. Vice president Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff hosted a seder at their residence at the Naval Observatory. Meanwhile many Ukrainian Jews celebrated seders in exile, while Jews world-wide added prayers for peace for the embattled country. In the United States, controversy surrounded a Passover product which was offered for sale before the holiday. What was that product?
szyk_Lo_Adonai by Karen is licensed under CC BY 2.0
A. Kosher Plus, a food supply company in Manhattan, offered many kosher for Passover products, including jams, candy, and tomato sauce. However, there was a mixup with their supplier in Indonesia who, based on language confusion, supplied a horseradish product that actually contained an extract from horses.
B. An alliance of young hipster Jews in Brooklyn called Broo-Jews offered a seder plate, created by one of their members, for sale on Etsy. But the plate was missing the section for Hazeret, a spot where most Jews place lettuce. Said a Broo-Jew spokesperson, “We’ve already got the Karpas slot for the parsley. No one I know could explain why there’s room for another green. Not even my rabbi. So we dumped it.” Some traditional Jews purchased the plate and were very surprised when they realized it was missing that section, and they posted angry reviews on Etsy’s website.
C. Impossible Foods created a gefilte fish based on their other non-meat products. The Impossible Gefilte, like their other products, closely mimics the flavor of the original product, yet is vegan and kosher/pareve. However, the company received criticism when they tweeted, “Impossible gefilte fish–no catfish were killed to create this product.” Apparently the person who wrote the tweet was not aware of what fish are typically used in gefilte fish, not to mention that catfish is not a kosher fish.
D. Kosher-Dekel, a New Jersey based company, offered a peel-and-stick product, designed to be easily applied to kitchen countertops, making the counters usable during Passover. The product adheres with a glue similar to that on Post-It notes, making removal extremely easy. Except that an error by the manufacturer of the product led to many consumers being unable to remove the paper, or ending up with torn shreds still sticking to countertops.
E. WonderWords, a greeting card company, produces a line of Jewish-themed cards under the name Schmooze Views. Among the cards they placed on store racks this year was a Passover card which on the outside read, “May your Passover joy rise, though your matzah should not.” However, there was an unnoticed printing error, where the inside message on the card was swapped with one on an Easter greeting card. Thus, the inside message, instead of saying “Rejoice together on Passover,” showed a picture of Jesus with the message, “Rejoice. He is risen.”
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