Tonight many Jewish families hold the Seder, the ritual meal celebrating the holiday of Passover. Many Americans are unfamiliar with the customs of this dinner, such as recounting the Exodus story as told in the ancient Maxwell House Haggadah and the obligation to drink four glasses of wine (oh, the sacrifices …).
One seasonal custom puzzling to Gentiles is the appearance of canned Kosher cookies in American supermarkets. Many Jews are puzzled as well, since the cookies are macaroons made with coconut, chocolate, and other ingredients not prominent in the Old Testament.
Origins of the Passover macaroon are shrouded in mystery. Some believe the dense sweets derive from hastily assembled desserts prepared by the Israelites as they fled Egyptian bondage on a route devoid of donut shops. Others maintain that, in the nineteenth century, rabbinical scholars exploring caves near the Dead Sea uncovered a huge cache of ancient canisters of sweet, rock-hard, unleavened biscuits. Each spring these pious prospectors slapped “Kosher for Passover” labels on the cans and exported them to the growing Jewish community in the United States, and a tradition was born.
“Christmastime for the Jews,” a Robert Smigel stop-action animation featuring the voice of Darlene Love in a “Wall of Sound” production, from a 2005 Saturday Night Live episode (lyrics here).
Gut yom tov to all, and to all a good night.
Related:
“Why American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas,” Adam Chandler, The Atlantic
“Google offers proof: People really do love to eat Chinese food on Christmas,” Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post
“The War on Jewish Christmas must be stopped,” Daniel W. Drezner,Washington Post
“Are Jews Doomed to Lose the War on Jewish Christmas?” Paul Waldman, The American Prospect
“Why ‘Jewish Christmas’ (Movies and Chinese Food) is Going Mainstream,” Sarah Seltzer, Flavorwire
“Fa-La-La-L’Chaim: Why It’s Okay For Jews to Celebrate Christmas,”
Charlotte Alter, TIME
“Holy Night: The little-known Jewish holiday of Christmas Eve. Seriously.” Benyamin Cohen, Slate
“Green Chri$tma$,” a 1958 send-up of holiday commercialism by humorist Stan Freberg, who was also an award-winning advertising executive. Music Director Billy May led the Columbia Records house orchestra and Jud Colon Chorale. At first the record was denounced as sacrilegious and many radio stations refused to play it, but the reality of this satire’s target became all too evident.
“I Want Eddie Fisher for Christmas,” written by Joan Javitz (Javits) and Phil Springer, the pair who wrote “Santa Baby.” Recorded by Betty Johnson in 1954.
The nonprofit National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY has received a $500,000 grant from the New York State government. Appalachian Jamestown is the birthplace of Lucille Ball, who left when she was 3 years old. Her family later moved to nearby Celoron, a lakeside village with a great amusement park, and young Lucy understandably prefered living there. After her family went broke and moved back to Jamestown, 14-year-old Lucy soon left for New York City. Somehow Jamestown got the Comedy Center and Celoron got a really ugly statue of Lucy (later replaced).
It will cost $50 million to complete the Comedy Center. That’s a lot of whoopee cushions. State funding totals $14 million, the U.S. Department of Commerce kicked in $2 million, and the balance has come from private foundation sources. The center will open in 2018, but Jamestown held its annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival last week, and there seems to be a Lucy-Desi Museum there, too. If you want to pay your respects, Lucy’s remains were moved to Jamestown’s Lake View Cemetery.
More:
“Editorial: While some joke about a comedy center in Jamestown, the concept makes sense,” Buffalo News
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Top image (“National Comedy Center — artist’s conception”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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“Pesach Funk,” music by Mark Ronson, Philip Lawrence, Jeff Bhasker, and some guy named Bruno Mars; lyrics by Aish.com, Micah Smith, and Michael HarPaz. Cover Track by Ido Zeleznik and Michael HarPaz; performed by Michael HarPaz.
