The Case of the Missing Matzo -- Sightings

Being that we are in the midst of Passover, that preeminent Jewish celebration that forms the basis of the Christian celebration of the Lord's Supper/Eucharist, it is appropriate that we have an essay on this subject from Sightings. Reflecting on a lack of Tam Tam's, a mini-matzo cracker, Nora Rubel speaks to the importance of Passover in contemporary Judaism. And to my Jewish friends -- Have a Blessed Passover.

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Sightings 4/24/08


The Case of the Missing Matzo
-- Nora Rubel

"Are you ready for Christmas?" This seasonal query used to be one of my mother's pet peeves. The idea that from the day after Thanksgiving—and sometimes as early as the day after Halloween—shops would be stocked with yuletide treasures. How long does it take these gentiles to get ready for a holiday, we mused. But really, anyone who frequents a supermarket in a town with any notable Jewish population is bound to notice a certain amount of re-shelving in mid-March, and I'm not talking about chocolate Easter Bunnies and candy eggs. Kosher-for-Passover matzos replace regular matzos, and a whole array of other Kosher-for-Passover goods appear. In fact, no other holiday in the Jewish liturgical calendar takes so much forethought and preparation as Passover. Much of this anticipation is due to the time-consuming practice of clearing one's house of chametz, leavened products such as bread or pasta, as well as leavening agents, like yeast and baking soda. Additionally, observant Jews will replace their everyday dishes, flatware, and pots with those used exclusively for Passover.

Not being the most stringent observer of Passover customs, my "getting ready for Passover" usually involves last minute shopping—picking up groceries for the seder meal, enough boxes of matzo to get my family through the week, a lot of wine, and a box or two of Tam Tams—small matzo crackers. Because this shopping is last minute, I would probably be disappointed but not surprised to go the well-stocked shelves at Wegmans and find these ubiquitous crackers missing. But this year, even those who shop well in advance may miss out on these mini matzos; Tam Tams, in existence since 1940, have become a rare commodity.
Due to production delays at Manischewitz's Newark plant, Tam Tams will not be available until after Passover this year. The response? Imagine if Cadbury announced that they had no crème eggs for Easter this year and you may get a sense. A March 27 New York Times article about the mishap led to a mile-long list of responses ranging from readers concerned about the catastrophic consequences of a Tam Tam-less Passover to those who wondered what the big deal was about. Couldn't you just break up regularly sized matzos? One respondent even suggested just eating the box, "it tastes the same." Mainly, however, the reactions suggested deep disappointment. "I am bereft," one despondent blogger wrote.
Why this intense dismay over a basically tasteless cracker? Perhaps because as far as American Jewish ritual goes in America, Passover is the big one. Almost 70 percent of American Jews attend or hold Passover seders, a number that overwhelmingly exceeds those who keep kosher, light Shabbat candles, or even who belong to synagogues. Why Passover? For starters, it's a domestic practice and therefore requires no formal affiliation. It is also a holiday that holds universal themes of liberation and therefore is relevant to most, regardless of level of religious observance. In recent decades, the Passover haggadah has led to intense flexibility and creativity on the part of seder participants, many of whom expand on the original Exodus theme in order to address a contemporary concern or injustice. Some topics that have made it into printed Passover discourse include the Soviet Jewry movement, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, feminism, and even vegetarianism (as seen in the 1988 Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb). And it's not just the written words that have changed. The new practice of placing an orange on the seder plate in order to symbolize opposition to sexism and homophobia has quickly caught on in many progressive Jewish households. But mainly, according to Steven Cohen and Arnold Eisen's 2000 The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America, "Jewish memories seem to revolve around Passover more than any other single Jewish observance." And frequently, memories tend to be linked to the nexus of family and food. The presence of the Tam Tams in Passover kitchens for generations, as a medium for cheese, hummus, or what-have-you, may be as socially symbolic a food for some as that roasted shank bone on the seder plate, which symbolizes the ancient Temple sacrifices, or that newly placed orange that stands for gender equity.
So, how desperate is this situation? Apparently, it's relatively regional. I stopped by my local kosher butcher shop yesterday, and I couldn't believe my eyes. A whole shelf stocked with the missing Tam Tams! It seems they got lucky and scored four cases of the beloved crackers. The butcher said that people have been coming in to his shop just for the Tam Tams. "People are going crazy in New Jersey," he said. "I think we should list these on Ebay."

Nora Rubel is Assistant Professor of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

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This month, the Martin Marty Center's Religion and Culture Web Forum presents an essay by William Schweiker of the University of Chicago: "What Athens Has to Do with Jerusalem: Location and the Origin of Ethics." Commentary from Douglas Anderson (Loyola University), William Burrows (Orbis Books), Terry Clark (University of Chicago), Arthur E. Farnsley II (IUPUI), and Rev. Laura Sumner Truax (LaSalle Street Church, Chicago) will be posted on the forum's discussion board, where readers may also leave responses.

Access this month's forum at: http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.

Access the discussion board at:https://cforum.uchicago.edu/viewforum.php?f=1

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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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