Planning a Seder? Bogged down by pre-Passover procrastination? Some resources and conversation starters from the JTA Archive:
[[READMORE]]
TIMELINE: Select Passover stories from the JTA Archive
- 1924 – Jew kicked out of communist party for providing matzah to his family.
- 1926 – During Prohibition, the Jewish Morning Journal tries to take a census based on the amount of wine purchased before Passover.
- 1929 – A skin disease researcher claims that the Hebrews escaped Egypt because Pharaoh was fat.
-
1930 – Matzah in November? The Passover bread of affliction fly off shelves in Detroit during a bread boycott.
-
1931– At the end of the year, Manischewitz strikes a deal with the Soviet Union enabling the company to deliver 200,000 11-lb. boxes of matzah the following Passover.
- 1934 – Mordechai Grossmark — "the Jewish Betsy Ross" — claims that the Manischewitz matzo company owns the largest "Jewish flag," measuring 18×12 feet.
- 1935 – JTA writer S. Ephraim describes customs of Yemenite and Bukharan Jews during the Passover Seder.
- 1945 – Jewish servicemen hold Passover Services in Nazi meeting hall on Adolph Hitler Street
- 1947 – The first T.V. Seder is broadcast from St. Louis.
- 1950 – 35,000 Jewish DPs observe first Passover in U.S.
- 1953 – Jewish servicemen on duty at the atomic test manuevers site in Nevada observe the first seder there.
- 1962 – President Kennedy allows import of flour from Israel for shmura matzah.
- 1970 – Due to unforseen circumstances, President Nixon announces the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam on the first night of Passover.
- 1977 – President and Mrs. Carter participate in their friends’ Passover Seder. (And another in 1979.)
- 1978 – First Seder held in China since 1949.
- 1980 – The Jewish Welfare Board sends "solo seder" meals to U.S. hostages held in Teheran, uncertain if they will be delivered.
- 1996 – Quebec’s French Language Office caused an uproar when it temporarily banned Passover products that weren’t translated into French.
- 1998 – The Batsheva Dance Company withdrew from a 50th anniversary performance attended by Vice President Al Gore in JErusalem after being asked not to strip down to their underwear during the Passover song "Echod Mi Yodea."
- 2000 – Two Israeli planes offering food to famine-stricken areas of Ethiopia dropped matzoh instead of flour.
More Passover items:
Discussion: Is the Passover Seder a time for family and fun? That might be missing the point, suggested Eugene Lyons in 1935. Read this essay — especially the Hitler parable at the end — and ask your Seder participants, how should we feel tonight?
Photos: 23 Passover photos from Israel (1935-1985). Courtesy the Israel National Photo Archives. Click this link, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "open all at once." To see an enlarged version of a photo, click the thumbnail the right click "open image in new tab."
10 plagues, 20th century: The parallels are inexact, but references to the Biblical ten plagues can be seen in the 20th century.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
