The Labour Party really has outdone itself here. They’ve offered a Passover greeting to Jews. Nothing wrong with that in the slightest of course and it’s usual politics. Offering greetings and salutations for Diwali, Christmas and all and any other religious festivals observed by any more than trivial number of potential voters is entirely standard.
But illustrating such a greeting for Pesach with a loaf of bread is a bit like offering a congratulatory tipple to the local AA chapter. The question becoming what caused this?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Labour has deleted a Passover message on social media after it came under fire for featuring a loaf of bread.[/perfectpullquote]Yes, bit of a blunder:
You see, rather the point of the celebration is the absence of bread:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The week-long festival is celebrated annually in Judaism, during which observers are prohibited from eating leaven – a substance used to make baked dough rise.[/perfectpullquote]In more detail:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Chametz (Hebrew: חמץ ḥamets, “leavening”) is made from one of five types of grains[43] combined with water and left to stand for more than eighteen minutes. The consumption, keeping, and owning of chametz is forbidden during Passover. Yeast and fermentation are not themselves forbidden as seen for example by wine, which is required, rather than merely permitted. According to Halakha, the ownership of such chametz is also proscribed. Chametz does not include baking soda, baking powder or like products. Although these are defined in English as leavening agents, they leaven by chemical reaction, not by biological fermentation. Thus, bagels, waffles and pancakes made with baking soda and matzo meal are considered permissible, while bagels made with sourdough and pancakes and waffles made with yeast are prohibited. [/perfectpullquote]They’re really quite keen on it.
As to why Labor made this gaffe sure, we could say it’s all part of that Momentum inspired antisemitism. If you hate people you’re not going to bother to understand them, are you? Our own interpretation is simply that Labour are irremediably and irredeemably ignorant. But then we knew that because they’re in the Labour Party, right?
It’s all part of the tearing down of societal structures without thinking of any replacements. Even I, completely bored out of my mind in RE lessons, managed to pick up the “passover = preparing to flee, no time to make dough = unleaved bread” shtick. I always pictured it as like the thin pikelets we had as kids, flour, fat, water, chucked hurridly on a hot surface. (think: yorkshire pudding mix cooked in a frying pan).
mmmmm….. hungry. 🙂