Arabs Like Matzo, Too
Lisa Goldman, the writer of what may be Israel’s best irregularly updated English-language blog, has a new post up that shines some light on a little-known gustatory fact: Arabs love matzo!
She directs readers to a Ha’aretz article on this topic from last Passover:
A journalist associated with the Islamic Movement in Israel told Haaretz that he also bought Matza. “The kids can’t get enough of it,” he gleefully reported. “They eat it like crackers. But it also represents a sense of folklore for us. Maybe we like it more than Jews do because no one’s forcing us to eat nothing but Matza all day long,” he said in explanation.
But, she learned recently, this may be more than just an Israeli thing. A contact in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, recently sent her a photo of a tray engraved with Hebrew script for the word “matzo” that was for sale in a local store. The correspondent also informed her that local supermarkets sell kosher matzos, certified by a London rabbinic court.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
