Hope everybody’s having a fabulous Passover! I am reminded of 2003, when we found ourselves in Boston on the first night of the holiday, a circumstance that elicited some kvetching from the Seder-bound among our fans. In no position to postpone the concert, we thought we’d at least make it as, shall we say, Jew-y as possible. We planned to stock up on matzoh in Montreal, but one thing led to another and instead we found ourselves searching in vain in the greater Roxy area–who would ever have expected that Boston’s Chinatown would be so lacking in matzoh? We did locate a novelty shop, and inquired if perhaps they had anything identifiably Jewish. “For Pesach?” we were asked, and we knew we were in good hands. It turned out that yes, they had a Jewish item, a novelty bagel, but as a leavened bread, it was most certainly not for Pesach. But we were not in a position to be picky, and purchased the bagel. Meanwhile, we had the promoter scouring Boston for matzoh, which turned out to be no easy task–finally showing up well after the doors opened. At the show, both bagel and matzoh were at the merch table with Joe; on stage, we encored with some Jewish numbers. Only at the conclusion of the evening did we learn of the final indignity: the matzoh was not kosher for Passover. (In 2005, we performed The Sounds of Science in St. Louis–pretty much a tribute to shellfish–on the first night of Passover. Very glad Jews don’t believe in hell.)
