“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end.” St. John 13:1
Maybe you saw the article
in the Washington Post last week about matzoh man’s visit to Farragut Park[1]. Maybe, at least, you remember the
unforgettable picture. Matzoh Man is a
rabbi, Shmuel Herzfeld of Synagouge Ohev Sholom in Northwest. About this time every year he dresses in his
matzoh suit and kippah, which are white with brown spots. He revs up the matzoh mobile, a Crown Vic
wrapped in a vinyl coating that makes it look like the ubiquitous Jewish
cracker.
And he drives downtown to
pass out boxes of the unleavened bread, all the while wishing people a happy
Passover and reminding Jews to keep the Seder at home this year. He’s ready to give you the matzoh you need,
to invite you to the community seder at his synagogue, to do everything he can
to awaken the consciousness of America’s increasingly secular Jews to remember
their ancient traditions and to celebrate God’s faithfulness once more this
year.
The Post reporter, who
was obviously having a great time with the article, asked rabbi Herzfeld why he
does it. And as I was reading, I thought
to myself: “this guy is going to say he was a performance artist in his former
life, or that he finished last in the rabbinical council’s fantasy football
pool.” Why else would a well-educated,
successful religious leader go downtown dressed like a Saltine to shame his
fellow Jews into keeping the Seder.
