Why on this night, only matzah? Matzohgate 1996

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, then you’ve probably heard me say that I’m Jewish girl from Montreal a time or two. Well, it just so happens that this Friday is the first night of Passover. For those who might not be familiar with this holiday, think the movie The Ten Commandments, but for real. It’s an annual holiday where Jews gather to remember the liberation of the Jewish peoples from enslavement in Ancient Egypt.* The celebrations take place over seven days and seven nights. On the first two nights, family members will gather to have special meals called seders, where the story is recounted. The holiday is intended to be one of remembrance and celebration. At least, that was the case in Montreal until April 1996. So join me today as we travel back in time to see what happened when the Jewish community of Montreal went head to head with the Quebec government in an event that has come to be called “Matzohgate.”

(Do you know where the quote from the titles comes from? Read to the end of the blog post to find out!)

 

Quebec Language Law History

 The origins of this dispute lie in the passage of Bill 22, otherwise known as the Official Language Act of 1974, by the National Assembly of Quebec. Drafted and enacted under Liberal Premier Robert Bourassa, this law made French the only official language of Quebec, and strictly regulated the usage of other languages in a number of areas, most notably in education. It was followed three years later by the expanded (and notorious) Bill 101, also known as the Charter of the French Language. This second piece of legislation was drafted and enacted under Parti Québécois Premier René Lévesque.

A detailed overview of Bill 101 is beyond the scope of this blog post, but the principal goal was to build on and expand the protections afforded the French language in Bill 22 by making French the working language of the province. Some of the most important aspects of Bill 101 had to do with regulating access to English-language schools, and, as it is relevant for this piece, regulating the use of non-French language in commerce. Specifically, Bill 101 required that all commercial signs, labels, instructions, manuals, etc. be in French. Other languages were permitted only as translations of the French text and if they were given less prominence.

Expert Tip: Bill 101 was, and remains, highly controversial in Quebec. And I am not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

 

Fun with Jewish Dietary Laws

This specific aspect of Bill 101 presented a problem for the Jewish community of Montreal during Passover. Many of you may be familiar with the terms “kosher” or “kashrut,” which refer to Jewish religious dietary laws. These laws forbid the consumption of certain foods like pork or shellfish and the mixing of meat and dairy products. Foods that are labelled as “kosher” are highly regulated by local organizations called the Vaad Ha’ir, who will allow their stamp to be used on commercial products that they have certified as “kosher.” While keeping kosher is still an important part of Jewish religious life, not all Jews keep kosher.

Expert Tip: There are as many ways of keeping kosher as there are Jews. Some will follow the restrictions entirely. Some will only follow them when at home. Some will make certain exceptions. Others, like myself, don’t keep kosher, but were raised with the principle of not mixing meat or milk. And then there is “kosher style,” which refers to the preparation of Jewish foods that are not certified as kosher. Confused? Me too. Add to the fact that in Montreal there are several kosher certifying boards, and they never don’t always get along. That’s why you’ll sometimes see products labeled as MK, K, U, and several other signs.

However, most practicing Jews will follow a second set of kosher guidelines specifically for Passover, called “kosher for Passover” for short. The most important aspect of these guidelines is that that the consumption of leavened bread is forbidden. The reason for this being that when our ancestors fled Ancient Egypt, they didn’t have enough time to allow their bread to rise before it was baked. In honour of this, any foods with leavening (cakes, cookies, bread, muffins, etc..) are forbidden during the seven days of Passover. Instead, Jews will eat unleavened bread that is called matzah, or matzoh, or cardboard, depending on who you are asking. There are also additional regulations to be considered, which is why there is a separate certification for foods that are kosher for Passover.

Expert Tip: I know it’s called Matzohgate, but I’ve always spelled it matzah. And thought it doesn’t quite taste like cardboard, but it’s not exactly the most wonderful thing ever. Unless it’s coated in chocolate, in which case, it’s all mine. I was rather disturbed to see the different kinds of matzah they make these days though… egg and onion? ::shudder::

All foods that are consumed for Passover must have this certification, with the exception of raw foods (like produce and meat). In general, prior to Passover, many Jews will clean their entire kitchens and remove any foods that are not kosher for Passover. And, for the duration of the holiday, they will only consume products that are certified kosher for Passover.

Expert Tip: What counts as chametz (leavened foods,) depends to a large extent on the ethnic origins of Jews. For example, in the Ashekanzi community (Eastern European), this includes legumes, rice, and corn. However, these same restrictions are not followed by Sephardi Jews (North African). If you want a real brain twisted: not all matzah is kosher for Passover…. 😮

 

American Imports and Language Politics

The vast majority of kosher for Passover products were, and still are, imported from the United States, since there isn’t a big enough market to justify the existence of a Canadian producer. But since these products are produced in the US, their labelling is entirely in English. They have no financial incentive to produce special packaging just for the Quebec market, and refuse to affix French labels to Quebec shipments.[1]What’s more, many kosher for Passover foods are produced by specific brands that specialize in these products and have become trusted, household names. I’ve yet to meet a Jew who has never heard of Manischewitz wine (what my husband calls grape juice), or purchased a box of their matzah. That orange and green packaging is unmistakable and iconic.

Obviously, following the passage of Bill 101, this labeling was illegal. However, there was an existing provision allowing for the limited use of non-French-labelled products in certain circumstances, as well as a tacit agreement  between Jewish community leaders and the Quebec government to permit the sale of these products for Passover to proceed uninterrupted.[2]

 

Matzohgate

That was, until March 20, 1996, when the Office de la Langue Française (the agency that enforces Bill 101) sent a letter ordering all Montreal supermarkets remove any kosher for Passover foods that did not have French packaging. The letter also specifically urged Quebec food distributors to “act rapidly on this matter because kosher products are on the shelves for a limited time,” and informing them that, moving forward, Bill 101 would be strictly enforced. This letter was delivered was just two weeks before Passover, when demand for such products is highest. The Montreal Gazettewas made aware of this letter in early April 1996, when it obtained a copy that had been sent to food distributor Hudon et Deaudelin Ltee, written by Josée Lefebre, an official with the Office’s francization department.’[3]

When asked to explain their actions, an official from the Office, Gerald Paquette, stated that they didn’t order the removal of the kosher for Passover foods, simply “informed them it was against the law and asked them to correct the situation.” He explained that the Office had received ten complaints about the packaging in the past year, and as a result, the Office was forced to act.[4]Investigations by the Montreal Gazettesuggested that the original complaint may have come from a carton of kosher for Passover orange juice that was reported to the Office in 1995 for not having French packaging. A grocery store in Pointe Claire was notified of the complaint, and asked for clarification from the Office about selling kosher for Passover products. They were told not to.[5] When questioned further, Paquette claimed many of the complaints were from the Sephardi Jewish community, a French-speaking minority that at the time made up about 21% of the Jewish community of Montreal.[6]

Expert Tip: The incident made the national and international News. André Picard covered the story for The Globe and Mail(“The War on Unilingual Matzoh Balls and ‘unhealthy’ cheese- Quebec Voices,” April 11, 1996) and Craig Turner covered it for the Los Angeles Times (“Quebec Blocks Distribution of Kosher Food,” April 10, 1996).

 

Enforcing the Law or Religious and Ethnic Discrimination?

 As you can probably imagine, this caused quite an uproar on both sides. The opinion of the Quebec government and of some French-speaking Québécois was that this was strictly a matter of enforcing existing legislation. When speaking on the subject, the government insisted that this was merely a matter of legal enforcement, and that they were not targeting the Jewish community. Rather, the English-language matzah boxes were in violation of Bill 101 and were therefore illegal. Le Devoir reported on the story under the headline “Les fournisseurs violent la loi depuis 18 ans (Suppliers violate the law for 18 years).” The story included a statement from the leader of the Societe St. Jean Baptiste, expressing surprise at complaints of harassment from the Jewish community, saying that this was a tactic designed to devalourize Bill 101.[7] On the same page was another article entitled, “Le gouvernement promet l’application rigorouse de la loi 101,” describing a letter released the following day by Louise Beaudoin and Pauline Marois, which announced their determination to ensure a strict interpretation of Bill 101 moving forward. [8]

A number of individuals also disputed the Office’s assertion that Sephardi Jews were to blame for this. One Sephardi member of the Canadian Jewish Congress, David Sultan, said that didn’t make any sense, since Sephardi Jews were aware of the situation in with manufacturers, and asking for the foods to be removed would only deprive them.[9] Some individuals even referred to this as a scapegoating incident, designed to inflame existing tensions between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities.[10]

On the other side, many Montreal Jews were outraged. In an op-ed in the Montreal Gazette, Irwin Block referred to the move as “profoundly ridiculous, mean, and insulting.”[11] A number of individuals also called into the newspaper to complain about the situation, including one woman, who did not want her name published, who stated:“Every Passover we take our children shopping for Kosher food and this year we discover it’s not available. […] This is the kind of thing that makes people wonder whether they should stay in Quebec.”[12]Many Jews felt like they were being targeted specifically, or perhaps even being punished for the results of the recent referendum. Jacques Parizeau had, after all, vowed revenge. What’s more, no other ethnic groups were being targeted in this particular instance. The Montreal Gazettereported that reporters had checked several stores in Chinatown, seeing several products with labels in either only Chinese or in English and Chinese.[13]In fact, it would be another two years before the Office would start cracking down on merchants in Chinatown for having Chinese-only signs.[14]

The Montreal Jewish community were not the only ones outraged. The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal’s president, Patrice Simard, called the incident a “senseless initiative” that was “difficult to explain in the current context” and designed to “sabotage the efforts of those who believe that Montreal is not only a francophone metropolis, but also a bilingual, multicultural and international city.” This sentiment was echoed by Montreal mayor Pierre Bourque, who was concerned that this would damage Montreal’s reputation and planned to meet with provincial officials to find some kind of resolution.[15]Similar condemnations followed from Alliance Quebec and in op-eds from the editorial boards of La Presseand the Journal de Montreal. For instance, in La Presse, Agnès Gruda published a piece entitled “les rabbins de la langue”, calling the actions of the Office “ridicule” and “blitzkrieg,” and questioned claims that this timing was coincidental.[16]

 

A Compromise

Within a few days and in response to the uproar, the Office relented. On April 12, The Office and the Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region held a joint press conference announcing the formation of a task force to find some kind of permanent solution. The president of the Office, Nicole Rene, and communications director Gilles-Louis Racin refused to apologize for the incident. They maintained that their letter was “misinterpreted,” and that the Office intended to target Passover food importers specifically for violating Bill 101, not the Jewish community.  However, they did admit that, “”in hindsight, it’s obvious that the Jewish community felt it was being targeted” and that it “may not have been the best time to pursue the dossier.” The Office also admitted on record that they had no way of knowing the religious or ethnic identity of the individuals who made the complaints that resulted in Matzohgate, since they did not record that information. On the same day, the Office and the Canadian Jewish Congress met with Montreal Sephardi leaders to establish a long-term solution. During the two-hour meeting, the Office agreed that it wouldn’t repeat the order next year. This didn’t satisfy the CJC, however, who demanded a written policy be developed.[17]

Eventually, however, the three sides reached a compromise which, predictably, made no one happy. I’ll let Mordecai Richler explain it to you:

Then, last March, in the weeks before Passover, came Matzohgate. An astute tongue trooper espied boxes of imported matzohs, unilingually labeled, on the shelves of a kosher grocery and ordered them removed at once. A real knee-slapper of a story, it was carried around the world. Quebecers were humiliated. In a bold move, the government exempted imported matzohs from labeling regulations for 40 days before Passover and 20 days after. Those Jewish felons who, like me, might fancy a delicious matzoh brei on the illegal 69th day will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we are bonding with the Conversos of late 15th-century Spain, who also had to practice their religious rites in secret.[18]

This agreement is still in place.

 

Making Sense of What Happened

Doing the research for this article really made me think a lot. While I remember this vaguely from my childhood, I certainly didn’t remember the levels of nuance described here. I also think it’s too early for me to be making any solid conclusions. But there are a couple of important things to keep in mind. First of all, this incident took place six months after the second referendum on Quebec independence. Tensions were already extremely high. The Office de la Langue Française, under the leadership of the new premier, Lucien Bouchard, appeared to be committed to enforcing a much stricter interpretation of Bill 101. At the same time, we also have to keep in mind Jacques Parizeau’s comments, blaming the failure of the referendum on “l’argent puis des votes ethniques”(“money and the ethnic vote”),” a comment that many described as a reference to the Montreal Jewish community.[19] If you want to get a sense of the conflict, there is a fascinating online discussion that has been preserved on this matter, with French-Canadians being accused of being anti-semites and Jews being accused of being criminals. But in light of Bill 21, when language and religion are once again at the centre of discussions about Quebec identity, the events of Matzohgate take on renewed importance. Matzohgate and the recent uproar around the secularism bill highlights the historic and ongoing precarity of religious and linguistic minorities in Quebec.

 

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“Why on this night, only matzah,” is the second of four questions (collectively called Ma Nishtanah, or Why is this night different from all other nights?) that are traditionally asked by the youngest child at a Passover seder as part of the telling of the story of Passover.

1. On all other nights we eat leavened foods and matzoh, and on this night, only matzah?
2. On all others nights we eat vegetables, and on this night only bitter herbs?
3. On all other nights, we don’t dip our food even once, and on this night we dip twice?
4. On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining, and on this night we only recline?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this piece. I’m wondering if it’s worth pursing, with an eventual scholarly article in mind. It’s certainly a great story. I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post. If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup. See you then!

 

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Notes

[1]Aaron Derfel, “Kosher ban ordered in Office letter,” Montreal Gazette, April 9, 1996.

[2]“CJC-Q seeks written promise on Passover foods (English only labels caused foods to be pulled from shelves in Quebec),” Canadian Jewish News, April 18, 1996 and Aaron Derfel and Lynn Moore, `Pact on kosher food broken’: Crackdown violates agreement, Jewish leaders say,” Montreal Gazette, April 8, 1996.

[3]Aaron Derfel, “Kosher ban ordered in Office letter,” Montreal Gazette, April 9, 1996.

[4]“CJC-Q seeks written promise on Passover foods (English only labels caused foods to be pulled from shelves in Quebec),” Canadian Jewish News, April 18, 1996.

[5]Aaron Derfel, Karen Seidman, and Philip Authier, “Sephardic Jews resent `scapegoating,’” Montreal Gazette, April 10, 1996.

[6]Katherine Wilton, “Kosher food fight becomes a language issue,” Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1996.

[7]Pierre O’Neill, “Les fournisseurs violent la loi depuis 18 ans,” Le Devoir, April 10, 1996.

[8]Pierre O’Neill, “Le gouvernement promet l’application rigorouse de la loi 101,” Le Devoir, April 10, 1996

[9]Katherine Wilton, “Kosher food fight becomes a language issue,” Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1996.

[10]Aaron Derfel, Karen Seidman, and Philip Authier, “Sephardic Jews resent `scapegoating,’” Montreal Gazette, April 10, 1996.

[11]Irwin Block, “Order to remove kosher products called ridiculous and mean,” Montreal Gazette, April 11, 1996.

[12]Katherine Wilton, “Kosher food fight becomes a language issue,” Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1996.

[13]Aaron Derfel, “Kosher ban ordered in Office letter,” Montreal Gazette, April 9, 1996.

[14]Katherine Wilton and Campbell Clark, “Chinatown sign deal possible, PQ says,” Montreal Gazette, February 7, 1998.

[15] Aaron Derfel and Lynn Moore, “The real story of Passover? It’s about food labels,” Montrela Gazette, April 11, 1996.

[16]Agnès Gruda, “les rabbin de la langue,” La Press,April 10, 1996. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2181682?docsearchtext=matzo

[17]“CJC-Q seeks written promise on Passover foods (English only labels caused foods to be pulled from shelves in Quebec),” Canadian Jewish News, April 18, 1996.

[18]Mordecai Richler, “Fighting Words,” New York Times, June 1, 1997. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/01/books/fighting-words.html

[19]Hugh Windsor, “Quebec Language Police Go For the Matzohs,” The Independent, April 12, 1997.