Thursday, March 27, 2008

Pessah (1983)

1983 Dry Bones cartoon - Passover.
Today's cartoon is a Golden Oldie first published exactly twenty five years ago. March 25, 1983. The first night of Passover would be three days later on March 28, 1983. The first night of Passover this year will be on April 18th.

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Dry Bones is a running commentary on life from an Anglo-Israeli point of view ...and in the Hebrew-influenced English that we speak, Passover is Pessah. As the cartoonist I have to agonize over whether to have Mr. Shuldig speak in correct English or on the jargon that we speak. In this case the choice was obvious. Passover has eight letters. You try squeezing the word Passover into the space that Pessah takes. Notice that next to my signature I wrote Hag Sameah, Which is the way Anglo-Israelis say Happy Holiday in English

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This pre-Passover cartoon announces that Shuldig and Dry Bones are not just about politics. The enjoyment of our culture and our holidays is part of what the cartoon has always been about... and the pre-Passover intensive house-cleaning and the sweeping up of every crumb of bread are part of Jewish holiday ritual and culture.

By the way, three days later I had Mr. Shuldig going the other way and being totally political and Zionist for the holiday. You can see that cartoon by clicking on Passover 1983.

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