Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Prospect Park Alliance had sent a letter telling Jews not to throw bread products into the lake before Passover. Naturally, that upset Jewish leaders who say that never happens.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, the release said, "For many years people have brought chametz to Prospect Park to throw into the lake to feed the waterfowl. While this is done with the best of intentions, feeding the waterfowl can be very harmful to them.” But Gary Schlesinger, of United Jewish Community Advocacy Relations and Enrichment, says, "For Passover nobody drops the chametz into the lake. That is totally untrue."
Usually, observants Jews will burn unleavened bread (the chametz). However, Prospect Park Alliance spokesman Paul Nelson told the NY Times, "It usually is several hundred over the few days before Passover starts and all around the lake... When asked, they said they were disposing of their bread products in preparation for Passover and thought they were doing a good thing by feeding it to the waterfowl." He explained that with the leavened bread bonanza, geese are diverted from their usual vegetation, "We are not saying it’s one branch of Judaism or another, or a particular neighborhood or synagogue. Nor is it organized."
Some have accused the Prospect Park Alliance of mixing up the burning of the chametz before Passover with Rosh Hashanah's tashlich, where bread is sprinkled on bodies of water (symbolizing cleansing). The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council's Chanina Sperlin fumed to the Brooklyn paper, "They should learn the customs of the Jewish community. Nobody is throwing any bread of food or any such items into the water before Passover." Yeah—burning stuff is way more cool!
