(JTA) â For decades, dozens of Orthodox rabbis would gather in a New York City synagogue on the morning before Passover and, one by one, sell millions of dollars worth of bread, pasta and other leavened products to one man.
That man, a real estate agent named John J. Brown, acted as the linchpin of a Jewish legal process that is crucial to those who keep the strict laws of Passover, which forbid Jews from owning or benefitting from hametz, or any products containing leaven. Because most observant Jews donât want to throw away all of their hametz ahead of Passover, they sell it to a non-Jewish person, who sells it back when the holiday ends.
John J Brown, who bought hametz from thousands of Jews each year before Passover, dies at 88 jta.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jta.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.