April 24, 1864---Matzoh

APRIL 24, 1864:         

Confederate Private Isaac J. Levy writes home to assure his family he is observing a proper Passover. Levy served in a “Jewish” regiment of which his brother Ezekiel was Captain:

“No doubt you were much surprised on receiving a letter from me addressed to our dear parents dated on the 21st which was the first day of Pesach,” he wrote to his sister Leonora, with the word “Pesach” carefully printed in Hebrew letters. “We were all under the impression in camp that the first day of the festival was the 22nd,” and he had therefore unwittingly failed to observe the holiday’s start on the appropriate day.

But Levy went on to assure her that his brother had purchased matzoh “sufficient to last us for the week” in the city of Charleston at the cost of two dollars per pound, and that they were “observing the festival in a truly Orthodox style.” Sadly, just four months later, Isaac Levy was killed in the trenches during the Siege of Petersburg on August 21, 1864. He was 21 years old.

In the Civil War, 7,000 Jews fought for the Union, and 3,000 for the Confederacy. Nine Jews (of both sides) reached the rank of General and 21 attained Colonelcies.